this problem driving me nuts.. allignment of the hood .. can't get it fit properly.:








can someone advice me on the right tricks to get the hood correctly:

at point A  the hood sits lower than the fender
at point B  the corner of the hood is higher than the fender
at point C hood and body are in line
at point D  the corner is more or less in line with fender
at point E  the hood sit lower than fender

at point B there are NO shims used to attach the hood to body so no space to play with that to lower hood.

was wondering if the only trick is to adjust the hight of the vacuumtube(1978vette)/bumper that is attached to the frame to move up and down the nose ??

thank you
art-corvette


art-corvette38971.426724537

I suspect you'll find that this is pretty normal.  My 81's hood alignment is amazingly similar and I've read many times that poor body panel alignment is notorious in Vettes, particularly up through '82.  Chevy just didn't have tight tolerance specs for the Vette body assembly.  In fact, the NCRS guys will tell you that if you have all the panels perfectly aligned on these older vettes, you have restored it eyond factory specs and it should thus be given a deduction during judging.  I was shocked to discover that Chevy did not look out for the quality image of their flagship car any better than that, but I guess nothing the "Big 3" manufacturers do should surprise me.  In my case, I just adjusted the hinges and latches to "average out" the imperfections as best as I could.

I have spent hours upon hours doing the same thing you are doing and all I can say is close works on a Vette.

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I recently found the same problem developing on my 74, but I found that on point "C" to "B" on my car (your picture) in the front of the nose became loose (unglued) when I push down on it, everything lines up perfect. I just ordered some epoxy to fix the problem.

Factory tolerances are flush to +/- .06 around the hood. Good luck ever finding one that close.
On your points "A" and "E"...that is "normal" for dang near every Shark I've ever seen.
There were some rubber "blocks" that the factory would install in the recessed edge of the body, around the hood opening, to try to keep the center area from dropping down like yours(and most everyone elses!). They are still available aftermarket.(Bairs ) They don't really work that well, as you have to cut them to fit, and they just stick on w/2 sided tape. This also makes it harder to get the dang hood to shut properly!

Your point "B"...are there any shims under the hinge, between the hinge and the body? That's where the shims are supposed to go, anyway. If not, then I would think that the body shop that did your paint work should've taken care of this before it was painted.

Poor body fit? On a 'Vette! Puh-leeeeze! Ya ever look at a 53? You'd think the dang doors were open driving down the road, they stuck out so far at the bottom!

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thanks for the advice , i know now that is no "normal" way to get allignment perfect and that i haven't been doing anything wrong
i have been "manipulating" everything a bit by changing height of  vacuum tube...also with adding a rubber "block"   and it already gets much better

art-corvette

 I would guess those rubber hood blocks might help. maybe your originals are worn.

 Putting one at points A & E.

Point A , leave rubber full size, (Dont adhere it till done with fitment, Tape it in place). It should lift at wheel well, then might have a pivot action after hinge forcing point B down.

Point E , might need to shave it alittle so "D" isn't moved to much.

 Hopefully Point C doesn't move to much after the mod

huk_finn38974.5969791667

maybe the factory rubber blocks were removed during a paint job????

Your points A and E are too for forward for the blocks to work.....at least thats what I would have though before I bought my white 79. In that area the blocks can be put on end. Never saw them that way until the "new" Vette came along. Mounted there from factory.  I've had some come off in the past but I reglue them with black silicone.  There's also a support strut that goes to the lower edge of the radiator support to the center of the hood surround near the headlight vacuum relays. Maybe you can get some adjustment out of that for "C".  Mike 

Arthur,  When I put a replacement hood on my 76 we had to adjust the upper surrouind panel to match the hood, not all molds will fit correctly..http://www.C3VR.com/member_pages/6601_6700/6665/DSCF0179.JPG

it's not easy and takes time..I fitted mine before the paint?? 

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   "I Love all Corvettes! LifeTime Member #60..Terry"

thank you all for the input ..it sure gives me some ideas how to tackle the problem .
before taking the whole car apart ,the hood fit wasn't that bad i think.. but then again.i didn't check that carefully since i was taking it all apart anyway .. and removing manyyyy layers of paint and primer.
and uhh.. spielman... i will take your hoodallignment as my example :)

i have confidence it wil work out ok ..in the end :)

art-corvette

Can someone please pm me the source of these alignment blocks? My '80 is low at point A, but is pretty good everywhere else.
TIA

PM sent with info from Corvette Central..Terry

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   "I Love all Corvettes! LifeTime Member #60..Terry"

Can you please post the info here, for everyone to see?  I have an '81 with similar problems.  I do not recall seeing any rubber hood alignment blocks on the car, so I'm wondering if they were also removed and not reinstalled when the car was repainted a few years ago.

Thanks for the referral. I sent for, received and installed the bumpers and now the hood looks like it should. If The workers in the 60s and 70s GM plants had made things look like the hood looks now, Nissan would still be trying to get Americans to buy Datsun B210s.

 Easy on the Gm workers, Back then it was a numbers game. "How many did we get out the door today". I know I was one.. retired now. Giving the tolerence and stack them up, no two vettes would be demensionally the same.

I added the rubber blocks in a couple of low spots and they absolutely cured the height issue and the hood still closes fine! 

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I am sure you have all of the answers you need - but I went to Action Auto and bought about $10. worth of rubber sterring coil bushings in different sizes for the exact same problem - I just kept going up in size until the fit was perfect.  Then I took the car out for 20 miles and let it sit in the sun so the hood could bend a little.  Now that I have what I want I am going to epoxy them to the rail.  Looks great and was a cheap solution.

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Ken - C3VR Lifetime Member #79

Here is a picture of an '82 (not mine) with the original rubber hood supports (the black cube).



There was one on each side.

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If in doubt go to a wrecking yard. They are full of various hood adjustment rubber blocks.


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