hood body gaps

[cwalton]

Had my front clip off for a while. As it sat, it seemed to shift alignment, opening one gap too wide and closing the other. Hoped it would straighten out when i put it back on my truck but no luck. Any idea of where to put shims to balance this out, or some other method?

 

[Z71paramedic]

Looks like it has to do with the hinge area. You may try loosening the fender bolts and shifting the fenders around. Otherwise you may be able to just loosen the hood bolts and shift the back of the hood over a hair. Last case would be pull the hinge from the right fender and shim it to push it back over to the left.

 

[Greg72]

The gaps are nice and even all the way down that seam, so it's not the core support.

Seems like the issue is the hood. If you can get it over a tad the gaps should be back in spec for both sides. How good are your hinges? Rusty or stiff hinges will cause you nightmares with panel alignment. Check out the Cheif Brody thread for some background on that....

-G

 

[cwalton]

Sounds good, thanks for the pointers and thoughts guys

 

[ryoken]

I'm assumng this whole clip was off... not overly familiar with first gen sheetmetal, just general suggestions..

open the hood, and give it a shove over, that kind of discrepancy only needs a minor tweak... make sure your latch is locking it in the right place, not off to the side.. and as mentioned, check your hinges for excessive slop...