New hood and hinges install ?’s (1 Viewer)

[voodu3]

I have a new hood and hinges installed and I’ve been trying to get adjusted all afternoon and I can’t get it to line up even close. Im thinking the firewall might be out of square. Here are some pics of how it’s not fitting. The last two are with the latch removed. It’s needs to move a half inch to the PS but only in front. Any advice on where to go from here or where start from would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[mudgudgeon]

If the gap between the hood and cowl is even, then you may need to tweet the front guard fitment to match.

Love the look of your front grill, lights and bar combo.
Got a link to the lights you've used in place of the Orange indicator?
What is your front bar?

 

[voodu3]

Thanks. I think I’m going try and shim the drivers side hinge.
11" Southern lite LED Light Bar (Includes 60 Watt Single Row Light and Wiring Harness)
I used two of these lights to replace the indicators. The front bar was built by a local fab shop. It’s a work in progress. I’m gonna add a bar across the front to protect the winch and grille. It’s coming together just got to get the hood to close.

 

[scottryana]

Maybe it is just perspective but that hood sure looks tweaked.

 

[YMT]

Are you replacing the hood to recover from a wreck? Where did you get the hood from? It looks like it is tweaked. I'd suggest lay it on a flat, level floor to make sure it isn't twisted. If it is, you could try to place some weights on the high side to get it to return back to normal.

 

[Rifleman]

Maybe it is just perspective but that hood sure looks tweaked.

I agree with Scottryana, that fit looks way off. Take a tape measure and measure it diagonally from corner, to corner, if the measurements are not the same, then it's bent.

 

[slow95z]

did the hinges get lined up good? never RnR'd a set so not sure if they can get out on the firewall side like they can on the hood.

 

[voodu3]

The hood is straight and the hinges are straight. The tweaked picture is with it latched. The hook is about a half inch off to the drivers side. I think the hinge mount location on the drivers side firewall is out of square. It had front end damage when I got it but I couldn’t tell it went that far back. I’m gonna try to shim the hinge out and see if that helps.

 

[Cass007]

If the hood is aftermarket (it appears to be) then there will likely be some shimming. I have an aftermarket on mine and it needed some shims (washers) under the rear part of the hinges to make it fit correct. Are you sure you have the pass side hood strut mounted correct and its not binding and causing the warp?

Enjoy putting in the new washer squirters, the OEM ones are rectangular mounts and were a no go for me

 

[voodu3]

It’s is an aftermarket hood. I don’t know if the struts are installed properly. I left them where they were on the body and attached them to the hood. The threaded insert was already on the hood. I’ve tried lining it up with and with out the struts hooked up. It doesn’t change. I’ll shim the hinge today and report back. Thanks for help.

 

[ajax1]

lay The hood flat with nothing attached and see if it has that bow still

 

[Michael Hanson]

Hi, Three people help in doing this. And it takes time with help. I do the left right adjustment first ,then the front to back.I also use wood shims to help align. If this truck has EVER been hit ,you will also have to adjust the fenders and or the core support. As previously said check your diagonals. Mike

 

[voodu3]

I checked the measurements on Hood its even corner to corner. The engine bay however is not. It’s a inch longer from the ds firewall to the front of the ps fender. I tried shimming the ds hinge but I couldn’t get it line up close enough to get it to latch. These are pics with the latch removed and the hood laying in place. Unless I have some epiphany of what to do to adjust it I think it’s going to be find a body shop time.

 

[Cass007]

Ignore the back line and line up the hood. Seems you may have been hit in the front at some point in the past. My project cruiser took a hit and I ended up having to lower the latch mount for the hood to sit flat. I also had to shim the latch forward for it to work properly. It was a process and took a bit, but finally lined up.

 

[ppc]

What do the front and rear door gaps look on both sides?

 

[Fj81]

The latch assembly has some play in it, also the cowl may not be lined up properly. Remove it and see if you can line it up that way. You can also inspect the inner fenders to see if there is a crease on the side. The DS one on mine was crushed in a bit. So I replaced it and the radiator core support and everything lined up great.

Oopsie

• Fj81
• Jan 2, 2017
• 1

Damage on front of FJ80, replaced inner fender.

Oopsie

• Fj81
• Jan 2, 2017

Damage on front of FJ80, before

Oopsie

• Fj81
• Jan 2, 2017
• 2

Damage on front of FJ80, after.

 

[voodu3]

It had some front end damage before I got it. The old hood was messed up pretty good. There is a crease in the ds inner fender. The ds core support is a little low. I removed the cowl to see if I could see where the firewall is out but it didn’t help. The door gaps are good. everything else fits well enough. The old hinges were bent. So I thought New hood and hinges it will work. No such luck. I hate getting my ass kicked for the last two days by a damn hood. I’ll see what tweaks I can do to adjust the latch. Thanks for all the help!

 

[Fj81]

If you can get a good inner fender, everything else will line up. Mine had no frame damage but the core support was tweaked a bit on the DS side so I just replaced it while I was in there.

 

[voodu3]

To update my hood alignment issues. I took her to a body shop and the frame is bent. It’s not bad but enough that no amount of adjustment would help. Anyone that’s had their frame straightened have any advice or things to watch out for while it’s being done or after?

 

[voodu3]

Got the frame straightened and voila the hood closes. Thanks for all the help trying to get this fixed.