I got a 68 chevelle ss that I'm having problems with the hood aligning right. I had removed the front clip and doors and replaced with rust free metal. I first got the doors and fenders aligned where they look good and am having problem with hood. So me and buddy last night tried to get the hood to fit right, everything looked good but for some reason the drivers side rear of the hood sits to close to the fender. I have a good even gap on the passenger side but the drivers side is giving me problems. The gap looks alright between the front of the fender and hood but when it gets to the rear of the hood it's real close. I installed new hingens and took out the top bolt that holds the fender to the cowl and its as far over as it can go. I've been working on this car for almost 7 years and it's almost road worthy any advise would be appreciated. Thanks, Kevin

I had the same problem with mine. When I had to take my hood off, I put shims between the fender and the hood hinge. It pushed it out just far enough so it wouldnt rub the fender anymore. graemlins/hurray.gif

http://www.chevelles.com/forum/
Check out the 3rd post from MARTINS. Great stuff.

With panel alignment you have to start at the quarters and work your way forward. align the doors so they are flush with the quarters and rockers with a parallel gap. The fenders should align to the front door edges and the hood opening should measure square. Take some cross measurements within the hood opening to see if the radiator support needs to be shifted left or right. Now if the hood is a tight fit you'll need to adjust the doors and fenders slightly outward. You mentioned the outward adjustment of the left fender is maxed out, this doesn't sound good. Almost sounds like the front sheetmetal is swayed to one side. Note: if the doors are not aligned properly the alignment problem will multiply as you move towards the front.

Thanks for the replys. I already had tried to shim the hinge between the fender and it helped a little but not enough. Then we loosened the hood bolts to see if the hood would move a little over towards the other side, after applying a little pressure so it would slide we heard a pop sound and now the other side is messed up. We started to try to align the hood at around 10 pm friday and gave up when we heard that sound which happened at 4 in the morning. I also printed that page from Martin, alot of good information. I had to calm down for a day before I bother with it again. If anybody has any other ideas it would be appreciated. I'm gonna try again sunday so that I have a clear head and not as tired. Thanks, Kevin.

Kevin,

FIRST thing to do is to cross check front sheetmetal. By this I mean measure diagonally from rear fender mount bolt (the one on top, below hood corner at lower windshield) to front corner of core support. If the core support is square with the body this measurement should be the same side to side.
How is the gap between front upper grille panel(header) and the hood? Should be even, about the thickness of a wooden paint stick.
If all these are good now do the following.
Go to the rear of fender, loosen both the top bolt, and the bolt behind hinge that goes through firewall toward dash.
Add shims under top bolt. If your gap and fit at door is good do NOT loosen the bolt above door hinges. It will help hold that fit if it is where you want.
The shims that you are adding will lift and roll that inner rear upper fender edge. the only thing that will stop the lift and roll will be the lower bolt ( firewall, facing dash at hinge). That hole is only so big.
If your front sheetmetal is square,and all hood corners match to fenders, but your gaps at rear are not uniform, here is the best way to try and offset the hood to hinge mount.
Leave front hinge bolt to hood tight, loosen rear hinge bolt to hood, hold hood, tap hood hinge firmly at rear near bolt. You are trying to shift hood on the hinge. If the gap is tight on drivers side, you are trying to shift the hinge outward, hood inward.
NOTE: If I remember correctly, I think?? that your model also has an alignment peg on top of cowl, it looks like a long shank bolt that does nothing but position, and act as a lock for the rear of the hood hinge. Have seen where that bolt (one each side can screw up the position of hood if not correctly aligned.
You may want to remove those two bolts until all other fits are corrected. then reinstall and carefully close hood. Have another person close hood slowly, while you watch to see that the hinge stop bolt is seating properly to hinge.

Hope this helps.

Karl

before doing anything above, check your core support. i had everything lined up perfect, then when i popped the hood on, it was crooked, and wouldn't fit no matter how i adjusted, shimmed or whatever. finally, after a few weeks of wrestling with the problem, i realized that my core support was the culprit. so, i loosened the bolts attaching it to the frame, opened the hood slightly, then bumped the core support about 1/8" to the right, shut the hood, and everything lined up perfectly. nice, even gaps. check it out, because there is some play when you re-install your front end.

I've been a little busy for the past couple days but am going to take a look at it today. I would like to thank everyone for taking time to give me good advice. Thanks, Kevin