For new readers of this string, the problem was that when I did a full body off restoration on my 68, I replaced the cowl to hood seal and I couldn't get the rear of the hood to sit down in the proper alignment as before I added the seal. The hood can't be pushed down, and the seal will not squash down enough. There is maybe 1/8 inch clearance. Heat and time will not cure this problem.

A couple of things: I forgot to mention that I added a original 68 SS hood in place of the Malibu hood. I have replaced this seal on my other 68 Malibu's with a new Metro brand seal and never had a problem. It appears that the rear metal stinger/runner that goes across the inside rear of the SS hood is like 1/4" lower than the Malibu hood.

So I was thinking that maybe the SS came with a thinner seal. The GM parts catalog does not differentiate between Malibu's and SS's. It just says 68-72 Chevelle. So kind of killed that theory.

Anybody else run into this problem of the cowl to hood seal being too thick?



[This message has been edited by Paul Lower SoCal (edited 04-07-2002).]

Paul- I had the same problem with my 72 SS cowl, but after about a week of being closed, the seal folded over itself. I would check to make sure your air cleaner base is flush on the carb. Do you have the original intake, carb and cowl parts to begin with? if not, this could cause the 1/8 differential. Good Luck

The body doesn't have an engine installed. It doesn't have cowl induction. So there are no other items restricting the closure.

Good try! Glad you're thinking and responding.

Can't offer any suugestions, but I'm very interested. I have the new seal in a box ready for installation on my '69. I'm waiting for warmer weather so I can "cleanup" the cowl before I do this.

Sorry, I can't help, but like I said, I'm very interested in the outcome...




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JR
TC #1098
My 69 Convertible (http://www.erols.com/ruther/69conv)

My 2001 Z28 (http://www.erols.com/ruther/z28_5.jpg)

I am putting my hood back on tonight.
I'll find out if there are any problems.

As for yours:
Do your doors have the same clearance all around?
Are the fenders level with the top of the door?
Are your hinges correct?
Are the hinge springs weak? New springs don't cost that much and are much stronger than the 30 yr old ones.

Dave

Dave, Another note, I've looked at six 1968 different Chevelles. They all had the original cowl seals on them. Some had the rounded seal similiar to the ones manufactured by SoftSeal. Some had the more triangular shaped ones manufactured by Metro.
Also some were attached with the open flap facing the windshield, some with the open flap facing the front of the car. I guess it was whom ever was doing the assembly at a particular assembly plant. If it would squash down, I don't think it would matter which direction it was installed. My hood can't be pushed down any.
Yes, my doors have exactly the proper clearances. My fenders fit exactly with the doors. I have the correct hinges. I think my hinges are okay.

I probably spent 25 hrs trying to align everything on the front end before I finally gave up and decided to have the body shop do it before painting it. The pros can do it so much easier. But I wanted the satisfaction of trying first before I turned it over to the paint shop.

Let me know how the hood went on yours.

Paul

Okay, I had the same problem you had. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/eek.gif

I did get rid of most of the raised hood, but still have about 1/4 inch sticking up.
I am hoping that the seal will squish down that much.
At first I had nearly 1 1/2 inches up.
I moved the hinge so the rear of the hinge was all the way down and the front all the way up. This pulled the hood down to where it is now.
I wasn't thinking when I suggested spring tension. The springs are pushing up, so a stronger spring would make it worse.

Dave

So what brand was your seal? Which direction do you have the flap opened to?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Paul Lower SoCal:
So what brand was your seal? Which direction do you have the flap opened to?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I bought my seal from Ground Up. Not GM, but I can't remember who made it, sorry.
I have the flap to the windshield. I figure you really can't see it from that angle.

Another update: I tried turning the seal 180 degrees. The holes still aligned properly. The hood still stuck up in the rear.
I padded the entire rear area on the top of the hood and placed 25 lb shot bags all the way across the rear of the hood. Total of 250 lb. After two days the rear of the hood hasn't budged a hair. Still sticks up.

Next I'm going to remove the MetroSeal and try a SoftSeal and see how it fits. Before installing it I'm going to crawl into the engine bay and see if I can get some measurements of the clearances with the hood closed and no seal installed.

I WOULDN'T TRADE THIS ADVENTURE FOR ANYTHING! THROUGH THIS WHOLE RESTORATION, I CAN SAY "BEEN THERE, DONE THAT"! NO-ONE ELSE WORKING ON MY RIDES. YES, I'M SHOUTING.

I am having the same problem on a 72 cowl induction hood. Spent many hours just like you Paul and I still have a 1/4 inch height in back. I have a new MetroSeal with the flap facing towards the front of the car. I posted this problem last year and tried all the solutions that people responded, but nothing worked.
So Paul, when and if you get the hood to fit. Please let me know what the secret is!

So.... Paul..... don't let anyone start up and drive off with you in there..... http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

I used softseal on my 68SS without any problems, hood lines up great. But I did buy this softseal kit back in 1994 and maybe the fit on the older kits were better

Leo
TC#499
68SS

I have the same problem with my '69 Camino and i don't have a seal on the back of the hood (to cheap or lazy or both). The front lines up great but the back sticks up about 1/4" above the fenders, my doors are lined up fine, my fenders are lined up fine, but i cannot for the life of me get the hood to sit down. Hopefully someone will understand our problem and be able to fix it. thanks.

OK guys, I have to chime in on this one.
As a machinist, I understand the working relationship between metal parts and their clearances. I'm referring specifically to the hood hinges and their joints. Remember we are talking about 30+ year old hinges here, in most cases, I'm sure. Up and down and up and down, say.....what ?.........1000 times by now? Maybe more ! (once a week for 30 yrs = 1,680).
Here are my thoughts.....
The joints on the hinges where all the pieces are connected are probably worn to some extent. As the hinges are moved up and down over the years, the rivets begin to lose metal. It's just from friction....metal to metal. Results in wear !
If you consider how the spring wants the hood open all the time (whether closed or open), then the hinge is always wanting to be open. This applies the pressure on the hinge to EXTEND it.
I have run into the same problem many times with these older Chevelles and the solution has been to elongate the rear hole where the hinge bolts to the fender. This allows the rear of the hinge to be adjusted down further to pull the hood down further. In some cases I have had to elongate the front fender mount hole as well. Sometimes you have to grind some material off the washer on the bolt. It will begin to interfere with the lip on the hinge and you can't tighten the bolt.
If you look at the hinges, the holes are elongated. This allows adjustment. But after excessive wear, they need more adjustment than the holes will allow.

Here is a test that you can do with the cowl seal removed, or with an original compressed seal. After getting the hood as close in the rear as you can take the springs off the hinges and see how well the hood sits. I think that you will find that it cures the problem of the hood sticking up in the rear. This is because the joints are relaxed. Actually the weight is pushing the hood down, instead of the springs pushing up.

With hinges that are not worn excessively at the hinge points, unless your cowl seal is wrong, the hinges should pull the hood down. If the hinges are worn, hood sticks up, no matter how much adjustment is done ! Usually in this case, you can push the hood down to make it line up with the fenders. I would say that if you cannot adjust the hinges to make the hood line up, then either you have the wrong hinges or they are too worn to properly adjust.

New hinges should cure the problem of the hood sticking up.

Nate

Also interesting to note.
1968-1979 Nova, 1973-75 Buick Apollo, 72-78 Pontiac Ventura, 76-79 Cadilac Seville, 73-79 Oldsmobile Omega, 75-79 Buick Skylark, and 77-79 Pontiac Phoenix hinges are the same as 1968 Chevelle and 1968 Impala !

1969 Chevelle is one year only, as far as I know. Boy these 68 Chevelle guys are lucky.

Nate

68 had two style hindges and hoods for both SS and flat hoods "early and late model year" the bolt hole center to center distance is different and so is the rivets

Leo
TC#499
68SS

Well I did a search and found this old post. I have a '68 and am having the same exact problem - hood is 100% level before installing cowl seal and a good 3/4" high with it. I am using the round style Soffseal piece while my original was more triangular shaped and MUCH, MUCH more compliant. With the chrome grills off I can see that there is a ton of interference and a hundred years in the desert will not fix this! And yes, I have restored my hinges and they work great now (I can post how I did that if anyone is interested).

It seems as though the Metro seal may have the same shape as my original. Has it been confirmed that this seal will compress much more than the Soffseal? Any other new revelations on this subject?

Thanks!

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1968 Chevelle SS396 - Yellow 4 speed, air, factory Buick interior
1998 Camaro Z28 - 6 speed
1999 Nissan Maxima SE - 5 speed
2000 Passat Wagon - 5 speed tip