Hood Fitment

[ksamson]

Hello Roadsters, I am having a tough time tryin get my hood to allign. I took off the struts, loosened the bolts, closed the hood but it still off about a 1/2" from the front of the hood. Any suggestions?

[michael everson]

Heres how I do it.
1. Center all the hood hinge adjustments.
2. Attach the hood brackets to the hinge arms.
3. Place the hood on the car where you want it.
4. Climb under the car and into the engine compartment.
5. Raise the hinge up to touch the hood and mark the location. Do this for both sides.
6. Now remove the hood and remove the hood brackets from the hinge arms.
7. place the brackets on the under side of the hood where you marked and redrill the locations. The FFR drilled locations do not always work out.
8. Reattach the brackets to the hood.
9. Reattach the bracketd to the hinge arms.
10. Close the hood and align it where you want it. Reach underneath and retighten all the bolts. It should now be perfect. I tend to favor the front of the opening because the lift supports can move it back a bit.
Hope this helps.
Mike

[edwardb]

I agree 100% with Mike's procedure. (Why wouldn't I? He's built just a few more than me...) Get the hinge assembly installed and centered up, and check the hood fitment against it. For my Mk3, the FFR hole locations in the hood where off quite a bit. Made new holes, and it lined up perfectly. Still good 2-1/2 years later.

BTW, what about hood fitment? Have you trimmed the hood to fit the opening yet? This needs to be done first. Be careful to adjust the hood size to the opening at the top of the body opening, e.g. use bumpers or spacers to hold the hood up flush with the body. Don't fit to the bottom of the opening because it has a taper and you will end with the hood too small. Also, check centering front to back and side to side before trimming. You also might have a chance for the pre-drilled holes to line up better depending on how you trim.

[DaleG]

Mike, could you clarify the following, please?

"I tend to favor the front of the opening because the lift supports can move it back a bit".

[michael everson]

when centering the hood in the opening, leave a smaller gap on the front edge. the lift supports will push the hood towards the windshield a bit when closed.
Mike

[Jeff Kleiner]

I scribe and fit the hood (as edwardb says flush the top surface when doing this) then attach it to the hinges which are installed loosely to the chassis. Gently close the hood and center it in the opening then get underneath and tighten the hinge bolts from below. Viola---adjustment done! Regarding the lift cylinders; I have found that the 3 holes that FFR drills are too far forward and sometimes allow the cylinders to bottom out which causes a bow in the hood when latched. Move the bracket rearward (toward the back of the hood) by one hole as shown in this photo and it will solve the issue.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_2427.jpg

Cheers,
Jeff

[DaleG]

when centering the hood in the opening, leave a smaller gap on the front edge. the lift supports will push the hood towards the windshield a bit when closed.
Mike

Got it. Thanks.