Body work hood

[Tocoti]

I've got most of the body work done. The hood is really giving me a test of ....something. I can fit the hood on the car and it looks really good. I bolt it to the hood hinge and it is a half inch too high in the front. I've left everything loose and tried to make it work. I've even tried to flip the mounts upside down to lower it and I can get it lowered but when I open it it binds on the body. It's my only snag to being able to get it painted. I'm just frustrated.
With the instructions from the book I can get the front bolts in the hood bracket but I can't get the rear ones in . It's just so close. Probably 1/8 of an inch but it raises the hood up if I force it.

[frankeeski]

When you can't adjust the hood any more adjust the body. You should be able to get the hood down enough though.

[edwardb]

Something doesn't sound right. These hinges are a little finicky to get right, and sometimes you can run out of adjustment. But 1/2 inch is just too much. Are you sure they're assembled and oriented properly? Maybe you could post pictures? Some of what you describe just doesn't sound normal.

[SStrong]

I had similar problems. Setting the can of the brackets just a fraction will change everything. Spent several days adjusting and readjusting. edwardb is right, 1/2" calls for different adjustment. Maybe put spacer (rubber strips) between the frame hoops and the body. That is what I did.

[Tocoti]

I'll give it one more try today post some pictures if I still can't get it.

[edwardb]

Maybe put spacer (rubber strips) between the frame hoops and the body. That is what I did.

Maybe this is the problem. Some guys think the body is supposed sit down on the 3/4 inch tube along the hood outline. It's not. It's supposed to sit up about 1/4 - 1/2 inch. There is gasket material supplied in the kit to fill the opening. The front quick jacks and hood won't fit exactly right if you try to force the body all the way down. Stands to reason the hinges may not align properly either.

[Tocoti]

I used the thick foam on the rails and will check to see how much the gap is.

[CraigS]

Take a close-up shot of your hinges just to be sure. I remember that they are very easy to mis-assemble.

[Tocoti]

Here is a video. I can include more pictures if it helps. I set the hood in position with the bumpers to place it in the right height. The rear of the bracket hits but the front is about 1/4 inch from hitting the upper bracket . On the front rails I have the wide foam. You might be able to see it.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LLwsm2GjNiU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[edwardb]

Maybe others can see something, but from this video I can't tell too much and don't have much to offer. What little I can see, looks like the hinges are assembled right. But again a little hard to tell. The arms seems to be a little loose. When you get things sorted out you're going to want to get all that slop out by adjusting the washers/shims to get everything as tight as possible.

If everything else is right, then maybe the hood bracket locations are off. My Mk3 pre-drilled holes didn't line up well at all. I did kind of what you did, e.g. with the hood in place all trimmed and at the right height on bumpers, assembled the hinges with the hood bracket on the hinges but not attached to the hood, and from underneath pushed it up against the hood until it was flat and lined up. Even with the adjustment available on the hinges, the pre-drilled locations wouldn't have worked. I made new holes and it works great. The extra holes were filled and covered when painted. Again, not sure if that fits your situation, but maybe something to look at if not too hard to remove the brackets and check.

First, though, maybe post some pictures of your hinges and let's make sure they're assembled and oriented right. Good luck

[cobraguy13]

Open the hood and give a more detailed picture. It looks as though you may not have the arms in the correct positions. I found that if you are not careful you can build the hinges incorrectly and they will not come close to the proper position. I have had to notch the drivers front arm on two of the MkIVs we have built to allow for proper hood position.

More pictures would be helpful.

[Tocoti]

2691426915

[edwardb]

Took a couple of quick pics of my Mk4 hinges tonight. Even though the hinges are slightly different, they are assembled the same as the completed hinges on my Mk3. So 99.9% sure these are right. I haven't put any finish on the parts yet. Compared to yours, and looks like yours are assembled the same other than the orientation of the top bolts which shouldn't matter. I have only temporarily set the body in place and the hood, and they look they're going to line up OK, but not nearly as far along as you trying to actually fit them. BTW, don't compare where they're mounted on the chassis. I took them off when we dropped in the engine, and just put them roughly back in place. I also eyeballed where the hinge holes are in my hood compared to yours. Looks roughly similar.

I'm pretty much out of suggestions other than to check the location of the brackets on the hood, as I suggested earlier.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%20Mark%204%20Roadster%20Build/Misc%20Pics/IMG_0236_zps60f497fd.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/user/edwardb123/media/Factory%20Five%20Mark%204%20Roadster%20Build/Misc%20Pics/IMG_0236_zps60f497fd.jpg.html)
http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%20Mark%204%20Roadster%20Build/Misc%20Pics/IMG_0235_zpsc79222d5.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/user/edwardb123/media/Factory%20Five%20Mark%204%20Roadster%20Build/Misc%20Pics/IMG_0235_zpsc79222d5.jpg.html)

[Tocoti]

I'm looking at the bracket that mounts to the arms. The ones you have marked driv, and pass. It looks like I have mine on the opposite side. I hope that's it.

[Tocoti]

So I figured there are 4 ways you can put this hinge together with the interchangeable parts that are not the same. Out of the 4 ways I did get it to fit. The bracket that is bolted to the chassis is now on the opposite side and flipped over. It works. Oh and the bolts, in the manual correct me if I'm wrong, but one picture shows them one way, the next picture is the opposite.

[rich grsc]

Yep, you had the plates the hold the arms on the wrong side.

[Tocoti]

Now I'm confused. Here is a picture if what worked. It's not like the picture in the book or like the previous post by Edwardb. What hold arms are you talking about? I'd like to build it like the book if possible because it looks a bit messy now.26940

[Jeff Kleiner]

I just put the hinges together for my fourth roadster a couple of weeks ago. You have your chassis mounting plate upside down and on the wrong side of the car. The arm plate is oriented properly and on the correct side. The photo edwardb posted is exactly right as are the photos on pages 289 thru 295 of the manual.

Good luck,
Jeff

[Tocoti]

I had it on that way the first time. I couldn't get the hood down in the front so I tried it like the way I have it in the last picture I posted only because I couldn't get things to work with the suggested assembly. I would love to put the chassis mounting plate on the other side of the car and flip it but I can't get the hood to fit that way. Hence that's why it is the way it is. I don't like it but it's the only combination of the parts that worked.

[Arrowhead]

Swap both frame brackets back to where they were AND swap the arm brackets. The arm brackets are on the wrong side as well (look very closely at edwardb's picture above)