hood Alignment Help-FFR help

[Automan]

Hi forum,

I have been struggling aligning my hood. I have walked away many times.

Could my hood actually be warped. Is it possible for cured fiberglass to distort this Bad when pulled out of the mold or stored? Factory Five Assembly Manual says that the body can be stored on the floor and even outside.

I have included some picks from last night.

when i center the hood (one pic) the lines are kinda lined up. But the other two pics of the sides show way off. The brackets on the headlights are touching.

Is there serious bodywork required now to fix this?

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Any guidance would be so much appreciated

thankyou

[edwardb]

I don't know what to tell you other than I fought with mine for days it seems. I see the huge gaps at the main body. What is the alignment at the pontoons? That would help to tell if you really have a problem. I'll also add, if you haven't figured this out already, the nose is not symmetrical. It's a bit wider on the tire on the RH side compared to the left. You'll go crazy if you try to get everything exactly centered. You have to find the best overall fit. Including how the hinges end up being aligned. At least that's what helped me get mine acceptable.

[Erik W. Treves]

I would take that piece of tape marking "centerline" off :) .. you will need to wait to secure the body until you get the hood and than body aligned to each other... to paul's point ... get the pontoons lined up with the wheel openings. I would start buy making sure the pass side body is slammed up against the frame both horizontally and vertically.... the driver's side is up and back off the frame by around 3/8 -1/2 inch.... I would start there.

[Automan]

I don't know what to tell you other than I fought with mine for days it seems. I see the huge gaps at the main body. What is the alignment at the pontoons? That would help to tell if you really have a problem. I'll also add, if you haven't figured this out already, the nose is not symmetrical. It's a bit wider of the tire on the RH side compared to the left. You'll go crazy if you try to get everything exactly centered. You have to find the best overall fit. Including how the hinges end up being aligned. At least that's what helped me get mine acceptable.

Wow, well that explains it and it will help alot. I also found that one of the fog lams seem to be higher off of a level floor then the other. its only a 1/4 inch but still.

Right now i havnt mounted the hinges officially. Well i did at the beginning but while i did the body work, i filled the holes back in with HR. wanting to start over with a clean slate.

Im putting strips on so i need that center hump to be perfect or as close to as i can.

I went through your process again today. In my head im thinking man your is perfect. mine has to be warped. But if you struggled for days, well maybe i have hope too.

Is your hinges centered on the back of the light hub peerfectly?

I was thinking on removing the hinges and through measurements matching the frame mount, i would mount the hinges first, then take the hood with the hinges and mount on the frame with the eye bolts. That would have to put the hood centered.

[Automan]

Here is my side view on the driver side. Hinges are not mounted. sides are clamped. to ensure wheel well to pontoon match.

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[Automan]

i can take better pictures tonight.

[Fbird]

Stupid question. Are the hinges on or is this a trial fit? Mine was real finicky. Here is what worked for me.
1. Trim nothing ..yet.
2. Put nose on and attach hinges loose.
3. Attach ratchet straps to hinge and some strong point towards the rear. Next draw the nose back towards the body with the straps until the pontoon and body are mostly aligned. This will draw the nose on top of the cowl and overlap the body because there is no gap.
4. Slowly remove material using masking tape to take off a little material until the nose drops into place between the body instead of on top of it.Now put a very minimal gap. Maybe 1/8 inch. Say to do more later.
5. Once it is in place continue ratcheting and removing material until the front of the pontoons align with the nose piece.
6. Tighten down the front hinges. Check things…look at it for at least a day and drink a beer or beverage.
7. Once satisfied with the fit try on the struts. You could have also done this earlier.
8. Gorilla Tape the nose and the body together.
9. Drill your smaller than needed holes to mark the spot for the dowels. Curse when you realize the location you drilled doesn’t have adequate material around it and retry.
10. Take off tape and install the dowels where you drilled holes on the pontoons.
11. When closing one side may need a nudge to drop into place because things twist with the struts installed.That is how mine is.
Some install rollers to help guid the back half down as it closes to align. I found that a bit of bracing up front helped me a lot. I still need to push in the driver side onto the pins a bit before tightening the hold downs on the hood, but I would have to walk around it to close anyway so I am good with it. It will work eventually.
Pictures of braces and alignment.
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T. Poe

[Erik W. Treves]

Here is my side view on the driver side. Hinges are not mounted. sides are clamped. to ensure wheel well to pontoon match.

152777

honestly, you need to unclamp the sides the body will be square on the chassis when you are done.

[David Williamson]

Also if you have not already done it start fitting the lower splash shields, they can move the pontoons and help with the alignment.
David W

[edwardb]

...Is your hinges centered on the back of the light hub perfectly?

I was thinking on removing the hinges and through measurements matching the frame mount, i would mount the hinges first, then take the hood with the hinges and mount on the frame with the eye bolts. That would have to put the hood centered.

I would not say my hinges are exactly centered. I did it the opposite of what you're describing. Fit the hood and got it where it was best. Then marked the drilled the hinges where they ended up. You have to do this with fitting and observation. Not only measurements. At least was my experience. As I said and you've found out. It's not symmetrical.

[Automan]

Awesome step by step. thankyou!!

The hinges are not one. I have really dialed it in. Erik's recommendation of removing the center lines that i did really helped.

[Automan]

Thankyou, I added the lower splash guards to help.

[Automan]

I don't know what to tell you other than I fought with mine for days it seems. I see the huge gaps at the main body. What is the alignment at the pontoons? That would help to tell if you really have a problem. I'll also add, if you haven't figured this out already, the nose is not symmetrical. It's a bit wider on the tire on the RH side compared to the left. You'll go crazy if you try to get everything exactly centered. You have to find the best overall fit. Including how the hinges end up being aligned. At least that's what helped me get mine acceptable.


You are So So right that the wheel well is wider on the right side (passenger Side) then the driver side. Here i am looking straight on and i see more of the tire on the driver side then the passenger side. That has been driving me nuts lololol,
Also, I had a second set of eyes look at it. I was using the wiper arm mounts to help me center the hood also. But damn!!!! they are not centered. Once i removed the center line that Erik suggested and ignored the wiper mounts, Things really lined up so much better.