70ish

Hi, I'm in the process of installing a OEM tooth on an after market hood on my 70 cutlass. While the holes & edges match up well, the tooth seems to be bent inward a bit too much (rubbing on the grills). after lookings at many 70 cutlass pics on the internet i noticed many tooths seem bent inward, and i dont remember how my original tooth was appeared.

Question i have is, should the tooth be 90degrees perpendicular to the ground or should it have a slight bend inward at the bottom? if bent in, how much?

Thanks,
Ed

70Post

The "tooth" needs to be at whatever angle it takes to NOT rub on the grills. I suspect that is 90 degrees perpendicular to the ground...or possibly perpendicular to the flat "plane" of the top of the hood.

I'm assuming that your hood positioning/fitment is "good" re: front edge of hood to front edge of fenders and same on rear of hood to rear of fenders.

70ish

Thanks, yes the hood & hood gaps are all aligned. i put on the OEM hockey sticks to help align and it does seem to have a natural bend inward at the bottom. I wasnt sure if this was due to some previous damage or if this was by design. i can try and pull it out a bit but 90deg (yes perpendicular to the ground) seems to put too much stress on the tooth/hood connecting points.

Ed

VC455

I found the same. So I bent the hood attachment as far as I felt safe with and completed the 90° alignment by shimming the tooth/hood connection.