71boosted

So i purchased a brand new bolt on 442 fiberglass hood for my car. First to come up is that the hood hinges have been tweaked. SO...i removed those, plan to hit the mounting portion with a bit of heat and slowly beat them back into position.

Anywho...while test fitting the hood, just for visual entertainment, i noticed that with the hood laying flat it didnt sit flush...AT ALL. The hinges had already been removed, yet they wont even sit flush in the back near the windshield, yet sits perfectly fine in the front. IS there a reason as to why it wouldnt sit flush? do i need to tweak the fenders? thanks for any help to start. ill post and load up pics tomorrow.

Al Sanchez

I don't know if you will ever find a fiberglass hood to fit right I had to do a lot of fiberglass work on mine to get it to fix semi good. Where I got the hood they had 4 of then and all where warped,I took the best looking one and still had to do work on it. You know you need softer hood springs for fiberglass hoods? I got them for mine but after some fiberglass and a little bonding work on the hood it made it a little heavy for those soft springs that I had to put the original springs back on. Mine still don't fit 100% perfect but make a big difference on the look

Allan R

Your post is kind of confusing. You removed the hinges? Does that mean they're not on the fenders at all?
You can't 'tweak' the fenders to fix this if the hood has the wrong curve to it.

What kind (brand) hood is it?

Typically if the hood sits high at the back there is a procedure involving the fender to hinge bolts that will help the back sit lower.
1. loosen all 6 lower hinge bolts.
2. Have a helper stand at the front of the car and push the hood up as high as it will go.
3. While the hood is being forced up, tighten all 6 bolts and gently lower the hood. This is apparently how Olds fitted the hoods and they didn't have much more than about 30 seconds to do it.

Most OAI hoods will have a degree of unevenness due to the fibreglass. If you ever see one that is perfect all the way along the fender edge? It's had countless hours spent on it making it perfect like that.

442rocketdave

AlanR is right on the money with that and I have had some luck with putting weights on the hood on the high spots and putting the heat lamps for several hours and then once the hood settles then I would pour cold Not Ice but cool water on the hood which would help set the hood. I also have had to fiberglass and bondo the hoods to get them to look half way decent. Even factory hoods are uneven. I would not mess with the fenders at all!! Good luck

71boosted

I removed the hood hinges just to see how it would lay. I have to straighten out the hinges that's why they were removed. I was just curious since my formula hood on the firebird I traded off had fit pretty flush. I'll finaggle it and make it sit somewhat decent thanks for the replies fellas.