Need Hood Help

[JimNolan]

Guys,
Ever since I've had my car (2004) I've had to put up with the back right side of the hood being about 1/4" higher than the left. We all know why this happens (trying to close hood from one side instead of going in front and using the hood ornament to close it with). My question is this: Have any of you had any luck trying to twist it back into original shape. I've always been afraid I'd wreck the paint job if I tried. Thanks guys, hope everyone is doing good and ready for winter.

[geraldchainsaw]

sorry,  i can't help u out about the 1/4",    but i alwlays thought to close the hood u had to push it down in the center by the windshield,   and now i find out u have to use the hood ornament,  i'll have to give it a try.      jerry

[RICH MUISE]

Hey Jim....We've all read that the assembly line guys had assortments of 2x4's and the like to make final adjustments, and the manual shows how to tweek doors and trunks. I've tweeked my hood and doors and trunk all after painting. Just be careful and use moderate pressure so you don't bend or crease anything.
I've used towel wrapped 2 x4's, but the best thing I used was and old length of Durablock sanding block.

[pepfalcon]

adjustable hood stops on each side of hood should take care of 1/4 inch. remember to readjust hood latch, too. do you have 58 or 59 hood latch? these work much better than 57 ones, require less effort to close hood.

[hiball3985]

I remove the hood latch first to get the adjustment on the corner stops the put the latch back on and adjust. Sometimes it does require a little tweaking, a 1/4" spread out over the width of the hood is very little and shouldn't cause a problem.

[JimNolan]

Thanks guys,
  I always just lowered the latch and slammed the hood down and that took care of it. But I raised the latch so it would close with little pressure and that is what I ended up with. I think I'll just start closing it from the passenger side and bent the hood back slowly that way. lol

[djfordmanjack]

it would be very easy and little effort to bend that hood corner down by putting a 2 inch block on the other side and push down the pssgr corner by hand ( possibly standing on a crate or ladder). if you don't feel like doing that, you could also open up the hood all the way to the front, stand right in front of the hood and grab each corner with your left and right hand and simply start twisting counter clockwise. only a little at a time ! if you don't like or aren't aware of bodywork, you could easily do remedy with the adjustable rubber hood stops and lowering the latch as said above. What comes to my mind is, that you should check your fender gaps at the doors and generally the frontend sheetmetal alignment. if you find any uneven gaps at the fenders to doors ( a pillars) it could very well be, that you still have a straight hood but misaligned frontend (by sagged rubber and spring on the radiator support, which actually carries all the frontend weight)!

[wv 57s forever]

   dents in hood when using orn.

[wighty]

I did not know about 58/59 hood latches being used on 57's because they work easier.  Can anyone give me more information on this?  Is it a bolt in modification?

[Ford Blue blood]

Is it a bolt in modification?

Yes.

[lalessi1]

I did not know about 58/59 hood latches being used on 57's because they work easier.  Can anyone give me more information on this?  Is it a bolt in modification?

Wighty, here is a discussion about the latches.
http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=5578.msg43924#msg43924

My hood is too flat against the cowl, anybody ever tried to fix that... the hood is off the car now

[djfordmanjack]

Lynn. same rough procedure as with other body/door/hood alignment. lay the hood on a flat part of the garage ( possibly covered with blankets, if the hood has good paint), with the inside up and outside facing the floor. wedge some cardboard or else soft stuff under the front of the hood so the rear edge barely touches the ground ( lays flat) than put some wood boards under the outer rear corners, that will lift the rear edge an inch or so above ground (you might want to adjust the frond cardboard stack accordingly). now, what you do is gently step on the middle of the rear hood edge and put more body weight on it as you go, while you watch it going down. you can put stacks of thin pieces of plywood under the middle so to limit the way you will bend the hood. Remember that the hood will spring back some, and that if you bend it too much, the paint might crack or the hood getting wrinkles, dents or else. Most probably you are thinking of an 1/8 of an inch that the hood is too flat and that could probably be bent back by pushing it down 1/4 or 3/8 of an inch. All of that might sound scary, but that's the way it works (for me).

[djfordmanjack]

Lynn, Stop ! First thing you do is put a new cowl rubber on the car and adjust the latch and rubber stops and check if you can work your hood with that. the cowl rubber will put a lot of pressure to the middle of the hood and change alignment.

[lalessi1]

Guenter. Thanks, that was my plan in general. The hood has good paint, the cowl rubber is a couple of years old but the hood is flat by at least 1/2 inch. I adjusted the cowl plenum cover as far down as possible but the center of the hood is 3/8 low in the center and doesn't even touch the bumpers screwed all the way down in the corners. there is a VERY slight buckle in the middle of the hood as a result. I will give it a try and report back!

[lalessi1]

Well I finally got my hood back on the car and it fits nicely. I never thought I would see the day! Guenter I turned the hood over, put short 4x4's under each rear corner, protecting the paint with folded towels. I knelt on the hood in the center of the rear edge on one knee and bounced up and down stopping to measure any change. Scarey procedure!!!! IT WORKED!!!!

Before