Hey, not sure where to post a body work and panel alignment question. Please move if needed. My hood on my 70 GS doesn’t quite line up anymore. The front of the hood doesn’t quite line up with the passenger side fender but the hood does line up on the driver side fender. The rear of the hood is higher on both sides. I’ve never done body work and not sure where to start with trying to adjust fitment. Any thoughts on how to align? History on it...Got back from paint and body a year ago and the hood all lined up with the fenders front and back. The only thing I've added since getting back from the body shop a year ago was the rear hood seal and the car was up on jack stands for a year. Finally back on the ground. During the time on jack stands, I raised and lowered the hood a few times. And I did notice the front core support bushing/bolts were not fully tightened after I had it up on the jack stands. I did pop the two bolts on the passenger fender under the door so that I could rotate the fender well out so I could install the AC suitcase and blower motor. I've since put the passenger wheel well back in and rebolted the two bolts on the passenger fender by the door. I never loosened the top fender or core support to fender bolts. Thanks Nick
Was all the sheet metal lined up nicely before the car was on jack stands for a long time? You may want to go thru the complete body sheet metal alignment procedure if you can't figure out what changed since you got the car back. The body front sheet metal alignment procedure is usually the best way to get it all lined up . This information is located in the Chassis Service Manual. If you don't have a manual I could send you the copied pages or perhaps someone on here could send them to you over the net.
Two things.....is your new hood seal a repop seal that is too thick and causing the hood stress and not allowing the hood to close properly. With the car sitting that long on jack stands....If the body bolts were not tightened correctly...the body panels shifted and moved. As you claim you’re not a body man....I suggest you bring it back to your body man....as you may cause more issues trying to correct it. Leave it to the experts.
Possible...I bought it new from NPD, need to find out which one it was. Car was on jack stands for over a year. First with just the front jacked up for about 6 months then all four wheels off the ground for the remainder. Here’s some more pics. To me, everything else seems to line up. It just seems the hood to the passenger fender on the front edge is the biggest issue. The rear of the hood could be due to the seal I added. It's new and hasn't been pressed down.
X2 remove the hood seal and start from there. I tried to replace the one on my car back in 86 and had an issue you’re better off sticking with original hood seals.
You probably received one of those crappy repop hood seals from NPD....that comes with the repop plastics push in clips :-(
Just behind the front tires where the frame curves just under the two body bushings...Oh yeah, my profile pic shows it.. Yeah, the hood seal from NPD for a Chevelle, but I installed the metal push pins instead of the plastic. Guess I need to remove it and see and then source a new one. Never had a seal on the back of the hood to begin with.
Now relocated your front two jack stands and place them under your two front shocks and see if there is a change in your body gaps?
Took the real hood seal off and the hood sits down in the back...Only problem spot is the front passenger fender to hood edge. Car is back on the ground now
It looks to me like your front fender to door gap is off. Wider at the top than the bottom. My gut tells me that when you tightened the core support bushings you pulled the nose of the car down. I am by no means a body expert. just my .02 Cliff
