How do I fix my misaligned front hood?

[Wil Ferch]

Aha !!!! .....

Not only is the shock on the wrong "side" of the respective mount, but being upside down (can?) cause the front edge of the hydraulic cylinder to "catch" on the underside of hinge in a place that it shouldn't...and therefore "push" on the lid itself when attempting to close ???

- Wil

[Christien]

Ok, so my first step at lunch will be to disconnect the shocks entirely! Eliminate that variable first! (not that they hold the bloody hood up that well in the first place, and they're both only a year or 2 old...)

[Christien]

WOAH!!! What a difference! You can barely tell, but on the driver's side shock, the shims were between the bolt and the hinge, not between the hinge and the hood, so were doing nothing in terms of angle or height. I put them (one shim or flat washer and one lock washer) between the hinge and hood (on the front bolt only) and disconnected the shocks, and the hood is almost perfectly level with the windshield cowl! I'll have to do the same with the passenger side, then reconnect the shocks to see if it all still fits. I can't last more than 10 min. in the garage right now, because we're in the midst of a massive heat wave - it's in the mid 30s (90+ F) and a million % humidity... So I'll play with it a bit more later and take some pics. I've also got a new (to me) Permatune box to install, so lots of work later.

Thanks everyone!

[Christien]

Ok, I got the shocks fixed and some shims in the front bolt. It's still not perfect, but it's way better than it was originally. Have a look at the pics - am I getting close to too many shims? There are 3 in the driver's side hinge and 2 in the passenger. Yeah, I know, but it sits evenly on both sides.

I flipped the shocks upside down and mounted the ball joints at the bottom and the pin connectors at the top, on the inside of the hinge, as was pointed out. I don't know if it's the upside-down (or now right-side-up) mounting or if it's the more vertical orientation, but the shocks are doing their job much better. Before replacing the shocks, I had the old broomstick. Before switching them last night, the shocks held *most* of the weight of the hood, but not all, so the broomstick was still necessary. Now, the broomstick is firewood. The shocks more than easily support the entire weight of the hood.

Thanks again for the help - any more advice on getting the hood to sit more flush with the windshield cowl? Just more shims?

Chris

[Wil Ferch]

I know its been suggested to use shims between the hings and lid...but shimming this area would ( in my mind) raise the lid position relative to the hinges. Meaning?...it will likely raise the lid from the bodywork.

So....try *no* shims...and report back....it's beginning to look more like Porsche intended...and less like a kludge fix.... every day !!

- Wil

EDIT--- I see the value of shimming the *front* bolt only, as people here noted this allows the hinge to swing a bit lower in the closed position. I would still try no shims first..then keep on adding shims ( even more than you have now) under the front bolt and see where you end up. It's possible the lid was "tweeked" a bit in the prior configuration.

[Ron.G]

That drivers side hinge looks twisted to me.

[ossiblue]

Things look better at the cowel, but it looks like a widening gap running down the fenders. Try Will's suggestion first, now that the shocks are correct, and start from there. Although the Porche manuels suggest the use of shims to adjust cowel height, I have'nt seen many used (admittedly limited experience) and if all parts are correct, you shouldn't need that many. You have plenty of time, work slowly and in small steps as you have been. If worse comes to worst, you can consult a bodyman.

[Christien]

Wil, the front-most hinge attachment acts as a fulcrum to change the angle the hood sits at. The front edge of the hood (where in latches) will close and latch at the front regardless of the angle, so if the angle gets altered a slight bit, it changes how the upper edge meets the windshield cowl. Here's a really crude MS Paint drawing:



This is working, at least to some extent.

Ron, can you describe a bit how the hinge looks twisted? That's one concern I noted earlier.

Thanks.

[Christien]

LJ, you've got a good eye! I'm not sure how you noticed the widening gap running down the fenders, but it's there. The hood sits ever so slightly angled towards the passenger side, so the gap on the driver's side increases by a couple mms by the bottom (front end of the car). I did address this slightly last night, but I can still massage it more. One compounding problem is that the fenders are fibreglass pieces, replaced by some PO in the past, so the gaps aren't ever going to be as good as factory panels. The gaps between the fenders and doors are notably large on the passenger side. I guess I've just learned to live with it until I can replace them. You may have noticed that the gas filler cap is inside the trunk, too. There's no gas flap in the left fender. Annoying...

[The Turk]

Keep going, you’re getting there…
Add washers until it’s flat, get longer bolts if necessary, be careful not to go too long as they might dent the hood outwards if they bottom out.
Many hardware stores sell spacers, after you find the proper thickness of washers you may want to swap them out for one spacer, it will look a little cleaner.
The holes in the hinge should be larger than the bolts, loosen both bolts on one of the hinges and push it to the left or right of the car depending which way you’re trying to move the hood, retighten the bolts and do the other side going in the same direction.
This should help a little.
Good luck.

[Ron.G]

From one of your pictures it looks like the hinge is bent inward at the bottom, almost to the point of touch the hood shock. 4th picture down.

I would think that if the hood was not like this before force was applied, that something has bent. The driver side hinge looks twisted to me.

[Christien]

Ok, I see what you mean. That's what I was referring to above about the damage. I thought it looked a bit bent, too. I've try to fix it by holding a piece of wood to it and then hammering the wood, but I couldn't get it to budge at all, even with as much force as I was able to hit it with at an awkward angle. I thought about pulling the hinge completely and straightening it out on the work bench, but I've read several posts saying removing the hood is a nightmare, esp. without several people, very heavy, easy to damage paint or crack the windshield, etc. so I haven't tried that.

[Ron.G]

Have someone give you a hand. It is not bad at all.
get some foam type pipe insulation and slide it on the bottom of the hood. That way you won't have to worry about nicking the paint on the cowl or hood.

Also mark the under side of the hood where the hinge bolts up to the hood.that way you will be close in alignment with the new hinges. A grease pencil works and you can wipe if off later.
Check your alignment at the front hood latch. DO NOT CLOSE IT ALL THE WAY. Just close it to the first latch and make sure you can release it buy the leaver.

Watch the hood strike and latch to make sure they are lining up nicely.
You don't want to end up with a hood that will not open

[TroyGT]

That driver's side hinge looks totally hosed to me. Looks like it has been bent inwards or something. Mine doesn't look like that at all.

-Troy