How do I fix my misaligned front hood?

[Christien]

My front hood doesn't sit right when closed - it sits a bit high, not meeting up with the panel that runs along the bottom of the windshield. It's not a question of shims in the hinges, or adjusting where it sits on the hinges - I've tried all that, and it just moves it forwards and backwards. If I push down on it, the forwards/backwards alignment is perfect. It's just sitting high. I tried removing the shocks, but that didn't make a difference. I'm pretty sure the hinge or something is bent. When I bought the car, there was a collar on the left shock that you could move into place to hold the hood up. The shock was old and didn't support the weight of the hood, so someone had rigged this up. Of course I ditched that and replaced the shock. But here's the story - within a day or 2 of buying it, my wife was putting something in there, and didn't realize the collar was holding the hood up - she assumed it was just shocks like any other car, so of course she tried to slam it closed. I was in the driver's seat and of course the hood closed to reveal a horrified look on my face!

It's worse on the driver's side than the passengers - I'm suspicious that one is causing the other.

Anyway, I'm finally getting around to dealing with this minor cosmetic issue that's really starting to drive me nuts! I've spent hours examining the hinge and everything in there, and everything *looks* normal, though I'm sure it isn't. I've tried hammering the hinge towards the outside driver's side so it sits more upright, but that didn't make any difference. You can see in the pics that there's some rust where the hinge has at some point rubbed against the rim where the rubber seal sits. It moves clearly, but obviously hasn't always.

Any ideas? Pics:

driver's side hinge:



pass. side hinge:


other angles of the driver's side hinge:



Pics from the outside:



Thanks!

Chris

[The Turk]

Try putting a few washers or a spacer about ¼ inch thick between the hood and the front bolt on the hinge, this allows the hinge to swing to a lower position.
Sounds weird I know, just try it.

[kcpaz]

have you tried adjusting the hinge mounts? Loosen the 6 bolts on the mounts (3 on each side), then close the hood and see if you can push the back of the hood down to meet the cowl. If you can get them to match, then you know that's where your problem is.

I don't know about bent hinges. Those things are pretty tough. I would think you would bend the hood before you would bend the hinge. Maybe not.


Also, was the hood seal recently replaced? Maybe that's it. Don't know, just throwing things out there.

[aerocrosby]

I had the same problem after I shut the hood with a small screwdriver sitting on the ledge right next to the left hinge. What an idiot! No amount of tweaking would fix it. I called EASY Porsche parts in Emoryville, CA and Jim sent me a used hinge. Took care of the problem in 15 minutes!

[Christien]

Thanks guys - all cheap and easy solutions! I'll try spacers and the hood mounts, and if that doesn't work, I'll buy a new hinge.

I'll report back on my findings.

[khamul02]

It looks like you have a couple rusty spots by that seal that you may want to treat, po15, and touch up with some paint until you can deal with it properly.

[Wil Ferch]

Is it just me...or am I not familair with the early cars... ?????

Why is the hinge and angle of the hood shock the way it is?...why is it offset?...are the hinges on "reversed" ( side-to-side?). The shock should be pointed straight down. I think on the "other" side of the hinge if I recall later cars correctly.

I think there is something much more fundamental at work here ( meaning... fundamentally wrong, not just fixed by added "spacing washers"). Maybe someone with longhood experience can chime-in.

Oh..BTW....look after he sloppy routing of wires in the hinge area..not clipped or otherwise protected from chafing. I see a big fire in your future.

- Wil

[Christien]

I can't speak to the way the shocks sit, but they don't look to be on backwards or left <-> right or anything like that.

Nothing to worry about the wires - they're for the inside hood light, and they were cut when the car was painted (poorly, by a PO, not me). I've never bother reconnecting them, so there's no juice running through them.

[The Turk]

Try the spacer, I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t work, it goes under the front bolt only of both hinges, NOT both bolts, you can use a nut as the spacer.
I know it sounds weird adding a spacer to make it lower but it works.

[Christien]

Well, come to think of it, it doesn't sound that strange. If it goes under the FRONT bolt only, then it changes the angle of the hood as it lies on the flat hinge top. I'll give it a shot when I'm in the garage later.

[ossiblue]

Both you and The Turk got it right--the spacer changes the angle of the hood on the hinge. I can't tell from the pics, but is there a spacer of any kind under the REAR bolt? This could be the cause of the misalignment.

[Wil Ferch]

Something is still not right. The upper mounting point should be where the red wire feeds into the bracket in the original photos ( photos under subtitile "other angles of the driver's side hinge:").

I couldn't find another pic...but look at Kilodawg's pic here on the thread for strut braces. It seems the shock is mounted on the wrong side of the bracket in Christien's case.

---> Strut Brace Info and Pics... please

- Wil

[Christien]

LJ, yes, if memory serves there are spacers (thin washers) under both bolts, but I'll have to double check. Can't see in the pics.

Wil, I see what you mean in that linked thread. Though as you said earlier, could this be a difference with early longhood cars? The shorthoods I would imagine are somewhat lighter, so maybe the shock mounting was moved then?

[Christien]

I just looked up hinges in the Pelican catalogue, and it's the same part # from 1965-1998. Here's the pic from the parts diagram - it doesn't really answer the question at all, unfortunately:

[ossiblue]

Christien,
I was referring to spacers between the hinge and the hood, sorry if I was unclear. By the way, from the diagram you posted, it looks like spacer #10 (between the hinge and the hood)is the key to this puzzle.
BTW, the shocks are typically mounted with the rod end down and yours have the rod end up. This may be what's causing the odd angle the Will sees and what makes the set up look odd. Don't think it matters much, and certainly doesn't affect the misalignment. My understanding is the shocks will wear out sooner the way you have them because when the hood is closed, the cylinder is "up" and the seals inside dry out and eventually leak. Can't confirm, but it makes some sense.

[Christien]

No, I understood exactly what you meant, and that's what I tried to say in my reply, but re-reading it now, what I wrote was rather unclear! Sorry. Yep, #10 is the one.

[Wil Ferch]

Here's a post related to short hood cars...but the mounting principle should be the same. At least it "looks" right, w/o the severe angle of the shock shown by Christien. This *can't* be right...whether old car or new.

Here's the link that shows trunk/carpet install...but each photo gives a clearer indication of shock location. --->

Triple Header Project

Once you sort this..... yes, *then* start futzing with spacers and such. But not when the shock is in a (probably) blatently wrong position to begin with.

- Wil

[svandamme]

i had this problem with the heavy duty weltmeister shocks... they were pushing too hard and pushed the whole thing up....

removed them and used a broom to keep it open, with the intention of getting the 964 RS metal rod setup, but sold the car before that...

[ossiblue]

Christien,
Just checked my long hood. The shock is upside down as I noted. If it is reversed, the cylinder will attatch INSIDE the indentation--opposite of where the ball and socket attachment shows in your photo. Will is correct in the unusual angle he noted. I still don't think this is the cause of the misalignment, but it can't hurt to get things right.

[Christien]

Wow, I can't believe I or anyone else never noticed that they're upside down! Does the ball attachment on the hinge just screw off? I'll have to look more closely, but I'm not sure I can just reverse the ball on top and the socket with pin/cotter pin on the bottom. I wonder if someone in the car's 35-year history deliberately reversed them.

I'll have a closer look at lunch.