Trunk lid: should it sit flush with cowl panel?

[cabmandone]

I just put new hood struts on my car. The old ones wouldn't hold the hood up (common). I've noticed that my hood no longer sits flush with the cowl panel but is raised about the thickness of the hood. Is this normal? I have nothing to go by other than how it fit with worn out gas struts and it sat flush then.

Thanks for any help and pictures if provided.

[OffCamber00]

It should be flush. Sorry, no pics.

[bkreigsr]

There is a height, as well as a fore-aft, adjustment in the hinges, plus a left-right gap adjustment in the latch.
..and yes it should sit flat.
Bill K

[bkreigsr]

sorry - forgot pic. ...top pair - notice how the bolt holes are elongated - whole hinge can be rotated clockwise or counter-clockwise, pivoting on the bottom bolt.
Bill K

[cabmandone]

Bill,
That's the trouble, I've got the hinges rolled as far forward and down as I can get them and the hood is still up slightly from the cowl panel. If I remove the shocks the hood lines up fine. If I put the shocks back on, it lifts the hood slightly. I'm guessing my hinge points are worn allowing for movement when the struts are attached. I'm going to look at the spare hinge I have and see if I can find a way to take the play out of the hinge point.

I'm starting to think I got the horse ahead of the cart selling you those hinges before I had my car finished. But then again, I had no idea new struts would do what they are doing. I'm going to play around with the hinges I just finished painting and reinstalling and see what I can do. Bad gaps drive me crazy.

[bkreigsr]

maybe one/some of the captured nuts inside the bodywork has come free of the welds? is your hinge pin well lubed?

[cabmandone]

I would think if the nuts had come loose, I'd have a difficult time tightening the bolts which I don't. I'm doing some searching now on worn hood hinges and it sounds like this might be the problem. I'm considering using a die grinder to give myself a bit more adjustment, then if the new struts wear or let down slightly I can adjust the hood back up.
As for the hinges being well lubed, if I don't get this problem fixed quick, I'm going to be well lubed. The car is scheduled to go in for paint this week.

[cabmandone]

I got it much better. I loosened all 3 bolts holding the hinge. I then put a flat nail bar between the hinge stop and the cowl panel and pushed down on the hinge while pulling forward on the hood. Once it was where I wanted it, I tightened the forward bold then the top and bottom. I went to the other side and did the same and it it MUCH better. It's still somewhat lifted but nowhere near what it was.