[69gtocv]

Finally got my Goodmark hood painted/buffed and installed. The hood sits up all the way around. I remember to get the back of the hood to sit down you raised the hood and lifted it to drop the back of the hinges down, but what about when needing to drop the whole hood down??? Drop the whole hinge further down the fender?? Also, looking at the hood latch... there is a hook and a pawl with teeth on it. It appears that the further you shut the hood down over the latch, the arm catches the teeth on the pawl and the hook part then draws down the hood further... does that describe it right? It's almost like you can bring the hood down in the front as far as you need by just pushing down harder til it clicks where you want it...correct?? Thanks, Jeff

[gto4evr]

Jeff,

drop the hinge down at the back bolts and raise the front of the hinge at the front bolts. A little goes a long way and after you get it right, go back and check your wiper arm clearance. (you may need to move the hood forward a tad after the height's right so the arms don't rub). For the front, first make sure your vibration stops aren't up too high, There's no up/down adjustment on the latch. it's two stage and only one "click" to lock it down. I had the same height problem at the front. Only way I was able to fix it was to put some washers between the latch and the the rad support (bringing the latch lower in relation to the support). Technically you could also space the fenders higher but that means readjusting the nose. Too many adjustments on these cars, how come you just can't bolt A to B like a battery clamp?!

Back to work!!!
Dennis

[RicksGTO]

I agree with Dennis, most of the correction will come from the angle of the hinge bracket that attaches to the fender, might use a little wd-40 in that contact point to get it to slide more fully before you tighten the bolts. I also had to shave a little off the rubber vibration wedges (definately remove them to shave them) that fit on the fender inside to allow the hood to seat lower. This was the only way I could get a nice narrow hood to fender gap as those little wedges were a little too thick for me.

[69gtocv]

Dennis, I knew about dropping the back/raising the front, but wouldn't that also raise the front more? I know it fixes high back ends (that sounds weird!). Hmmm, the washers under the latch might work. No front bumpers on the core support yet, but I do think the hood is hitting the side front bumpers that mount to the fenders... almost like the fenders are too close together preventing the hood from sitting down between them further??? But if I move out the fenders, then they sit out from the bumper.. and you're right, I don't want to screw with the bumper adjustment any. NOTHING on this car has been easy... sheesh

[69gtocv]

Rick, we responded the same time.. yeah, it looks like those side bumpers are extremely thick. Maybe I'll take them out and see how the hood sits... then shave them as necessary.

[RicksGTO]

That did it for mine, I spent half a weekend tweeking the fenders, the angle of the hinge and taking a 1/3 off those bumpers finally did it. It came out nice and then I sold it, kind of wish I had that one back!

[69gtocv]

Rick, thanks, that'll be my course of action. And yes, yours turned out great. Oh, and did you also have to shave the back side bumpers too?

[marauder]

Originally Posted by RicksGTO

That did it for mine, I spent half a weekend tweeking the fenders, the angle of the hinge and taking a 1/3 off those bumpers finally did it. It came out nice and then I sold it, kind of wish I had that one back!

That is sharp, I like the look of the sport mirrors too.

[RicksGTO]

thanks Marauder, the previous owner added those mirrors but I thought they looked better than stock. Yes, on the rear side bumpers, I had to shave them an equal amount to the front side ones but it depends on how your fenders line up. You just want them to hold the hood slightly and protect the fenders while allowing the right gap.

[69gtocv]

Originally Posted by RicksGTO

thanks Marauder, the previous owner added those mirrors but I thought they looked better than stock. Yes, on the rear side bumpers, I had to shave them an equal amount to the front side ones but it depends on how your fenders line up. You just want them to hold the hood slightly and protect the fenders while allowing the right gap.

Gotcha, thanks again

[gto4evr]

Hey, you guys, GET BACK TO WORK! (I'd be dead if they watched my system activity lately!) It's worse having open auctions on ebay as well!....Rick, I forgot the shaving bumper part of the equation, I think they did it at the factory as well, I had popped all the bumpers from a pair of unmolested matching fenders and they were not all the same angles and some were definitely cut. I agree with the other guys here, those body mirrors work great on that car! I've got a chrome remote on my 69 and it's pissing me off to no end not having a mirror on the right. I'm too used to driving my 71 around with two mirrors. now if I only had an extra set of the 71 mirrors.....

Jeff, I think the height of the front hinge bolts controls the height of the rear of the hood, the back bolts control the pitch of the hood. So if you've got the back down correct but the front rises up (without side bumpers or the latch, meaning it doesn't want to drop lower) then you need to let the rear of the hinge come up a little. This may require re-adjusting the front of the hinge up to get to a lower starting point. Sounds confusing. I found the best technique to be snugging up the bolts, getting it where I want it closed, then only open the hood far enough to reach in there and tighten the bolt before opening the hood all the way. Helps if you have someone holding the hood. Doing it this way takes the weight off the hinge so it doesn't counterbalance when you're trying to tighten the bolt before the hinge slips and you swear for the 15th time! I do that with the rear set of bumpers on so the hood doesn't mash into the fender. (Let me get you a close up of my fender where I gouged the crap out of it by not paying attention!)

Later,
Dennis

[69gtocv]

Dennis, no.. what you said makes sense to me. I was thinking about that and taking all the bumpers off.. I can see the chipped paint now.. I'll leave the back ones on for now. I may get back out there tonight to work on it.. or not.. I am the Master of Procrastination!
Work smork... I hate Mondays (yes, tuesday is monday for me)

[gtohurstjudge]

I'll throw in my two cents.....First of all....make sure your rear
hood bumper on top of the cowl is not too tall. The repros always have to be
shaved down for the hood to
be able to go down and meet the fenders.
Second.......the lowest you can adjust the hood in the back is by raising
the front of the hinge as high as it will go and lowering the back of the hinge
as low as it will go. Third.....No matter how much you adjust the rear hinge bolts, if your hinges are worn out due to rivet slop, the hood will never go
down all the way in the back. All original GTO hinges are worn out by now.
If you still have your originals, you need to buy a set of repros or have
your originals restored. I put repros on mine to solve my hood not wanting
to go down in the back problem. Fourth.....you are correct....the front hood latch will ratchet down....i.e. there is more than one position it will latch in
depending on how hard you slam it and how high the front hood bumpers are
installed. I have never seen side wedges that were reproduced too thick, so
I doubt that is your problem. Last of all, unless you want to repaint your
hood and fenders, never shut your hood without all the side wedges installed!

[gto4evr]

I'm eating the crow and man enough to take it! Front latch DOES ratchet down. Plain as day with the latch sitting in front of me and the service manual spells it out. Thanks for the humbling, now it's time to hang my head in shame! Now.....do I take mine back apart to remove the ILLEGAL washers or was it an issue that it WAS ratcheted down al the way already and STILL didn't go down far enough........

[pugslyx234]

Maybe the washers under the latch isnt so bad of an idea cause who wants to slam the hood that hard, so gto4evr i may use your idea , thanks. Woody
Oops forgot to look at the Date 07 me bad.

[gto4evr]

Originally Posted by pugslyx234

Maybe the washers under the latch isnt so bad of an idea cause who wants to slam the hood that hard, so gto4evr i may use your idea , thanks. Woody
Oops forgot to look at the Date 07 me bad.

Woody,

Been awhile since I've been on PY -- this is a blast from the past! I'll say Jeff did get the hood looking nice. I went out to visit him for the Nationals in OR a few years ago when he put the car up to the judges (got silver) -- the car's beautiful and it sold me on swallowing my anti-repop attitude as far as the hoods are concerned. The center body line's not correct but unless you're willing to mortgage your house for a perfect original, it's not anything you'd really notice. I'll trade rust for a faint body line any day.

as to the washer thing, I did that to a one-armed friends car so he could get his hood open with one hard pull and he loves it that way. Before, the safety would always catch it then he'd have to ask for help getting the hood open, now he gives it one pull and the spring action pops it up high enough not to catch when he releases the lever.

[rememberfireball#22]

This is a very interesting thread. I am in process of repainting my 68 now. I removed both fenders, hood , both doors , and deck lid and painted all of these separately so I could also paint and clear all the jams at same time. I hate to see dry overspray blowed into a jam, likewise same for paint line where someone has tried to tape out a door jam to keep overspray out. This thread will be very helpful when I start to put hood back on and start trying to line everthing up.

[pugslyx234]

Howdy Dennis, thanks for replying this forum is the best place for info about these ole cars and talkin to guys, Woody

[Greg Reid]

I know this is old but my god..that is some of the best fitting sheet metal and endura that I have seen anywhere!

[RicksGTO]

thanks Greg, I agree it was one of the best fitting front ends on a GTO I've seen, I sold it to a good Pontiac guy in NJ in '06 and he still has it now as far as I know. It has a white interior now though.