Rallye Hood fit???

[jmartin99]

The '72 Challenger that I am restoring has a rallye hood on it.  The owner of the car does not like the fit of the hood and I am wondering if the problem is common among these cars/hoods.  On his car with the hood closed, the edge of the fenders are about 1/4-3/8" longer on both ends than the hood.  Right now the hood is centered.  If you were to move the hood forward to make the front edge's line up than the back would look much worse. 

Anybody else have this problem?  I don't know if the fenders are original or not, I am assuming they are.  If not, do after market fenders cause this?

I will try to get some pictures on here tonight.

Thanks!

Jeff

[sleepychallenger]

do you have the chrome trim on the front of the hood?

[jmartin99]

Yes, the trim piece is on the front of the hood.  It is black.

[sleepychallenger]

i have never heard of one being short like that. odd.

[426HEMI]

Dont remember anything about them being short.  The main problem was the hinge for it the back always poped up if they were worn at all.  Has the car been wrecked in the front?  Just wondered..

[422STROKER]

How do the detail lines on the hood line up with the same ones on the fenders?  I'd say that those would have to be pretty good to start with.

Tom

 

[sleepychallenger]

  pics would help

[Chryco Psycho]

sounds like a bad hood stamping to me

[jmartin99]

Okay, here are a few pics. 

When I went out to take the pics, I did notice something. At the front of the hood, the actual hood leading edge and the fender leading edge line up correctly.  The trim on the fender sticks out more than the trim on the hood and this is because there is a gap between the trim on the fender which is part of the headlight/header panel, correct?  The back part of the hood is still unexplained.









Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

Jeff 

[Moparal]

A slight bow in the fender?  How's the other side?  The gap on the drivers side looks to be angled.

[jmartin99]

Both sides are the same.  The body shop did not do a good job on lining up the body panels.  I have actually made it a ton better than it was!  I do not have the hood latch installed in the car right now because Booster Dewey is cad plating it along with the power booster and the Master Cylinder cap, so the pics are with me holding the hood down against the spring with my hand and snapping the picture.

Jeff

[Moparal]

You already know fenders adjust forward or backwards. Did the doors get hung first and adjusted to the body lines then the fenders?  Since your chrome is gapped it will be mis leading to.

[bb71challenger]

I cannot tell for sure but to my eye it looks like your hood/fender moldings are the problem, not the hood/fender relationship. It looks to me like the fender and hood edges meet perfectly and it is the fender molding that is the culprit.

[quapman]

I agree, it looks like your header panel needs to be pulled back to the fender a bit. I think you can loosen the strap that holds it to the fender, push it back and tighten the bolt (nut?).

Let us know how you make out.

Steve

[bb71challenger]

Oh I see I was not looking at both pics. Now I see where you are lacking hood up where the fender meets the windshield. Weird, never have seen a short hood like that, makes the bad hood stamping theory seem plausible. Do you have another hood to measure for comparison?