69 Camaro: Ring Brothers hood hinge, AMD fenders --- something is wrong

[parsonsj]

I'm not sure what's wrong, but I can't get the hood gaps right on my latest project. I took some measurements and wonder what you guys think:

85015

The hinge hole closest to the firewall is about 3" from the fender edge, and the hole towards the front of the car is 3.5" from the fender edge. On the hood (Anvil CF) the holes are 2.75 and 2.5", respectively. The front hole is .75" too far to the inside of the car, for some reason. The passenger side is the same way.

Any ideas?

[keithq69]

What's the distance between the hood hinge holes from side to side vs the holes on the hood?

When you posted the distance on the hood was that from the edge of the hood?
What's the overall width of the hood and the distance between the fenders.

[parsonsj]

Hood hinge holes from side to side are: back: 44.75, front 44.0. Hood holes are 44.75 in back, 44.5 in front. The front holes pinch to the middle of the hood by at least 1/2".

Fender width is 51.13 at the back holes, and 50.75 at the front holes. Hood width is about 50.75 at the back holes, and 50.38 on the front holes. (3/16 gap from fenders to hood on both sides).

[ChevelleNV]

The problem is AMD fenders are more than likely bad stampings. I had almost the exact same problem with the Chevelle not long ago. I ended up having to use an original fender on the drivers side, the passenger fender was close enough to the original I didn't have to replace it. but the drivers side was horrible and I tried 3 different fenders 2 from AMD and 1 from another manufacturer thinking maybe I just got some from a bad batch.

But after 3 tries I finally gave up and got an original fender. the driver side was never even close enough to modify, the inner shell where the hood hinge bolts to was almost a 1/2 off from the passenger side. the funny thing is the driver side i couldn't even get the top mounting hole on the cowl in position to bolt the fender on the car.

Just my .02 cents...

[parsonsj]

Greg, I just got off the phone with Travis at Ring Brothers, and he said the same thing. He said the hinges are supposed to be parallel, and that the measurement is 44 9/16" between centers. So the problem is the front hole, and that's caused by the fender stamping not being "crisp" enough.

And since they are aluminum, it makes moving them a bit more of a challenge. But at least I know what's wrong, and the right place to attack the problem. I wonder if I can get a hydraulic body puller/spreader and fix it that way... I need to move the front holes 3/8" outward on both sides.

[ChevelleNV]

Call the guy's at AMD and see what they have to say about this problem...