Ring Brother hood hinge install nightmare on 1970 Cutlass

[DreKoushRanada]

Does anyone have any pointers on installing these on this car? The lighter shocks just made the situation worse. Am I missing something obvious?

[dhutton]

Could you be more specific on what your issue is. Maybe post pics.

[DreKoushRanada]

Apologies. I'm about to post them now.

[DreKoushRanada]

[dhutton]

Try raising the front to bring the back down,assuming the rear is all the way down.

Also those hinges will bind if the mounting flange on the fender is not perpendicular to the hood mounting surface.

[DreKoushRanada]

Try raising the front to bring the back down,assuming the rear is all the way down.

Also, those hinges will bind if the mounting flange on the fender is not perpendicular to the hood mounting surface.

I will give that a try. I've spent days on just this hood. You don't think the rear rubber hood stop will be preventing it, do you? The hinges are squared up well. It will stay down in the back once I push it. Do you mean I need to raise the core support? I am using poly bushings throughout the car, and it's made things line up differently.

[dhutton]

No raise the hinge on the front mounting bolt. This will force the rear lower.

[DreKoushRanada]

No raise the hinge on the front mounting bolt. This will force the rear lower.

OK. I will do that. I might have to break out the Dremel to give me more adjustment on the hinges. The way they engineered the hinges isn't ideal. You can't access some of the bolt holes once the shocks are installed. Which is an utter failure of a design.

[raustinss]

Novel idea .... reach out to ring brothers????

[hp jnkey]

Reach out to Nolan at LS Technologies. Fesler and probably others get struts from these guys.
Fesler no longer make or sell hood hinges but they gave me this name.

Call Nolan , he might have a solution , struts might be wrong tension for your Glass hood ?
1-306-683-5000
[email protected]

They're in Sask Canada

[boss_hoss]

I will give that a try. I've spent days on just this hood. You don't think the rear rubber hood stop will be preventing it, do you? The hinges are squared up well. It will stay down in the back once I push it. Do you mean I need to raise the core support? I am using poly bushings throughout the car, and it's made things line up differently.

I think he means like this.

The level of the front of the hood is determined by the latch and the hood stops more than the hinge at the back.

How does the hood fit without any struts? I assume it will sit flat since you can push it down by hand. I'm wondering if they are slightly too long or they just have too much pressure in them.

One other big thing to consider is that from the factory GM shimmed the crap out of all the front end Sheetmetal to make everything line up. Since it appears you are in the body work phase how much are the fenders shimmed at the firewall. It won't account for that big of a gap, but it might not be as far off as you think.

[DreKoushRanada]

Novel idea .... reach out to ring brothers????

Yes, they gave me every generic answer. They were "helpful," but I don't think they were that skilled with this make and model. They sent me lighter springs, but that made the situation worse. So I am back to the original springs.

[DreKoushRanada]

I think he means like this.

The level of the front of the hood is determined by the latch and the hood stops more than the hinge at the back.

How does the hood fit without any struts? I assume it will sit flat since you can push it down by hand. I'm wondering if they are slightly too long or they just have too much pressure in them.

One other big thing to consider is that from the factory GM shimmed the crap out of all the front end Sheetmetal to make everything line up. Since it appears you are in the body work phase how much are the fenders shimmed at the firewall. It won't account for that big of a gap, but it might not be as far off as you think.

The hood fits perfectly when the gas struts are removed. That was the reason I initially went with the lighter springs when the issue started. I have used a lot of shims, but I can always add more. It was pounds of shims that fell out when I initially took the car apart. Haha! The lighter springs basically turn the hood into a hair-triggered guillotine. Which sucks after paying that much for these things. It's as if there isn't enough piston travel in the gas struts, and it makes too much pressure. I might have to chalk it up and use a hood prop. Smh

[Vimes]

The hood fits perfectly when the gas struts are removed.

Question - with the struts removed, can you lift up on the back of the hood? If so that would mean it's still out of adjustment, you just don't have the struts making it obvious. I would try Boss Hoss's recommendation as that would remove the slack you currently have. It's also a recommendation on the Ring Bros directions.

Incidentally, the rear hood stops would not cause this. If the rear stops were the issue, you would not be able to push the hood down to the correct level.

[DreKoushRanada]

Question - with the struts removed, can you lift up on the back of the hood? If so that would mean it's still out of adjustment, you just don't have the struts making it obvious. I would try Boss Hoss's recommendation, as that would remove the slack you currently have. It's also a recommendation in the Ring Bros directions.

Incidentally, the rear hood stops would not cause this. If the rear stops were the issue, you would not be able to push the hood down to the correct level.

I will check and report back. Thank you all for your assistance.

[csouth]

I would think that you need to raise the front of the hood hinge as dhutton has suggested. Take the hood off the hinges and loosen the front and rear bolts of the hinges to the fender. With the hinges collapsed, lay the hood on top of the hinges and set the height. Once the hood is level, lift the hood off and lock the hinges in place.

[dhutton]

If it closes fine without the gas strut I’m going to guess it’s binding. Seen it before. Loosen the hood mounting bolts and see if it improves. Try some lube.

[ProTouring442]

Put a shim under the back hole of the hood.

[DreKoushRanada]

Thank you all. I will get back to the garage soon. My son will have to help me.