New hood alignment fun. Any advice?

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MRGTX

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Maybe I’m a bit dense but I’ve gone around and around trying to adjust the mounting points on the hinges. I’ll fix one side and then it’s messed up in a new, exciting way.

Is there a trick? I plan to keep messing with it but I feel like at some point In ~50 tries, I should have gotten it to sit properly.

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I used a factory hood and it took me a while. Sometimes you have to walk away and come back later.
 
I adjusted one last week, I've found that removing the latch and spring that pop's the hood helps. I removed mine and replaced them after I got the hood right. I found that the spring holds the hood up off the bump stops, after I removed it, it let the hood rest on the stops were I could tell where I was at. It is best to remove the whole latch support and replace it after the hood is right because there's a chance of breaking the tabs that hold the spring.
 
Gonna take a shot in the dark here- is your new hood only for your year Dart or does it also fit 69 Barracuda? Reason I ask is I've always been told that while the hoods look the same that the adjustability of the hinges differ. Maybe some one knows if a hinge swap would be the ticket.
 
Gonna take a shot in the dark here- is your new hood only for your year Dart or does it also fit 69 Barracuda? Reason I ask is I've always been told that while the hoods look the same that the adjustability of the hinges differ. Maybe some one knows if a hinge swap would be the ticket.

Yessir. AAR uses the same part for both. The hood even came marked with “69 Barracuda” on a piece of masking tape.

This would explain it. Has anyone else had this problem? Honestly, I think I’d just get hood pins rather than swap hinges... if it comes to that.
 
The difference in the 69 barracuda hood and the 73 dart hood are the 69 had threaded plates inside the hood that allowed the hood to adjust, the 73 up had slots in the hinges that allowed for adjustment and the threaded holes in the hood are fixed in place. I'd say your hood has fixed holes as it is fiberglass. Your car looks like a 73 to 76 so you should have the hinges that allow for adjustment. A lot of fiberglass hoods are a little "different" you may need to slot the holes in the hinges for a little more adjustment.
 
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Is the hood sitting on the bump stops in front on both sides in the picture? The latch should be adjusted to hold the hood down on the stops on both sides. If the right side of the hood is on the stop and the left side is not, lower the latch to pull it down. If they are both on the stops screw the left stop in to lower. Are you using factory springs on the hinges? If so the tension on the hood is probably warping the fiberglass - you need "light" springs or it will eventually screw up the hood all together.
 
And sometimes you gotta align/adjust the fenders too.
I know what you're going thru as it's exactly what I'm doing as we speak. I'm finding that the trick is to lay the hood where you want it with the fenders loose and align the hood in reference to the fenders. I'm prolly doing what not to do but it's working for me so far. Agreed it's frustrating as I've already chipped my brand new paint.:mad:
 
The difference in the 69 barracuda hood and the 73 dart hood are the 69 had threaded plates inside the hood that allowed the hood to adjust, the 73 up had slots in the hinges that allowed for adjustment and the threaded holes in the hood are fixed in place. I'd say your hood has fixed holes as it is fiberglass. Your car looks like a 75 or 76 so you should have the hinges that allow for adjustment. A lot of fiberglass hoods are a little "different" you may need to slot the holes in the hinges for a little more adjustment.

Yeah, my '73 has slotted hinges, the threaded holes in the hood are fixed...It sounds like the Barracuda guys are the ones who might have trouble.

I really don't want to adjust the fenders but I hear you guys on that and I'll keep the option in mind. :)

Thanks to all!
 
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