hood swap

[124Germ]

I purchased a different year hood for my 72. It is the dual bump style (which I like). It came with the hinges and only has a couple imperfections. Not sure what year it came off, but its the dual bump with the center support.

The other day I was trying to put it on and it seems really tight with the hinges that came with it. I was able to get it to fit with some force. Line up is close but the body lines are not perfect (which is okay for now). I tried to adjust the striker and latch to get it to close better, but there doesn't seem to be much adjustment in each.

The true question I have is how does that hood support mount in the engine compartment? Its the center support style and the original one had the drivers side lock. It looks like the original one is spot welded to the hood and can't be swapped over to the new style. Can someone post some pictures of how to get the hook lock and support either by transferring the old one or installing the newer style one?

Thanks
Jeremy

[spiderrey]

Im pretty sure that you are supposed to use the early hinges when you install a late hood on an early car. The late hoods dont line up as nice though. I did it once and didnt like it. most people think its fine though.

[124Germ]

Okay thanks, I'll give that a shot next and see if they fit better.

I still need to figure out how to setup the support system.

[spiderrey]

I never messed with the support system. It shouldnt be hard to figure out though.

[124Germ]

Well the early pins wouldn't work due to their diameter, but I ground down a bit of the insert on the hood side to narrow the total up. Fits better now.

The orinigal hood support is tack welded to the hood, I'll have to come up with something else to use instead. It turns out the new hood is from a 79, but trying to make it work for a 72 is bit of a challenge.

[azruss]

the early and late hinges had a different diameter pins. so you need to use the hinges that came with the hood. you should have enough adjustment to get the nose to line up. make sure you have the hinges on the right side of the hood. they should point down from the bolt hole tab. the latch will be a problem as there is a big different here. The latched that bolts to the firewall is very similar, so you should be able to use the newer style latch pin if it came with the car. I just did the switch the other way. put a 71 hood on an 81. I was able to use all the 71 hardware. There were a few fit issues with the early hood you shouldnt have with the late hoods as they were more rounded. these hoods really vary in fit. I understand you can change that by the way the hoods are stored. with some careful tweeking, you should be able to get the seams to match up ok. the hood to fender gap could be a problem as the older bodies had a tighter fit.