Alignment of Hood on 1980 124

[spederman85]

The hood on my 1980 Spider is out of alignment and does not shut tight.

When driving, the right side flops’ around a bit. I adjusted the latch as much as possible so that it was a tighter close but it still flop’s up and down when I go over bumps.

I also tried adjusting at the hinges, but there does not seem to be much adjustment capacity at the hinges.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[mbouse]

ask alvon for his remedy. apparently the corners of the hood need to be bent down, or the center bent up? something like that.

involves a tennis ball and a partner.... but i am sure alvon has the exact procedure at his finger tips.

[So Cal Mark]

there should also be rubber pads in the corners between the cowl and hood

[rlux4]

Is your hood flush with the fenders and cowl when it's closed? If it's high on one or both sides of the outside corners, then as Mike suggested, Alvon's technique would bend it back into alignment. In my case the hood had a very good, flush fit all the way around and still "fluttered" when driving and going over rough roads, even though I have good rubber bumpers in place. I solved the irritating problem with a pair of ceramic magnets on the side that was the culprit. They sit low enough so that they don't come into contact with the hood, but the magnetic attraction totally eliminated the flutter. You can see the magnets in this picture, on the right hand side.



Ron

[spederman85]

Thanks for the suggestions. If anyone else has thoughts on this topic, I would be glad to hear from you.

I like the magnet idea to try first and then go to the "re-shaping" the hood a bit if that does not work alone.

I will let you know how I make out.

Rich

[racydave]

I obtained some rubber stops and installed them in the spots that hold down the wiper panel.Some washers were used under the panel to shim. then the latch was adjusted. there are adjusters on the wiper panel also.