Hood /Bonnet adjustment 83 MY touring wagon ?

[Henpecked]

the hood began to catch on the forward edge of the grill panel ( scuttle ?) in front of the windscreen, only on the way up.

checked the FSM's and took the scuttle panel off and checked the hood hinges - not adjustable , but loosened them off and used a hammer and a block of wood to make sure they were as forward as possible - then tightened back up

replaced the scuttle , making sure it was into the tabs under the windscreen and screwed down tight

- the hood still caught on the way up

took the hood off and discovered that there seem to be NO adjustment at the hood end of the hinges either, as the nuts are all captive on the hood  flange side,
 

Also the front holes in the hood hinges are NOT elongated while the rear hole on each - (closest to the windscreen) IS elongated on each arm by about 2mm (1/8") max horizontally , WT !! ???

 

the bolts fill the front hinge bracket holes 98% - when just inserted through these bracket holes - there is no "wiggle" up and down when I try them by hand -- and there is only 1-2mm horizontally ONLY on the one rear  hole per arm, , which is pointless when ALL the holes on the bonnet side are welded-on captive nuts., .

So how to fix other than by drilling elongated holes in the hood end of the hinges ?

and if so - in what direction to elongate ? front one only down on both arms ( to lift the rear edge of the hood ) or BOTH forward ( to move whole hood away from the windscreen)

anything that I am missing here ?

Edited December 28, 2014 by Henpecked

[turbosubarubrat]

A brat i bought was ran in to a tree i ended up taking the hinges off since they were bent. Since i couldn't find my spare hinges i heated up the bent ones  with a torch until the curved bends were red hot in the vice and hit them with a small sledge hammer a couple times. 

[TomRhere]

It's some what of a pain to do, but pull the hinges, clean/lubricate the pivot point and reinstall.

 

Had the same issue with one of the BRATs, couldn't figure out how one was to lube the hinge pivots without pulling them.

 

I was of the opinion that the hood was flexing a bit, causing it to rub while opening it, center of hood bows down.

Closing the hood puts the stress in opposite direction, hood bows upward.

 

Just my thought on it, but it worked for me.

[Henpecked]

Fixed:

 

This is a version of a "shaggy dog " story

 

How to fix

 

1) remove grill in front of windscreen

2) drop one S/S screw down into bay and wonder why your magnetic extendable tool won't pick it up.

3) hope to find some deformation on hinge panel that explains scraping of hood.

4) Find none

 

 

3) loosen the bolt and attempt to find some adjustment slots for the hinge

4) use a 2x4 and a hammer to try to force the nut and bolt further forward.

5) discover that (in the photo) the 12mm bolt head on the left runs through a single non-elongated hole into a captive 13mm nut on the right ( almost invisibly welded to the flange that encapsulates the hinge arm).

6) loosen off the four bolts ( two per side) that hold the hood/bonnet to the other end of the hinge arms.

7) try to move the hood forward.

8) fail and swear

9) remove the hood completely and discover that all four bolts go into captive nuts welded to the flange on the hood/bonnet ( although one hole in each arm is slightly elongated ) .

10)Refit everything and find its still bad.

11) repeat steps 1-9

12) attempt to deform sill down by careful application of deforming force using 2x4 and hammer on the sill

 

 

13) repeat step 10

14) repeat step 11

15) surgically apply 120KGS of downward deformation  force on sill by walking on it while swearing.

16) repeat step 13

17) elevate problem toV  serious and institute Australian emergeny repair level 2 ( use two 2x4s)

 

 

18) repeat step 16

19) lower hood/bonnet onto wood and press down with extreme prejudice

20) remove BOTH 2x4s

 

21) IT NO LONGER SCAPES.

 

22) repeat step 16

23) discover you have covered the washer spray jets

24) repeat step 14

25) adjust washer spray jets

26) repeat step 20

27)  replace wiper arms but drop one nut through sill hole.

28) repeat step 1

29) recover nut

30) repeat step 24

 

all fixed.

 

time elapsed: 2 hours 24 mins

 

or you could have just done step 17 and 19 and skipped everything else.

 

estimated time elapsed: 3 minutes

Edited December 31, 2014 by Henpecked