74 Challenger Hood Hinges

[Garp]

Hi all,
Does anyone have a pair of hood (bonnet) hinges for my 74 Chally ?
Mine are a tad tired and I have to push down on the windscreen edge to get the hood pins to penetrate through.
So, potentially either hinges are tired or they are not the correct ones - both issues would be sorted with a new pair I guess.
Cheers.

[Blue]

Might just need a bit of adjustment or lubication, it's a common issue.

[Dave999]

sounds like hood position on the hinges is an issue.
or the pins are in the wrong place. think they fit where the bump rubbers used to be and they have a smidge of wiggle at the mount.

or the rear of the two bolts is loose or doesn't have a full thread.

those bolts are deliberately stiff for the full thread into their captive nuts

can't remember size but they are supposed to have a fat washer to spread the load.

you have up and down and back and forth available at the mount on the Hinge arm, the captive nuts on an original hood were I think on a slider, you can also adjust angle at hinge arm i.e front bolt up and rear bolt down in its hole or vice versa to lift or lower the hood at the front or rear of the hinge arm.

you can usually adjust the rear of the hood up and down a good inch or so by minor tweaks at this mount

if the hinge arms are parallel with the hood you have the "longest reach" from hinge pivot to hood pin if the hood has a nose down or nose up attitude at the hinge arms you have shortend the reach and provided dip or lift to the rear of the hood in respect to the plenum edge


before doing anything? is your hood a Hatch style hood or does its leading edge lend itself to being a good place to grab to pull it open if it jams shut?

if the former put a loop of washing line round the front centre hood lock pin adjustable in any direction and for rebound and depth. if you jam the hood shut you can yank it open

loosen the rear bolt on each side

push hood up at the front gently against the hinge at the top of its travel so that the hood rides lower into the hinge arm at the rear hinge bolt than the front

do up tight

check alignment of rear and front

if the pins don't fit through holes work out how far forward or back you need your hood on each side. draw lines at the front and back of the hinge arm on the hood mounting
loosen and waggle the hood back by the appropriate amount for each side

do up front bolts first

push up hood to get it set to the lowest into hinge at back bolt

lower hood, checking that it doesn't hit the plenum or the sides of the hole along the wings as you bring it down.

if the pins line up but the back of the hood is too low at the windscreen end

undo the rear bolts a smidge.

close hood and bounce the rear corners until it rises to the correct level on the spring pressure from the hinge.
carefully open and do up the hinge rear bolts again.

I wouldn't take off the hinges and springs. but you can lubricate them by removing the metal tin plate shield in the rear of the wing on my car maybe not on yours

if you can't get it aligned its going to be a case of

align doors in the holes
adjust windows, vent wings etc so the windows fit the door and the widows seal with the roof rails and rear post/ side window
adjust wings to get good panel gap between wing and door front

adjust wings in and out to get bonnet closed, adjustment shims can be had from FROST and US suppliers

then adjust front cross panels and grill to fit the new space you have made

at which point the pins for the hood may no longer line up......

Pig of a Job

remember doors can be shimmed in out and back and forth at the hinge using washers under the hinge at the pillar and at the door.
and the striker is also adjustable it bolts into a slideing captive nut in the B pillar

doors are heavy and avoiding adjusting anything to do with them or their windows is always best. leading edge of door can easily destroy rear edge of wing....

hopefully your bonnet has just taken on a nose down attitude on its hinge mounting rails over the years and setting the rear lower again will extend its reach to give good pin alignment again

Dave

[Garp]

Dave,
I think you may have touched on something ...... so as well as the "reach" being out, the bonnet also seems to have sunk below the bodyline of the wings....
you said

"undo the rear bolts a smidge.

close hood and bounce the rear corners until it rises to the correct level on the spring pressure from the hinge.
carefully open and do up the hinge rear bolts again."

and ...

" your bonnet has just taken on a nose down attitude"

I think that you may have it - the old owner has taken a hammer/mallet to the wheel arch where the hinge docks and flattened out the metal to accommodate the hinge once closed - that made me think that perhaps he'd just pirated the hinges from another MOPAR and made them work, but if it's just a question of resetting the attitude and arc of the bonnet within the spring mechanism, that'd obviously be a better place to start.
Thanks