VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 1929 Hood Alignment

Where can I find the steps you have to do to aline the hood on my 1929 Sedan.

I am not home to check the Fisher Body book that covers 1929 but suspect the basic process is in that book. Basically it starts with centering the body on the frame (assuming the frame is straight) then adjusting the radiator and shell so the gap on both sides and top to bottom is fairly even.

I did look at the Fisher Body book and I did not see anything about the hood but I will recheck it. I had the radiator looking pretty good but the hood at the lower part of the body was way off. Could it be possible the radiator need the be raised? I will keep working at it. Thank You

Yes, it is likely that either the body or radiator needs to be shimmed. If the frame is perfectly straight, matching the original specs then shimming might not be necessary. 80+ years of wear, twisting, bending, etc. might just have altered it a bit.

If the '29 hood install is same as for 1931, proceedure is pretty straight forward. The key concept is that all 4 edges of hood sides need be parallell to cowl and to rad shell, and the gaps/margins somewhere between 1/16" and 1/8".

First step is to set the radiator top support V brace in correct location, i.e. so end of V is on centerline of car, and correct distance from cowl. To do this, measure hood center hinge length and add 3/16". Then place rad shell loosely in place (no hood), with bottom carriage bolts in place but not snugged, and install V brace in cowl and snuggly bolt V end to rad. Now adjust V brace nuts at cowl both sides until the rad shell edge at centerline is proper distance from cowl (hood length +3/16"), and V is centered in line with body (measure from both cowl bolts to V bolt. This is the most critical step.

Once V brace is set, disconnect rad bolt at V and install hood. Then bolt rad to V. At this stage, the rest of the tinkering involves setting the radiator shell so it is vertical,and aligned fore/aft, left to right, up and down etc. Start by ensuring the hood is evenly gapped at cowl, top and both sides. If that is good, you can try taping the sides to the cowl to hold it firm (this is not necessary). Then move rad shell in place so front sides of hood have even and proper gap, and then snug bottom carriage bolts, and recheck margins. If rad shell needs a shim or 2, either on one side or both sides (to raise it perhaps 1/8"), add steel or rubber shim as you wish between bottom of rad support bracket and crossmember. When satisfied with alignment, tighten carriage bolts.

When I first installed mine, the gaps were all over the place and it seemed it would be impossible to get good alignment. However following these steps, it came out perfect. Good luck, but if the '29 hood is installed differently than '31, someone else will have to "Chip" in.

I agree with your procedure with two initial steps. Make sure that the frame is straight. If the frame is not straight then some body panels, fenders, etc. may not fit well. The second step is to make sure that the body is centered on the frame. If that is not done then the hood may not be able to fit properly.

I have never taken the body of the frame and the frame looks ok from the underside. I will recheck the hood alignment using Gunsmokes steps and see how the works out. Thank You Both.

In many cases because of the body alignment or bent frame, aligning the hood correctly can be very challenging.

If the body is a bit off center on frame, that is not necessarily going to present a problem. The above procedure centers the rad shell in relation to the body, not in relation to the frame. In the end, the rad shell might wind up slightly to one side of car or the other, but unlikel;y anyone will notice if it is. I know my car for a variety of reasons is about 1/8" offset, and up until today no one else knew!! I doubt many of them came out of the factory perfectly centered.

Chip and J Dog,
How would you determine if the frame is straight and do Chevies have a sagging tendancy or problem?
I realise that alot can happen in 85 years but I have a Model A and I believe it is quite common for frame sag on them, at the rear engine mounts.
The reason for my question is that it seems as if my radiator sits too high to alighn the hood properly, which indicated the possibility of some frame sag by the fire wall.
Funny enough my Model A pickup frame is as straight as a die.
Regards
Chris
Cape Town

Just for information I did get my hood alignment very close. I added washer under the radiator mount bolts.

The best way is to compare the measurements to those in an engineering drawing. I vaguely remember seeing one but can't find a copy. Will try to look further. Lacking the drawing cross measuring the frame side to side helps to determine if the frame is racked. You can also level one side and then determine if the other matches it.

TKS Chip

I found the engineering drawings for a '29-'30 frame. Need your email address to send them. You can either send me an email to the address in my profile or reply to the PM I sent you.