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Part 2: 66-67 Fairlane 427 Hood installation

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fairlaniac
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Joined: 16 Mar 2006
Posts: 217
Location: Denver, PA
Part 2: 66-67 Fairlane 427 Hood installation

Ok folks, part two on questions on installing a 427 Ram Air hood on my ’66 Fairlane. See the pictures; I have attached the hood loosely onto the hinges. Crites pre-drilled and tapped the hood mounting holes. I am maneuvering it around to get the best alignment. I removed the carburetor so the plenum under the hood won’t hit anything. I decided to see how the hood squares up within the fenders and cowl before I cut my hole in the plenum for the air cleaner. With the hood bolted to the hinges and having the sides parallel to the fender edges the hood is overlapping the cowl by at least 1/4” and since there should be a gap between the hood edge and the cowl edge I’d say it’s off by 3/8”-1/2” total. Here is a description of each corner with the hood edges parallel to the fenders and the hood pulled front where the bolts are against the end of the adjusting slots on the hinges.

RF – hood edges is about 1/4”-3/8” behind the edge of fender
RR – hood is overlapping the cowl as described
LF – best corner, aligns nicely
LR – hood overlaps cowl by 1/16”-1/8”

Any ideas or experiences to help get this aligned? I may have to reslot the hinges if the tapped holes are that bad off?






Thanks!
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Doug Bender
1966 Fairlane 427/484 Stroker - Tremec TKX

Post Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:56 am 
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1320lane
Senior Member


Joined: 17 Mar 2006
Posts: 270
Location: Central Oklahoma

Hmmm.... One side seems to line up, but the other side doesn't. Have you checked the hood to see if it's square? (run a tape from corner to corner in an 'X' pattern. Also, do this to the opening with the hood up to double check to see if the fenders are all square.

I think if youget the front edge correct, you'll have to sand off the rear edge as your driver's side looks okay at the front. How are the side gaps? Consistant? When you sand off the rear edge, you'll probably sand down far enough to see the seam between the inner and outer pieces and might need to address that with some epoxy along that whole edge.

Do the instructions give any insite to installation if you run into problems? Have you tried calling Crites? How are your door gaps? Could it be that your doors and fenders are adjusted too far rearward?

Larry
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Larry Hampton
______________________________________________

'63 Fairlane 2-dr post. Race car since at least '67. In the process of turning it into a proto-clone Nostalgia Super Stock car with FE power and three pedals.

Post Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:28 am 
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Scott66gta
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Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 286
Location: syracuse, NY
Normal

If the hood is out of the original mold, that the lack of fitment is normal. I have a hood that was made in the late 70's from Vindicator Racing, which is out of the factory mold. I thought crites hoods were free from that issue though. Take some measurements of your stock hood and of other metal hoods to see what you have. You may have to do what 1320 said. Measure 3 times, grind once!! HTH, and keep us posted...

Post Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:24 am 
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Yatzee
Junior Member


Joined: 05 Jun 2006
Posts: 20

Before you decide to alter the hood, consider the position of the sheet metal
around it, namely the fenders. If these can be manipulated to create fairly
good alignment I'd try there first. Usually alignment starts at the cowl edges
and the gap between the cowl and the hood. The fenders may have to be
repositioned to get the proper gap on the sides. If there is no corelation
between the original hood and the new one in size ( 1/16 inch allowable )
send it back or live with it, your choice.

Post Tue Jun 13, 2006 12:17 pm 
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fairlaniac
Senior Member


Joined: 16 Mar 2006
Posts: 217
Location: Denver, PA
Out of square???

Here are the "X" dimensions of the hood.

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Doug Bender
1966 Fairlane 427/484 Stroker - Tremec TKX

Post Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:09 pm 
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Kyle
Junior Member


Joined: 19 Apr 2006
Posts: 11

Call Crites and enquire about how they can sell a product that's that far off square. For the price of that hood, and being that far off square, I wouldn't take this sitting down.

Post Wed Jun 14, 2006 9:37 am 
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fairjohn
Member


Joined: 20 Mar 2006
Posts: 82
Location: Molalla.Or

I've read many posts on other forums about this same issue and most of the time people have had to trim and sand the rear of the hood to get it to fit perfect. It's strange that their mold would be out of square unless something happened to it after it came out of the mold. Could one of your fenders be aligned more forward than the other? I would sheck your hood opening to see if it is square. Are the gaps between the rear of the door and quarters the same and the gaps between the front of the door and the fenders the same. You might have to align one fender either back or forward or both of them a little each way to get the front to line up then scribe a line on the rear where you have to trim it leaving yourself about 1/16" or so for sanding it down nice and smooth.
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'68 Fairlane 500 sportroof, 428CJ, close ratio toploader, 9" detroit locker, 31 spline axles, 3.50 gears.

Post Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:31 am 
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1320lane
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Joined: 17 Mar 2006
Posts: 270
Location: Central Oklahoma

I think I'd 'X' dimension your stock hood as well, maybe put a comforter down, lay your hood upside down on it, then put this hood right side up on it and line up the front edges and take some pics to send to Charles. Yeah, the left will be on the right and visa-versa, but the hood should be square.

If the hood had been square, I'd be pretty sure it was the alignment of your sheet metal.

I'm sitting here thinking, maybe the left rear just has some material added to it, the rest of the hood could be square except for the back edge. When it's sitting as it is in the first pictures you took, are the side gaps in good shape, consistant-wise, down the length of the fenders? I think you need to "X" dimension the opening, pic the rear-most fender bolts and the front most ones to confirm that the fenders are mounted square. Do you know the history of your car Doug, has it ever been wrecked? I'm not trying to say you car is bad, I'm guessing it's a problem with the hood, but I want to be sure that everything on your car is aligned properly.

Wished I lived close enough to come over and help.... Sad

Larry
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Larry Hampton
______________________________________________

'63 Fairlane 2-dr post. Race car since at least '67. In the process of turning it into a proto-clone Nostalgia Super Stock car with FE power and three pedals.

Post Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:53 am 
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fairlaniac
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Joined: 16 Mar 2006
Posts: 217
Location: Denver, PA
I talked to Crites

The one (of two) molds actaully is a bit worn but all hoods are molded to be about 3/8" long on the rear. Apparently many racers graft the hood and fenders together to make a one piece front end and that is some of the reason the make them longer. After many measurements last evening I'm confident the car opening is square and the two sides and front edge of the fiberglass hood are square and fit well. Taking some off the rear makes the most sense to me. Thanks for the replies. I'd be curious if any others have actually done this on a Crites hood?
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Doug Bender
1966 Fairlane 427/484 Stroker - Tremec TKX

Post Wed Jun 14, 2006 11:36 am 
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1320lane
Senior Member


Joined: 17 Mar 2006
Posts: 270
Location: Central Oklahoma

I don't have them yet, but I plan on getting the fenders and the hood from Crites for my '63.
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Larry Hampton
______________________________________________

'63 Fairlane 2-dr post. Race car since at least '67. In the process of turning it into a proto-clone Nostalgia Super Stock car with FE power and three pedals.

Post Wed Jun 14, 2006 4:40 pm 
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mygirls63
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Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 416
Location: Kansas

If the hood is out of square as it obviously is by your measurements, and they tapped the holes benchmarking from the rear (who knows how they did) that would account for the hood not aligning. Remove it from the hinges and take the springs off the hinges (if still on) and center it up in the opening. if you can get a good fit then you will have to adjust the hinges where they mount to the fender. There should be some adjustment there as well. If it is still off then slotting the hinge is the next step. Adjusting the fenders to fit the hood is a possibility, but will affect the door to fender gaps. If the hood fits when laying in the opening not attached to the hinges, then do not grind edges! If it is off, then grinding the long edges and possibly building up the short side edges is the last resort. Try to adjust the hinges to the fenders before all else. After fighting alot of Tiwian hoods in my day you do get creative!
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Scott
1963 Fairlane Mini tub 10pt cage New 408" C4 Canfield 195CC heads Comp solid roller Victor Jr. 9" w/4.11? gears Moser spool & 35 spline axles. www.marksullense85carburetors.com

Post Wed Jun 14, 2006 8:52 pm 
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