1959 hood height adjustment

[MY 59]

Hey all,
Ever since day one with my 59 caddy the bonnet (or 'hood'!!) has sat slightly high on the driver side.
I see in the manual the adjustment in height is done by spacers in the cowl rubber but on the drivers side the bonnet does not touch this rubber. On my Fairlane the hinges are fully adjustable even where they bolt to the body to fine tuning height etc, however the hinges on the caddy seem to bolt onto set positions including through the top into the body and have no adjustment??
Help is needed!
Thanks all
Dave

[Dan LeBlanc]

If you want to drop the hood down where it meets the cowl, you will need to shim the forwardmost bolt of the hood hinge where it meets the hood. 

[MY 59]

Righto, will give that a try this afternoon.
thanks Dan

[59-in-pieces]

Dave,
See PM.
Have fun,
Steve B.

[Brett Baird]

Dave,  I have the exact problem.  Let me know what works

[Grant Owen]

Dave, since you live just over the ditch I thought I would respond with correct advise. This is common in 59 & 60 Cadillacs , it was an engineering fault right from the start , all the original 59 & 60 Cadillacs I have seen on the left hand side have a shim under the hinge I have seen some with 2 shims the location of the shim is on the second bolt down on the fire wall under the hinge. What this does is raise the front of the hinge lowering it at the back, DO NOT put a shim under the hinge where it meets the hood.

[Ken Perry]

Grant is correct ,that is how I do it all the time. Works well.You can do it with shims between the hinge and hood,but it looks like crap. Ken Perry

[Julien Abrahams]

I have exactly the same problem on my '67. I have seen many Cadillacs with the same problem. I thought it was due to the fact that the springs wear out or something. In my manual there is nothing on how to adjust the height of the hood either.

[MY 59]

Righto, I have found the problem
I just did another visual inspection of the hinge, and noticed for the first time that the rear pressed circular pivot point was sitting on an angle.
I raised the hood to maximum and applied more pressure upward, this part moved and the back of the hood lowered.
so when the hood is closed the spring is pulling at this part, and because it is worn, this raises the back of the hood.
now to find another hinge, or to replace this pressed item with a nut/bolt or similar?
below is pic from google showing the pressed pivot point

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Can't you press the pivot back into position, then hit the backside with a tack of weld to hold it other?

It means that you will have to remove the hinge to weld it.   Plus, if you remove the spring, it will take the pressure off the hinge to allow you to weld the pin in the correct position.

Bruce.

[MY 59]

I think the pin may have become worn down and no longer fits snugly into the 2 parts of the hinge allowing them to move.
there is a fair amount of movement!!
I have seen and used special bolts purpose made similar to this for car door hinges. not sure if they are around for hood hinges?

[Jeff Wilk]

Give these guys a call. Awesome hinge services.

www.sms-auto.com

This is NOT the same place as the fabric folks.