1” lift threw everything off, almost.

[TheVazha]

Hi All!

I’m getting ready to tackle the body work on my 74. So far, we’ve done a new motor, new trans, wiring, Dakota, lift, wheels/tires, etc etc etc. next step is installing new fenders, hood, doors, quarters, and tail.

Someone mentioned before I install new body parts I should do my 1”body lift. I did that tonight. Was a breeze, but when she’s settled the hood doesn’t close. I have a 3/4 inch gap at the fender on the passenger side, and about 1/8 overlap on the driver side. The scary part is that it already has 4-5 shims on the driver side hinge, and none on the passenger side.

The bronco was shimmed to hell on all the body mounts before I installed the 1” lift. I chose not to replicate those shims because I wanted to see how she’d sit level with just the 1” bushings, and while some of my door gap issues worked themselves out, the hood is terrible. I think the previous owner shimmed it and sacrificed some door gaps for a fitting hood. The good news is my door gaps are looking amazing without any massaging, I’m confident I can get those to be perfect but this hood thing is killing me.

Is there a clever way to try to get the hood to fit proper?

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[Yeller]

I would say the inner fenders and core support have been worked on before and put back less than straight. Just a guess from what I’ve seen before.

 

[Broncobowsher]

Undo the front core support body mounts.. Push the core support over. Tighten and try again. You should be able to remove some of those hood hings shims.
You may need to slot the body holes to get enough shift.

I fought that when the core support mounts were welded back onto the front clip, in the wrong place.

 

[BGBronco]

I waited and waited to do my body mounts for this reason. When I finally did it, I got lucky. Assuming you know where the shims were, might want to put them back and work from there.

 

[Wild horse 75]

I would start by taking the shims out of the hood hinges. Then go put some of those shims back on the body mounts. Quite possible to have a slight twist in the frame or as mentioned replaced or reworked front inner metal from an accident. Those shims on the body mounts were how you had decent body gaps before.

 

[Scoop]

Bent frame?

 

[TheVazha]

I would start by taking the shims out of the hood hinges. Then go put some of those shims back on the body mounts. Quite possible to have a slight twist in the frame or as mentioned replaced or reworked front inner metal from an accident. Those shims on the body mounts were how you had decent body gaps before.

The shims on the body mounts were extreme..

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[Broncobowsher]

Bent frame?

I would bet bent front sheetmetal first.

 

[TheVazha]

Undo the front core support body mounts.. Push the core support over. Tighten and try again. You should be able to remove some of those hood hings shims.
You may need to slot the body holes to get enough shift.

I fought that when the core support mounts were welded back onto the front clip, in the wrong place.

When you say slot the body holes, you mean grind them a little larger to accommodate the shift? At closer inspection, it totally looks like the front end needs to come over about 1/2” to the driver side?

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[Wild horse 75]

The shims on the body mounts were extreme..

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But they were there for a reason. The shims are compensating for something. Removing them and just saying there were too many doesn’t fix the problem. You can shift side to side and front to back all you like but if something is bent up or down you’ll never fix that without shims or bending it back into place.

 

[Scoop]

I would bet bent front sheetmetal first.

Possible front end accident? I’d check for replacement sheet metal and at least check the frame.

 

[Oldtimer]

How about a couple of pictures from the back, looking down the side body towards the front.
Might show a latteral shift of front sheetmetal?
On mine I can see door hinge, and approximately the same amount of front wheel wells.

 

[bronkenn]

I would do as Bowser suggested, loosen the front core support and pry the support to the right and it should fix you up. And if it doesn't move it far enough than you can open/slot the holes in the support to allow for more adjustment, although if it was fitting right before the new mounts, you should be fine.

 

[TheVazha]

Fantastic advice, thank you gents. With this new boost in confidence that we can get her alligned, I’m starting to tear her down. Will report back once I get the new panels on!

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[DirtDonk]

What are you tearing down?
What are you adding back?
Basically, what are you doing that could alter all of this to start with?

I wouldn’t necessarily be bolting a rigid welded cage into the body until you have verified that the body itself was straight, and that it was the frame that tweaked instead.
While it’s still on all four wheels, I would be measuring every body mount location from a known source. Usually flat level ground, but there might be other reference points as well.

 

[Shimmy]

i would have noted and measured each body bushing pre body lift. then when installing the 1" lift i'd put the exact same shims back in if possible... then adjust from there.

 

[TheVazha]

I have detailed photos of the shims pre lift, I’m thinking add the new doors, hood, fenders and quarters and do my massaging from there? It might give me more “slop” starting fresh?


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[TheVazha]

Here’s the measured update:

I’m exactly one inch difference at the top of hood, so exactly 1/2” off which is exactly what I need to get the hood gaps perfect.

But, I’m exactly 17” to center of frame from the bottom of the radiator assembly. It looks like only the top needs to be torqued to the driver side? Do I bolt the front body mounts and just torque on the whole front clip from the top?

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[Oldtimer]

Are all the shims still behind the driver side hinge?

Get the frame horns level, and compare with top of core support.

 

[m_m70]

before you tightened up the core support did you measure the hood opening diagonally for square??