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hood to grill gap-part two

6K views 25 replies 12 participants last post by  Sooner1 
#1 · (Edited)
hey guys,
just wondering if you can help me with thoughts on how to decrease my hood-grill gap. just a couple notes- the gap was there with the stock hood, and now a little worse with the aftermarket goodmark grill. apparently some novas are like this- some people state because novas "werent built to tight tolerances." i have seen other novas like this.

this is what ive done:
ive ovalized the grill bracket holes in the radiator core support to slide the grill upward. now i have the grill in a relatively good position, but the dang hood latch is now not in the right place. im thinking about fabricating/rigging a latch to fit by drilling new holes in the grill and core support (ouch!) id obviously rather not do this, but its this or live with about a 1 1/4 inch gap there now. to me this is unsightly.

puhleessseee!!!!
any suggestions?

steve
 
#8 ·
hood to grill gap

hey guys
thanks for the quick replies.
(sorry about that 2nd gen-ouch!)

as far as my grill goes-the latch is actually off the car at the moment until i figure out what i might do to it.
the grill is "loosely" bolted on so it appears like its bent forward.

should i put the latch on it and tighten it up to give you guys a better look and then take another pic in the morning?

any suggestions on how i might take care of this problem?

thanks again
steve
 
#9 · (Edited)
hood to grill gap

hey guys,
everyone else is probably asleep besides me- i decided to fool with this thing late tonight.:D

it appears the problem is likely with the repop grill, ive heard these things dont fit like the factory stuff.
i think i will just leave the new stuff off for now and use the old stuff.
id rather have it straight then new and crooked. :D

goodnight all
steve
 
#11 ·
hey guys,
everyone else is probably asleep besides me- i decided to fool with this thing late tonight.:D

it appears the problem is likely with the repop grill, ive heard these things dont fit like the factory stuff.
i think i will just leave the new stuff off for now and use the old stuff.
id rather have it straight then new and crooked. :D

goodnight all
steve
Steve....I think it looks great. Why change grills? Yours looks good in the picture. If it needs cleaning up, there is a member here that does that sort of thing....or just paint it black. Glucas is the members screen name. I've heard he does fantastic work.
 
#10 · (Edited)
I don't think that now that you have bolted it all together that it looks bad at all. I believe that more novas than you think have a larger gap, but you don't notice it because alot of them ahve the blacked out grille like mine:



Have you considered the possibility that they problem may lie in the hood trim, not the grille? Is it a repro? Maybe the mounting points are off, or it is smaller or something? just a thought.
 
#13 ·
hood to grill gap

I don't think that now that you have bolted it all together that it looks bad at all. I believe that more novas than you think have a larger gap, but you don't notice it because alot of them ahve the blacked out grille like mine:

Have you considered the possibility that they problem may lie in the hood trim, not the grille? Is it a repro? Maybe the mounting points are off, or it is smaller or something? just a thought.
Brian,
thanks for the reply.
what you see bolted together is actually the old stuff.
i took the new goodmark grill and nos bezels off.
this old factory grill slid right back in pretty well.
as far as the hood trim, i doubt this is the cause.
i personally studied many members pics on the trim, then carefully did it myself as straight as i could.
steve
 
#16 ·
Did you bolt the grill to the filler panel?That could be why it's not sitting correctly.These cars have to be one of the most time consuming rides to change the grill if all the hardware is used.
 
#22 ·
hood to grill gap



hi there,
thats exactly what im going to do right now. :D
but when you do this, adjusting the latch higher, causes my glass hood to hit the top of the latch, so ive gotta go saw/cut the top ~1/2 inch of the latch off and move the mounting holes. it seems to function mechanically well, as far as the latching mechanism is concerned.
i will post pics when i get this done.
i wish i had more time this weekend, guess this will likely get completely done by next weekend. :(
thanks for your thoughts.
steve
 
#26 ·
no real new progress

sooner got any new pictures of your progress??
no real progress- you know how it goes, easy to get distracted.
i will post once i figure it out completly. im waiting on getting the final grill- i just won two grills on ebay- i hope one looks good enough to help me complete the project. i should of bought one NOS grill on ebay last week for ~$175. oh well.
once the final grill is on, itll get done.
for now:
the gap is closed and looks symmetric like in previous pics.
hood latches well-it looks like i will have to bend the hood release handle slightly downward cuz when one pulls the grill up higher, this doesnt have the clearance it needs to open properly for now (takes some wigglin...know what i mean?)

anyway,
i will keep you posted.
i think you can do this pretty easily.
at times, i am thinking about just putting it back together the old way til i really get concerned with the body. i bought another latch just in case... ;)

steve
 
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