deck lid alignment? 46 ford tudor

Hey all your tudor fans

I've got a question in regards to getting the deck lid aligned correctly. Mine binds on the latch when i go to open it, looking at the top of the lid when closed it seems one side is higher than the other by a little bit and i figure that's the cause of the bind.

I havn't had time to devote more then a few minutes to look at it but would i be correct in ***uming some of these holes are slotted allowing for some panel alignment or is there some other way to do this?

the car in question is a 1946 ford tudor but im sure its pretty similar from at least 41 to 48 if you have any info on those to share.

thanks
timm

 

I would thing the holes are elongated so to move it around. HRP

 

Remove the latch, or at least the striker. Then adjust the deck lid at the hinges so you have an even gap all the way across the top edge along the upper body panel and to get the lid to fit without having one side or the other sit above the edge of the body...in other words..flush with the upper body panel.

This should get you a nice gap along the side from top to bottom (front to rear).

Then replace the latch and align it so the latch and striker mate without forcing the lid sideways one way or the other.

 

ok so i was correct in thinking that the holes should be elongated, awesome.

Rich, am i reading that correctly that the latch aligns independent of the lid then?

 

All the latch does is hold the lid closed.... It has nothing to do with the proper fit of the panel. However, if the latch is not properly aligned to allow the lid to "fall in the hole" it can force the lid out of alignment when latched.
That's why it's important to do the lid alignment without the influence of the latch, then install and align the latch to allow the lid to open and close without changing the alignment of the lid.

Hope that makes sense....

 

On my '41 Tudor I had to both slot and shim it to get it to fit properly without the latch installed.

 

I understand that Rich, what I was trying to ask was if the latch itself is adjustable. Which sounds like it is?

 

Yes, the latch is adjustable....actually, it's the striker that is usually what gets adjusted.

Bare in mind I don't know what your latch/striker actually looks like, but here's the typical scenario...

The latch bolts to the body and the striker to the lid....doesn't really matter, but that's the typical way. The latch might have some movement fore and aft and sideways, but not always. The striker is usually a pin that fits into the latch and holds the lid closed. The pin, referred to as the "dog ****" by those in the know, should move around in a circular fashion and you should be able to screw it in and out making it longer and shorter. This where the latch is adjusted. With the movement of the striker in mind it's easy to see how a misaligned latch ***embly can affect the position of the lid when it's closed.

So... Once the lid fits the way you want it to fit without the latch you can ***emble the latch and CAREFULLY move the lid into the close position watching where the Dog **** hits the holes...DON'T latch the lid closed until you are absolutely certain the pin is going to fall into the center of the latch hole..

If you slam the lid and the pin is not right you may have a bit of trouble getting it opened.....yes....I learned this the hard way

Once your able to shut the lid without any sideways shift, you can fine tune the length of the pin to determine how "tight" the lid fits.

Hope this helps

NOTE.... as i said earlier, I dont know what your particular latch looks like and Im on the road so i cant look it up....If this is not the arrangement you have, post a couple of clear shots of both halves of the latch and I (or someone) can explain the fine points based on your parts..

I'll check back at he next stop this afternoon..

 

Rich, you have described perfectly aligning late model pin latch stuff, hood and deck.
The early Ford use a handle actuated latch mounted in the lid and cast steel striker on the body ledge. The striker is adjustable.
You are right on about aligning the deck lid with the striker removed.

 

Thanks guys, always nice going into something like this as informed as possible to save time and frustration