Is there a simple way to do this? I'm looking at the hood hinges & where they bolt up to the hood, and there doesn't look to be any way to adjust or shim it, but I admit my total ignorance apart from spending a few minutes looking at it, trying to figure it out. I figure someone here must know more than me on the subject. Hmm?
As I recall when I did my 47 hood I bolted the hinges to the hood and then put it on the car. Once on the car, a two person job by the way, I held the hood up as high as I could get it and then snugged the hinge bolts down a bit. This helps to set the rear of the hood down snug to the cowl when closed. Once they were snugged down a bit I could then open and close the hood while making minor adjustments to one side or the other. I then worked on getting a good alignment on the latch while trying to keep the back of the hood down snug against the cowl. That was about the best I could hope for. The panels on the 41 to 48 cars really didn't fit very well from the factory as built so I don't think you will be able to get a really nice fit without some serious adjustment time. If the nose was off the car at all that will also play a role in how close you can get it to fit. Trunk lids also have a similar issue with gaps on sides not matching the curve of the quarter panel very well after years of use also.
All of the above assumed your hinges and springs are in good shape. If not you might want to see about replacing them first before going to far with this.
Did you search the Tech Archives? There was a thread about this a few years ago, I had it saved at one time but can't find it now. I sold my '46 two and a half years ago so its at least that far back. As I remember the cost of replacing or having the hinges rebuilt was very expensive, since mine were completely worn out and I didn't want to spend a bunch of money, I installed a strut kit that I had bought from Speedway Motors. It was easy to install and it solved my hood problems, the kit ('42-'48 Ford Car Hood Lifter Kit) is on page 197 and their part number is 911-7002.
My experience is that the hood on my 48 wouldn't align the way I liked it until I removed the springs and converted to a prop-rod support.
Gordon C's method above works pretty well. I just installed one a couple months back on a 47 and used a similar method-I had the hinges on the cowl and it is tough to get the hood attachment bolts in with fenders off-so with the fenders on would be a little tighter. As also stated above,I ditched the hood springs and went with a prop rod from Hyde Products. The alignment is much better without the springs working against you-you still have to guide the back of the hood where you want it to go when you close it. One thing worth mentioning here is to keep the rear of the hood high enough that the center strip doesnt catch the front edge of the cowl when you begin to lift the hood up.
COOP, this has been discussed before, so I hope someone will post what I'm suggesting. If you can find a copy of the V-8 Ford Club's, May/June 2009 issue of the V-8 Times, there is a two page article on how the 1941/1948 hood is adjusted. It can be a real pain and something you think will move the hood a certain way will be all wrong.
I recently did my 47. GordonC is correct , you need to start with good hinges , proper bolts and good springs. Mine were fairly good , one thing I did was grind the portion that stops the lift or upward motion and gained a couple inches of head room .
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