Body / Glass: 1950 Hood latch mis aligned ? ... by about an inch whoops

[Starlite51]

the upper spring set up is missing the bottom latch mech by about a inch forward

there is no adjustment ... that I can see on the top spring .. and what forward and back ward adjustment we have is not enough to match the upper spring with the bottom latch ARGH

did we miss match the front group some how?

the car is on a Chevy S-10 frame and the fenders and hood all fit okay ....

I will try to attach better photos later

any input is appreciated

[Champ51]

Just speculating, but were the hood and fenders not sourced from the same year and model?

[Starlite51]

good question I am pretty sure it was all '50 Champ

it was a stalled project when I got it ... not too sure of the history --

it did come from Dinuba, CA

I think a guy named Danny George was building it as a drag car back in 1997
he did a great job on the chassis even has a full locker rear end

here it is with the hood closed right after we got it

[Carl Purdy]

The bracket under the hood that the stud and spring bolts into is bent.

[thunderations]

If you remove the upper spring and stud, does the hood close? If so, the above solution will work. The spring/stud bracket is bent.

[RadioRoy]

A common problem is that the probe/stinger/male part of the latch is bent as everyone else says. If you look at the tip, you will see that it has a slot for a big flat blade screwdriver. That is so you can screw the stinger in and out to set the height of the closed position. If you rotate the stinger with the screwdriver, you can see if the whole shaft is bent. You can unscrew it completely and get if on the bench to straighten it out, or simply replace it with another one from another Studebaker hood.

From the pictures with the hood closed, you can also see that the hood is either too far forward, or more likely, the grille is too far rearward. The hood should sit behing the bullet by about a 1/4 inch. You can see that the hood is overlapping the bullet. It's likely that the grill has been pushed in by a previous accident.

[bezhawk]

Roy is absolutely right, the hood should be behind the bullet, not overlapping it. The front fenders don't bolt directly to the cowl, there should be a rubber cushion that is approx 3/16" thick. Often these are left out, and the whole front clip is too far rearward as a result.
That along with adjusting the nose section, and the hood rearward, and the dovetail latch pin (possibly bent), you should be able to get it right.

[Starlite51]

thanks -- we will give all the suggestions a try ---