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Hood hinge issue - 71 Charger

I put classic hinges on my charger so I could send out the old hinges for rebuild (I don't have room to store hoods or doors for that matter). The newer hinges seemed to have more "sway" to them and no matter what I did it always closed a bit faster to the driver side. I don't have a great paint job so I wasn't overly concerned but it was enough to make me cringe. then when I got the rebuilts re-installed I didn't have any issues and it closes straight and even now. I don't know why, just an observation.
 
OMTWF-72SE said:
I put classic hinges on my charger so I could send out the old hinges for rebuild (I don't have room to store hoods or doors for that matter). The newer hinges seemed to have more "sway" to them and no matter what I did it always closed a bit faster to the driver side. I don't have a great paint job so I wasn't overly concerned but it was enough to make me cringe. then when I got the rebuilts re-installed I didn't have any issues and it closes straight and even now. I don't know why, just an observation.
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Well I guess I will see when I get them but they cannot be worse than what I have now. That said if they are crappy I will look into fixing mine.
 
71Beeper said:
wonder if any are made to fit Mopar's?
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Yes, I had them on my 68. Factory hinges finally broke completely.
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I removed the hood and hinges yesterday, on the pass side one of the rivets was/is really slopped out. I am going to go through these hinges for the exercise as I have seen several people say that the Classic/AMD ones are not very good, so "just in case"..

I have looked for rivets and have found some for GM products but of course nothing for Mopar although I am sure the rivets used were not specifically Mopar and probably used in many other applications.
 
I managed to fix the one hinge, tomorrow I will do the other. The holes were not slopped out, rather the rivets had worn or loosened enough to make the hinge sloppy. I heated and re-peened them and not it is very tight, perhaps a bit too much but I think it will be ok.

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I had that same "pushing down the back of the hood to be level with the fender" issue on the driver's side when closing the hood on my '70 Challenger. The passenger side hinge closes all the way down, level with the fender like it should. I bought an NOS hinge for the driver's side but when I installed it, I had the same push-down issue. I did adjust the hinge higher in the back than in the front and it was better but still had to push it down as it stood up 1/2 inch above the fender when fully closed. When driving the car, road vibration would cause the hood on the driver's side to raise up 1/2 inch above the fender. In looking closely at both hinges, I noticed that the "good" hinge on the passenger side has a 4-inch straight bar that is riveted in the center of the hinge. The driver's side hinge has a 3-inch bar. Not sure if this is the problem or if the driver's side hinge is possibly incorrect? The NOS bar has a 3 inch bar and is exactly the same as the first hinge that I replaced it for. Good luck with your hinges!
 
70SunFun said:
I had that same "pushing down the back of the hood to be level with the fender" issue on the driver's side when closing the hood on my '70 Challenger. The passenger side hinge closes all the way down, level with the fender like it should. I bought an NOS hinge for the driver's side but when I installed it, I had the same push-down issue. I did adjust the hinge higher in the back than in the front and it was better but still had to push it down as it stood up 1/2 inch above the fender when fully closed. When driving the car, road vibration would cause the hood on the driver's side to raise up 1/2 inch above the fender. In looking closely at both hinges, I noticed that the "good" hinge on the passenger side has a 4-inch straight bar that is riveted in the center of the hinge. The driver's side hinge has a 3-inch bar. Not sure if this is the problem or if the driver's side hinge is possibly incorrect? The NOS bar has a 3 inch bar and is exactly the same as the first hinge that I replaced it for. Good luck with your hinges!
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I cannot say for certain but I am pretty sure both bars are supposed to be identical. I have a set of E body hinges and I will measure the bar. The hinges for my Charger are different than the E body ones, the Charger hinges do not have any teeth that mesh on opening or closing whereas the E body ones do. I am sure there are other differences but thats what I got right now.
 
moparmarks said:
Yours look like 73-4 hinges. 71-2 should have teeth. Also both sides should match.
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That certainly could be, like many of these cars I have no doubt that it was a parts car at one point. I will see how the "new and improved" hinges work. I still have the new ones coming so we will see. I have a wide array of other things to do as well to get this car running.
 
moparmarks said:
It seems like it's usually the passenger hinge that has problems.
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Thanks for posting those pictures, I definitely have the 73+ version.

I agree that it seems that the passenger side seems to be the one to go bad first, interesting. I wonder if this is due to the majority of people being right handed and when closing the hood tend to pull more on the drivers side leaving the pass side to take a sideways load.
 
The hinge on the left is from a 70 Challenger and the one on the right is the one I got with my 71 Charger. I have to say that they seem pretty close overall.

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Thanks for posting this topic. My '70 Charger hood has the same problem. It was fine for years sitting in my garage, opening/closing the hood many times. It went for body and paint last winter and the hood was removed to be painted, then reinstalled. Since then, it does the exact same thing, it sits about 1/4" high at the rear edge on the driver's side when closed. I appreciate some of the advice given...I also don't believe my hood springs or hinges suddenly wore out and that it's (hopefully) an adjustment thing.
 
Coelacanth said:
Thanks for posting this topic. My '70 Charger hood has the same problem. It was fine for years sitting in my garage, opening/closing the hood many times. It went for body and paint last winter and the hood was removed to be painted, then reinstalled. Since then, it does the exact same thing, it sits about 1/4" high at the rear edge on the driver's side when closed. I appreciate some of the advice given...I also don't believe my hood springs or hinges suddenly wore out and that it's (hopefully) an adjustment thing.
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Your situation definitely seems like an adjustment issue.
 
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