55 and 59 hings

[steve]

Little history,
My 59 has a 55 cab, 58 GMC fenders, 59 doors and the bed who knows, however all American steel. Aligning the front end and hood, I have approximately ¼ gaps around doors, fenders and hood all gaps looks good and even.

When the 59 (NEW) springs are installed the rear of the hood raises up approximately ½ inch. Sits flush when no springs are installed.
Question, the 55 cab, had the hinges completely attached to the firewall spring included, My 59 hinges mount to the inter fender well as well. I have ordered new 1959 hinges and springs from our host, hoping this is all I need to correct the problem. Anyone experience this, what other differences with the hinges were there?

I was thinking about boring the hinge holes to drop the hinge down where it attached to the firewall.

 

[Bill Hanlon]

55.2 thru 57 hood hinges mount to the cab differently than 58-59 hood hinges. I don't know if the springs are the same or not.

Assuming you are using 55.2-57 hinges try this:
Bribe friend(s) with beer (not too many) to help you.
Work on one hinge at a time.
Mark the position of the hinge on the firewall.
Loosen the top hinge bolt a turn or two.
Loosen the bottom hinge bolt 1/2" inch.
Place shims on bottom bolt between the hinge and the cab. I used U shaped front end alignment shims. They are about 1/8" thick. Washers would work, but you'd have to remove the bottom bolt to put the washers in place. I needed 2 on each side.
Tighten bolts and check results.

 

[AZ58Cameo]

Steve, I too bought new springs for my 59 and still had the hood rise at the back, So
new springs might not fix the problem! (I really didn't try and fix the problem further as i
have torn the truck down for a complete rebuild) But have seen this problem a time or
two posted by others.from what i remember its more of an adjustment problem!
Believe there was a guy that said to actually raise the hinge to get the hood to come down
(In other words, don't be afraid to go in the opposite direction that you think you need to!)I too will have to tackle the problem again when i put my hood back on So Keep us posted!
Good luck!
Allen

 

[willie1957]

Hinge teeth lined up correctly?

Hi folks, long time no post but I thought I would throw 2 cents worth in here. I realize you may have a unique situation here Steve since you have a 55 cab and the hinges are different for a 59 but what I experienced (besides a lot of frustration) when I recently bought a set of hood hinges from our host was that the back part of the hood would not sit down snug as it did before with my old hinges.

I eventually did some comparing between the new hinges and the old set and found that the new set was off by a tooth as compared to the old hinges. I had to do a little forcing and realigning of the teeth on the new hinges to get them to match the old. This allowed my hood to sit down snug as desired.

I was doing a lot of playing around with shims and positioning of the hinges themselves only to find out that the hinges were not constructed correctly.

 

[steve]

Thanks fro all the imput guys

Let me provide an update on my hood hinges replacement. After ordering two replacement hinges and they arrived within three days of the online order placement. I first removed the right passenger side hinge. Replacement went well and after completed, closed the hood and the replacement immediately correct the hood elevation on that side, great this is the fix I was looking for. The spring replacement on this newly installed replacement hinge went next and the hood remained flushed on that side.
Before the hood when new springs were installed on the old hinge the rear of the hood raised up about ¾ inch.
I went and removed the driver side hind and the two new hinges were both very hard to open or close, because of the newness and tight riveting. My old hinges I could open and closed by hand like a accordion.
The driver side did not go so well. The hinge had defective teeth; the gears were cut too big and they did not fit into the bottom female sprocket. So when installed and hood was closed the hood hinged raised up almost three inches from being flushed with the cowl.
I called our host and they mailed another driver side hinge for a direct replacement. They did not wait for the previous hinge to be returned, that is great customer service. Their defected hinge is in the mail.
With both hinges installed completely with springs and some minor adjustment the hood sits flush with the cowl and my front alignment is now within required tolerances.
Picture will come once I find my camera.

Carmeo, Bill and Willie great infromation it help me resolved the hood alinement.

 

[steve]

Some Pictures

Remember guys this ant no trailer queen...

Thar second picture that is a dent in the cowl, that will beed to be address. I think there was a spot light theire at one time.

 

[vwnate1]

Bit By Bit

Looking nice , I wish my old '55 Tow Truck had ever looked 1/2 this good .

 

[RustyEnglish]

Hood

I really like the dip in the hood of the 57-59. Will the 57, 58 and 59 fit the 2nd edition 1955 truck fenders? I like the single head light.

 

[AZ58Cameo]

I really like the dip in the hood of the 57-59. Will the 57, 58 and 59 fit the 2nd edition 1955 truck fenders? I like the single head light.

57 Hood Does not have the dip in it like the 58-9 Hood.
To answer your ? NO the 58-59 Hoods will not work with your 55 Fenders
The 57 hood is different than all the other years but will work with
your 55 fenders

 

[steve]

Got DiP!

Check my hood, true 1959.. Fender 58 GMC, cab 1955, motor 1972. project since 1991.

Still Trucking after all these years... oh yea, transmission 1984. (200r4) that's my dip...