FYI, AMD 68-69 Hood

[Ryan]

OK so I purchased a hood from AMD a few months ago and its been........ uh, fun.

Anyways I pulled the hood out of the box and it looked OK, it had one dent and the top had some waves, but that was the least of the problems.

I did the body work on the hood and had it painted. Hood looked awsome!

Installed the hood and of course the last bolt goes in and the nut cert snaps

now I need to weld and repaint

And if that wasnt enough. While I was fitting the hood I noticed that no matter what I did I could not get the back to go down (yes I know how to adjust these hoods) I later found out that the pinchweld area on the side of the hood is about 1/4" to long and hits the fender causing the hood to bind. So I had to grind that down so the hood would fit.

This was a $700 hood.......... absolutley unacceptable.

[FLG]

Have you spoken to AMD on this issue? 

[Ryan]

I told them about the nut cert breaking. They offered a new hood, or some cash. They have great customer service but that can only go so far.

[gasoline_24]

I hear what you are saying, but this is why you should test fit everything before painting.  It would be nice if everything fit perfectly, but every one of these cars is slighlty different.  I would take AMD up on the money.  I plan to address a couple of issue I have with the drivers fender I purchased from them.

[Ryan]

I understand every car is different, but having to cut 1/4"+  off of the seam of the hood so it stops digging into your fenders has nothing to do with that. I expected the hood to be slightley wavey, and need a little tweeking to get it fo fit perfect, but cutting and grinding should not be needed.

[Charger-Bodie]

I'm not trying to stick up for anyone here , but I have had to cut some off of the rear lip of the hood to gain clearance to the cowl on original hoods .

Ive also seen some that had cut a grove into the cowl from rubbing for 30 years.

[Ryan]

hmm..... well these cars must have looser tolerances than I thought they did. Oh well its fixed now, just need to weld the nut cert up and repaint.

[71RT4ME]

I'm not trying to stick up for anyone here , but I have had to cut some off of the rear lip of the hood to gain clearance to the cowl on original hoods .

Ive also seen some that had cut a grove into the cowl from rubbing for 30 years.

I have seen exactly the same thing on original B bodies too.I have seen OEM hoods welded together out of alignment and need the flanges trimmed or even drilled apart partially and rewelded to align the skin to the structure.I have had  cars that the hood lip rubbed on the cowl too. Before we critisize the AMD hood,lets rule out other issues.Did you have the original hood installed before the AMD hood ?Are the fenders aligned correctly to the cowl?
There is a reason Chrysler assembled the cars before paint.So all the aligning and tweaking could be done before paint. Not trying to knock anyone here,but painting a hood before installing or at least test fitting is asking for trouble.
About that nut sert breaking-it is a good idea to run a thread cleaner[tap] through all the bolt holes etc first on any part to make sure the bolts will thread in smoothly.
I speak from experience here,and am justing trying to make suggestions to help out.

[Rolling_Thunder]

I'm not trying to stick up for anyone here , but I have had to cut some off of the rear lip of the hood to gain clearance to the cowl on original hoods .

Ive also seen some that had cut a grove into the cowl from rubbing for 30 years.

Agreed - I have done the same - needed to cut that off of stock OE hoods...     

[69bronzeT5]

I plan to address a couple of issue I have with the drivers fender I purchased from them.

Whats wrong with it?

[gasoline_24]

The side marker light was too low and I needed to add some to the rear and remove some from the front edge to make it fit correctly.  The passenger was bolt on and done, but the drivers wanted to be a little more difficult.  On a 40 year old car you can't run a carfax to see if they were ever wrecked etc. so who knows what they went through before you got them.

[69bronzeT5]

Ah ok. I plan on ordering a driver's '69 fender in a few months so I'm just doing some research. My rear valance should hopefully be here in the next week or so.

[BlueSS454]

That's nothing compared to some of the aftermarket Goodmark hoods I've seen for Chevelles and Novas.  I think we should just be glad someone went through the process to make these parts available.

[Ryan]

I'm not trying to stick up for anyone here , but I have had to cut some off of the rear lip of the hood to gain clearance to the cowl on original hoods .

Ive also seen some that had cut a grove into the cowl from rubbing for 30 years.

I have seen exactly the same thing on original B bodies too.I have seen OEM hoods welded together out of alignment and need the flanges trimmed or even drilled apart partially and rewelded to align the skin to the structure.I have had  cars that the hood lip rubbed on the cowl too. Before we critisize the AMD hood,lets rule out other issues.Did you have the original hood installed before the AMD hood ?Are the fenders aligned correctly to the cowl?
There is a reason Chrysler assembled the cars before paint.So all the aligning and tweaking could be done before paint. Not trying to knock anyone here,but painting a hood before installing or at least test fitting is asking for trouble.
About that nut sert breaking-it is a good idea to run a thread cleaner[tap] through all the bolt holes etc first on any part to make sure the bolts will thread in smoothly.
I speak from experience here,and am justing trying to make suggestions to help out.

ya, the fenders are alligned, I did have an original hood on the car. Whatever, I suppose its not as big of a deal as I made it to be. The hood fits really good now. And about the nutcert. A thread cleaner probably would have broken the nutcert as well, I gave the bolt one turn by hand to make sure it was straight, then as soon as the ratchet touched it it broke, it was a weld issue, not a cross threaded bolt issue. Also I am not trying to bad mouth the company as they have taken care of me on everything and they are very easy to deal with. But their products do need a little improvment in some areas. And I agree I should have fitted the hood first 

[Rolling_Thunder]

I just checked on my boss's Superbird and sure enough - the hood has worn a groove in the top of the fender in the engine bay...      I guess it is a common problem even to original sheet-metal...   

[Ryan]

I just checked on my boss's Superbird and sure enough - the hood has worn a groove in the top of the fender in the engine bay...      I guess it is a common problem even to original sheet-metal...   

hmm...... suppose I need to stop my whining

[Rolling_Thunder]

I just checked on my boss's Superbird and sure enough - the hood has worn a groove in the top of the fender in the engine bay...      I guess it is a common problem even to original sheet-metal...   

hmm...... suppose I need to stop my whining

no - not whining man - i would think AMD could easily have trimmed the said area a hair shorter so there would not be this problem - as it was common to even original sheetmetal...    maybe something to suggest to them?

[Finn]

hmm..... well these cars must have looser tolerances than I thought they did.

I ran into the same realization when I was aligning the doors (both perfect condition). On the drivers side I could tuck my fingers in and around through the gap on the bottom edge above the rockers (also in perfect condition) while on the passenger side the gap was about 1/2 of the size...unless the doors changed in size slightly (Ive been told my either one or both (don't remember) my doors are from a 69 or 70...something about lock placement) between the 2nd gens but I doubt they would???

[Ryan]

I have noticed on many cars that the gaps at the rockers vary from side to side, its not unusual at all.

[jerry]

 factory fit ?unless you bought the car new you don't know how many times the hoods, fenders or doors have been messed with.  this is 2008 and you would think the people making these parts could at least check the parts before even selling them to the public.

[NMike]

expecting the fit to be 100% is no realistic. back when these cars were made, they were all made on jigs at different factories. no CNC machine or computerized welding. remember the monday morning and friday afternoon cars?

most tolerances were quite generous. so how do you expect one company to make a stamped part that fit loose 40 year old cars?

[Ghoste]

A guy at work had his first job after he finished high school at the Chrysler assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario back in 1971.  He laughs when people talk about fit and finish from the factory back in that era and they uneven gaps between body panels.  He told me the absolutely last thing they did was get excited about gaps, maybe if they were really really bad, they would try to do something about it.  He said his first job in there was on the line at the engine marry operation and one of his tasks was when they were installing a Hemi, a guy would be on each side of the engine with a long metal bar and as the car was being lowered down their responsibility was to place the against the engine and pry against the inner fenders to open them up enough to drop the car quickly and easily.

[71RT4ME]

expecting the fit to be 100% is no realistic. back when these cars were made, they were all made on jigs at different factories. no CNC machine or computerized welding. remember the monday morning and friday afternoon cars?

most tolerances were quite generous. so how do you expect one company to make a stamped part that fit loose 40 year old cars?

So True.
I have restored dozens of Mopars plus some GM and Fords.The tolerances were very large.Some cars had different gaps from side to side.Some had a 1/2" stack of shims on one side and none on the other.GM was the absolute worst for that.There are so many variables when fitting fenders etc.I have had original untouched B bodies where the fender lower is contacting the front edge of the rocker panel on one side,and there is a 3/8" gap there on the other side.
Chrysler made an important change to the fender mounting in 1970.On the 66-70 B bodies,the fenders attached with 3 bolts to the inner fender by the rad support.Almost no adjustment.In 1970,they switched to 2 bolts mounting to the front side of the rad support.This allowed the fender to be slid in and out to correct hood gaps,and to be tilted to correct the door and rocker gaps.Chrylser  changed this because they had to.
The cars we love were not perfect,and as long as the repor parts are made equal to the factory parts,we will have to tweak to make them fit.I for one am just happy the parts are being made at all !

[jerry]

all the replies about factory panel fit up has nothing to do with this post because you pro restorers probably have never worked on a car that was built in the factory only cars that have been around the block and worked on for 40 years.and what does a incorrect size marker hole on quarter panel have to do with fit up of a panel? or a 1/2'' of extra metal hanging from hood that should have been trimmed off. wrong contour on the top of the road runner quarter panels. its 2008  can't this stuff be made right?a little quality control and they would have some nice sheet metal.

[Rolling_Thunder]

all the replies about factory panel fit up has nothing to do with this post because you pro restorers probably have never worked on a car that was built in the factory only cars that have been around the block and worked on for 40 years.and what does a incorrect size marker hole on quarter panel have to do with fit up of a panel? or a 1/2'' of extra metal hanging from hood that should have been trimmed off. wrong contour on the top of the road runner quarter panels. its 2008  can't this stuff be made right?a little quality control and they would have some nice sheet metal.

well you're free to do it yourself....         I'm sure they are doing their best dude...   

[jerry]

 as long as you spend your money on inferior parts they have no reason to make them right.after the very first quarter and other parts were stamped they should have been very carefully checked not after they were sold. its called quality control but as long as you accept half right parts then spend your money. it cost no more to make them right. it cost no more to make them right.   but it does cost more to rework what isn't right.....................

[71RT4ME]

as long as you spend your money on inferior parts they have no reason to make them right.after the very first quarter and other parts were stamped they should have been very carefully checked not after they were sold. its called quality control but as long as you accept half right parts then spend your money. it cost no more to make them right. it cost no more to make them right.   but it does cost more to rework what isn't right.....................

Not having seen or measured the hood lip that was being discussed here-none of us have the right to critisize the part.Perhaps it is made to the same dimension as the originals-which we know sometimes had a clearance issue themselves.Making the part to the factory specs is the right thing to do.It is up to the installer to make sure clearances are right on any part.You can't expect AMD to make the lip shorter than OEM-then you would have more complaints.
As for the marker lamp openings on the 1/4 panels-yes that should be corrected-no question.I have not seen  the repro Plymouth 1/4's in person yet,so I don't know anything about the contour issue you mention.From what I have seen and read,AMD is doing a fine job of trying to make panels for us.They need the feedback to make improvements.Lets try to be positive here and if their parts need attention-tell them so they can take action.By working together instead of against each other they, and other companies can make better parts for us.

[FLG]

The thing about AMD is that they seem to back there products well. Seems whoever had any problems AMD is more then willing to do whatever it takes to correct the issue. There customer support alone, backed with there quality products cant be beat. Yes no product is "perfect" obviously some panels will have there issues but i think there doing a fine job with correcting any problems that may arise   

I feel your pain about the hood, but it should have been test fitted before being painted. At least there not running away saying "You should have test fitted, sorry not our fault".