[dataway]

OK, you guys have given me some ideas.

Cowl seal is original, hood has zero bow in it, hinges operate beautifully ( I also re swagged the rivets). Hood latch is not installed.

I do NOT have shims on the upper cowl/fender bolt .... something I immediately thought of .. but figured it would screw up my door gaps if I messed with that ... if I can leave the bolt behind the door tight then there is some hope adding a shim on the cowl.

Wind opening a hood would tend to pull the front hinge/fender bolt to the upper limit of the travel ... I still have some room to do that, so I'll try to move it the rest of the way before I try anything else.

400 ... some great ideas there. I see where you are coming from. Since the fender controls the position of the hinges, a shift in the geometry of the fender can subtly alter the angle of the hinges side to side. Loosening that bolt to cowl right behind the hinge would allow the part of the fender to which the hinge is bolted to flex and shift the side to side position of the top of the hinge. Jeez, how long did it take to figure that kind of thing out?

I absolutely think with these suggestions I can get the 1/8" I need in both the directions I need them.

I'll add my tip .... when a hood has fresh paint, and the fender to hood rubber spacers (the triangle ones) are squeaky clean .... grease the contact point between the spacers and the flange of the hood ... when I did that the hood settled much easier between the fenders.

Thanks guys