Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

has anyone noticed any issues matching up the lines of the hood when you drop in a TC hood & TC header panel on a sport ?

we seem to be coming up with a gap along the area where the header panel meets the hood and from dead center moving to the left or the right,,,,,,  the gap seems to get wider.

Maybe you need to realign your fenders. It shouldn't make a difference as far as the body goes. A Sport, a TC or a 3.8 car....still the same basic body.

My autox car doesn't line up quite right either, but I think the frame had been tweaked slightly.

This is a 1988 Hhood according to the Vin number and 88 nose and header panel

If you zoom in on the line I am showing the gap gets wider on the far left and far right like the header panel is bent or stuff just doesn't lineup

Looks fine. Most of these cars are like that and came from the factory that way.

Not gonna get much better. Well not without some bodywork on the nose

my cougar doesnt do this at all,, the two corners are matched perfectly.

ideas?
can anyone else confirm thier hood gap along the header when closed?

for some reason im starting to think this header panel is kinda bent,,, being fiberglass not sure if thats possible but just throwing that out there.

I think it would be interesting to take some measurements from the windshield to the header panel and even measure the hood. It looks to me like there is just something out of alignment somewhere. Looks like maybe that fender is sitting just a little forward of the other one. Just curious also, did the gaps look the same when the bumper cover is attached and all the braces in place? From the photo it looks like the problem exists on both sides, but is just more noticeable on the passenger side. Another possibility could be that since the car did get a frontal impact that the core support where the brace attaches in the center could be slightly bent and that is pulling the center of the header panel in a little further than it should be.

I need to see the gap at the fenders and doors, and the gap at the fenders and sides of the hood.

It may be possible to move the center of the header panel forward and then move the hood forward to close up the gap.

Looks way better than the gaps on my car...
It's an american car, it's not a Maserati. It's built by Bob from Kentucky while he was eating McNuggets!

i didnt think of that!!!!!!!!!

that would play into the suspect that the header is "straighter" than it should be.
im gonna go see now.

that worked perfectly,,,
loosened the header to bumper cover bolts and header to radiator core braket,,,

ran a wratchet strap around the header and hooked other end to my work bench
pulled the header center forward 1/8'',  locked it down.
loosened hood bolts, scooted hood forward a tad,,, all is well in the world of my boy!

will post pic,, my phone is charging now.

Good to hear that it worked, awaiting photos.....

yeah,, i hear ya,,
well son took off before this exceptional technology of an iphone could charge enough to even boot up.
i should have broke out the other options to snap a shot.. sorry.
thanks for the idea though...

so i look at my coug and its gap along the header is like 1/8'' and less than a 1/4 up the fenders.. its so darn tight

once upon a time i purchased an aftermarket header panel for my white coug,, i wondered about this header because it had not a single fomoco mark on it anywhere.... like its aftermarket as well.

It probably is aftermarket. Mine is :( no FOMOCO #s anywhere either. Glad that it adjusted out for you.

Hey no problems, just curious how well it turned out. If it was perfect I was going to tell our Sweden friend that Bob in Kentucky does good work. LOL

I just checked a header panel that I still have and the Ford logo is in the top right of the area where the right side headlight bucket attaches.