Bonnet Excessive Sway

[LAW75]

Help, please? I have what I believe is excessive sway in my hood. It not only feels excessive but also I have paint wear on both sides of the rim of the hood and inside the channel. I made sure the visible bolts are tight and they are. How do I get to the inside part of the hinges? Any way to prevent or retard the paint wear? Thank you.

 

[HealeyRick]

Do you have the hood buffers installed?

 

[AUSMHLY]

The hinge is held in place with a pin under the dash. Parts under the dash need to be removed to get to it. I don't think you need to do that. There is no adjustment from that end.
When the hood is closed, is it flush around all edges? Is the gap constant around all edges?
When you close the hood, does the latch hold it in place easily or does the latch pull the hood down, right or left before clicking into place?
Hood alinement adjustments are done where the two hinges bolt to the hood and the striker pin/base plate.
Getting the hood flush with the shroud are done with the rubber bushes. They are held in place with a split rivet. You'll need to figure out where to drill the hole in the rubber bush for the rivet's height. Too low it doesn't touch the hood. Too high and the hood will not close right. You want just a little pressure so it doesn't move.
Once all those things are addressed, the hood should centered and not move at all.
If you made changes, you may have to adjust the hood release position at the hood latch slider.
Lot's of tweaks/adjustments that will eat up a lot of time. Persistence and patience. But as a Healey owner, you already know that.

 

[LAW75]

Here's the deal. Yes, Rick, all the relevant buffers are in place and in great condition. Yes, Ausmhly, when closed there is an even gap and flush all around the hood to body. I can only assume that the movement of the car during travel has some shift to cause the paint wear at the exact same two spots (each on opposite sides) as there is no friction or "closeness" at these wear spots when looking at the closed hood gap. Only after I present the car for Concours, I just may have to drill small holes in the body channel and install the same rubber buffers that are in the trunk hood channel and place these buffers in the middle of the paint wear area. I would shave the buffers down so not visible when looking down at the closed hood but protruding enough to stop the rub. Any other thoughts? Thanks again, all.

 

[AUSMHLY]

"the same rubber buffers that are in the trunk hood channel"
There shouldn't be any rubber buffers in the trunk that are the same as used in the hood. The trunk should have a rubber strip glued to the underside of the trunk. There should be 3 round press in rubber stops in the bottom of the channel that come in contact with the edge of the trunk.

You should not have to do any modifications like adding more buffers. I wouldn't. It's about getting the pressure of the existing buffers to keep the hood in place.

 

[LAW75]

I used the wrong terminology. I was attempting to refer to the 3 rubber things in the trunk channel as what is there..."rubber stoppers". Since the gap is even and the hood lays flat to the body, I just cant think of any reason for the paint wear other then body movement when riding around the road. Any other ideas other then my rubber stops one? Thanks

 

[AUSMHLY]

It appears your hood has movement with driving and is in contact with the rain channel. If the hood is centered/flush, confirm the striker pin/base plate doesn't have any movement when closed. Focus on the pressure of the existing buffers to keep the hood in place.

It maybe helpful to provide photos of the problem areas.