Buick LeSabre 1965 Service Manual page 883

12-2
FRONT END SHEET METAL & BUMPERS
hood for clearance at the fenders
and cowl. If an edge of metal is
making contact at any point where
clearance should exist a bright
metal spot will usually be found.
Such spots can be depressed by
spring hammering to provide
clearance.
A grunting noise in the hood is
usually caused by dry rubber
bumpers or cowl ledge lacing.
Lubricate all rubber bumpers on
rails and cowl with silicone rub-
ber lubricant. To correct a per-
sistent case of squeaking or
grunting where hood top panel
contacts ledge lacing, even when
lubricated, cement a 1/16" thick
strip of felt to panel where the
lacing makes contact.
To prevent hood panel flutter, the
rear end of hood panel must have
firm contact with the lacing at-
tached to cowl ledge. The hood
may be raised or lowered by ad-
justment at hinges.
b. Preliminary Tightening
Before deciding upon any adjust-
ment to correct hood or fender
misalignment it is advisable to
check tightness of all attaching
screws, and bolts, since a true
picture of the correction require-
ments cannot be obtained when the
sheet metal is loose and free to
shift.
After all parts are properly tight-
ened inspect fender and hood
alignment (subpar. c) and hood
alignment (subpar. d). Make all
inspections before performing any
adjustments because an adjust-
ment at one point will usually
alter alignment at other points.
The preliminary inspection should
determine the adjustments that
will produce the best overall
alignment of hood and fenders at
all points.
c. Fender and Hood
Alignment at Front Doors
With front doors closed there
should be no metal-to-metal con-
tact between doors and rear ends
of front fenders. Check for clear-
ance at frequent points, using a
strip of fibre or other soft mate-
rial 1/32" thick. The spacing be-
tween the rear end of front
fenders and the shoulder on front
edge of doors should be approxi-
mately 1/8", and fairly uniform
from top to bottom.
Before making any adjustment of
sheet metal to provide necessary
clearance at points mentioned,
first make sure that front doors
are properly aligned in the body
openings. If fenders and door
panel surfaces are not reason-
ably flush correction may be
made by adding or removing
shims between the fender and the
cowl.
Where spacing between the rear
edge of front fender and door is
objectionably uneven from top to
bottom, it may be necessary to
adjust the shims between fender
inner skirt and frame, to adjust
shims between fender and rocker
panel, or to loosen fender attach-
ing bolts and pry between fender
and rocker panel. Further adjust-
ment may be made by drawing
fender into position and retighten-
ing bolts.
d. Hood Alignment Inspection
When the hood is closed and
latched, it should bear firmly
against the front rubber bumpers
on upper tie bar. Height of hood
and width of space between hood
and fenders should be reasonably
even from front to rear. See par-
agraph 12-3 (a) for fender adjust-
ment and paragraph 12-3 (e) for
hood adjustment.
1 2 - 3 FENDER, BUMPER
AND HOOD
ADJUSTMENT
a. Front Fender
If the front end of the sheet metal
assembly is too high or too low,
resulting in objectionably uneven
vertical spacing between the front
fenders and doors, it will be
necessary to add or remove
shims at front support locations.
Whenever shims are to be added
or removed at the front support
locations, it will be necessary to
loosen the lower rear attaching
bolts at the inner skirt to body.
See Figures 12-1 and 12-2. Ad-
justment of rear edge of the front
fender is accomplished by shim-
ming at the fender-to-body at-
taching points. The fender line
should be flush with the rocker
panel.
b. Bumper Adjustment
The bumper attaching bolt holes
in frame cross member, back
bars and bumper face plate are
slotted to permit movement of
the bumper and permit proper
alignment with adjacent parts.
c. Removal and Installation
of Hood Hinge Springs
1. Support hood in extreme "up"
position preferably by chain fall
if available.
2. To remove hood spring insert
Remover and Installer J-9214
through loop in forward end of
spring. Push tool toward rear of
car using hinge as a pivot and
carefully remove spring from
notch. See Figure 12-5.
CAUTION: Care must be used
when releasing spring.
3. Push tool forward, causing
hood spring to slide clear of
hinge.
4. To replace hood spring, insert
Remover and Installer J-9314
through loop in forward end of