Hood Gaps!!!

[GBS]

In my case I don't think the hood is warped. The gap on the passenger side is good but the gap on the drivers side drives me crazy. The cars itself looks like it just came out of the showroom.
Viper_LSP5.jpg

[GhostStalker27]

In my case I don't think the hood is warped. The gap on the passenger side is good but the gap on the drivers side drives me crazy. The cars itself looks like it just came out of the showroom.
Viper_LSP5.jpg

GBS that's funny - I was looking at your car in the pic thread and thought to myself 'daaymn that acr is perfect, no gap whats so ever'.. now I see the drivers side and it's mutual problem - you're car's still a stunner regardless!. I'm surprised more people haven't discussed this because I've seen it on a lot of gen2s

[coupe]

Mine was perfect when I got the car (GTS) but after doing a radiator swap and reinstalling the bumper/hood, I too have a slightly wider gap across the front between the hood and bumper cover. The hood fitment seems perfect, so my plan is to loosen the cover and move it around a bit to see if I can make up the gap, then shim as necessary.

[ront/10]

When I purchased my Gen 1, about 5 years ago, the hood gaps were perfect. Now my drivers side gap is twice the size of the passenger side. Car has never been hit and is otherwise perfect. Would love to know what caused it and how to fix it!

[ViperTony]

Mine was perfect when I got the car (GTS) but after doing a radiator swap and reinstalling the bumper/hood, I too have a slightly wider gap across the front between the hood and bumper cover. The hood fitment seems perfect, so my plan is to loosen the cover and move it around a bit to see if I can make up the gap, then shim as necessary.

In your case, it's likely that the shims under the lip (top of the bumper cover in front of the intake) that bolts on to the bumper cover are missing. Mine fell out when I removed my fascia but luckily I noticed it before I pit the fascia back on.

[ViperTony]

When I purchased my Gen 1, about 5 years ago, the hood gaps were perfect. Now my drivers side gap is twice the size of the passenger side. Car has never been hit and is otherwise perfect. Would love to know what caused it and how to fix it!

This is the case I'm talking about. Whereby the gaps are fine on one side of the viper, they're fine between the hood and fascia but are off on the other side as if that whole side of the Viper was bent. Which is not the case especially if there's no damage. Taking apart the front of the car to adjust a dozen bolts doesn't seem right. How does half of the front end of the Viper lose adjustment like that. Odd.

[GhostStalker27]

This is the case I'm talking about. Whereby the gaps are fine on one side of the viper, they're fine between the hood and fascia but are off on the other side as if that whole side of the Viper was bent. Which is not the case especially if there's no damage. Taking apart the front of the car to adjust a dozen bolts doesn't seem right. How does half of the front end of the Viper lose adjustment like that. Odd.

Could the torquing of the engine cause it to become uneven over time, sorta like what happens to dual exhaust.

[GBS]

I know my car was not in any kind of wreck and it only has 5400 miles on it. Somehow the drivers side has come out of alignment over time. I know it's a common problem and can be fixed. I don't trust the local Dodge dealer's in southwest Florida. Half the time they can't fix my Dodge Caravan right. Even though I have to travel a lot on business, so it's hard to find time to even drive my cars, I would be happy to try and fix it I had some instructions and pictures to go by. Owners who live close to Tator or Woodhouse are lucky. Maybe the Viper Wizard will down to southwest Florida on vacation and just happen to stop by?

[ViperTony]

Could the torquing of the engine cause it to become uneven over time, sorta like what happens to dual exhaust.

I was being sarcastic. Point being that I don't believe the car gets torqued but rather the hood itself. Unless of course there's accident history but I'm not talking about those situations. I'll have to find photos to describe what I'm talking about.

[GhostStalker27]

Ok so after working on this thing all day saturday and getting no where. I went back to it again tonight. Good results...no. Better...yes

First remove your front fascia - great how-to here from LifeIsGood

After removing the front fascia, look under the headlight and study how the thing is held together then (loosened the bolts circled in green)


Then inside the wheel well (loosened the bolts circled in green), turn the wheel - makes it much easier


Now loosen or remove the wing nuts on the wheel well - (circled in green again) (sorry for the bad pic - its all I had)


Now you should be able to move the front corner support up and down a bit. Jack it up with whatever - nothing to harsh - I used wood


Go around tightening down the bolts, I used shims in spots I felt needed them (you'll have to judge that for yourself). But for example I used one in the wheel well on the bottom bolt that's attached to the frame.

Before:


After:



Not a huge difference but I'll take it for now...and yes my wheels are now anthracite grey and I change the clear side marker back to orange..

[GBS]

Not a huge difference but I'll take it for now...and yes my wheels are now anthracite grey and I change the clear side marker back to orange..

It definitely looks better! Thanks for the pictures and write up. I hope I can get my 2002 adjusted to an acceptable gap.

[AutoformSteve]

Here is my two cents for what it's worth...the radiator saddle sits on top of the lower frame horns and has a rubber centering mount as well as a shim stack...amounts vary on all cars. the Radiator Saddle is bolted to the frame on the sides of upper frame sections. Typically one can access these (if you know where you are headed) by the access hole in the wheel well. Loosen these bolts and jack up the radiator saddle...kind of where the wood blocks are on one of the pictures above. You will need to loosen the under car section of the front fascia to access the lower frame horn area to add the needed shims to hold the whole thing up again.
My experience tells me that those shims can rattle out in time causing the saddle to lower and sometimes move forward a little, thus causing the headlights to lower in the rear which creates a gap between the hood and Headlight and the fascia to hood gap. There shouldn't be a need to adjust all of the other points...they usually stay in place.. just bend a little. Sometimes the little sheet metal angle brackets bend (the ones in the wheel well) if they look like they are bent a little...that is the tip off of the saddle moving. Loosen these as well when doing all of this. After the lower saddle points are re shimmed...you can then re tighten the side mount bolts.Saddle Shim points.jpg

[TitleMine]

Given how unbelievably common this issue is, it's woeful that better documentation for this job doesn't exist online. I'm thinking that with the weather getting warmer, I'll make an HD video with DSLR photos of me manipulating the fascia as a guide, since my one corner is a bit out of whack (looks like OP's "after" picture"). I'll post here when it's done.

[GhostStalker27]

Saddle Shim points.jpg

I did notice shims in between the lower shoe horn and radiator saddle. The drivers side shims were pushed out towards the nose. They were rubber shims - does that sound right?

If I can access the bolt that connects the lower shoe horn and radiator saddle without taking off the front fascia (for the 3rd time haha) that'd be great. Something tells me I need to get the car on jacks to really get in there (my cars lowered quite a bit)

[AutoformSteve]

They are a rubber fiberous shims...if they were pushed out towards the front... that kind of shows that area is moving around.
You probably will need to put it on jack stands to comfortably get at the bottom.

[ront/10]

They are a rubber fiberous shims...if they were pushed out towards the front... that kind of shows that area is moving around.
You probably will need to put it on jack stands to comfortably get at the bottom.

When you see my car for roof/spoiler install next month, any pointers on my hood gap would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Ron

[GhostStalker27]

I've attempted this a few times now and what I think works the best is - loosen every single bolt that holds the radiator support to the frame. Then take your jack, some wood - for spreading out the force of the jack, and slowly jack up the radiator support , dont over do it. After you get it where you want it. tighten everything, place shims where ya think there needed

BEFORE:
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AFTER:
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[GBS]

Looks much better! I still need to adjust my gap. Between working too many hours and doing renovations on my house I haven't had much time to even drive my cars. I hope I can find time to get to it soon.

[GhostStalker27]

Looks much better! I still need to adjust my gap. Between working too many hours and doing renovations on my house I haven't had much time to even drive my cars. I hope I can find time to get to it soon.

Thanks, I'm in the same boat- took me while to find the time to tackle this - you can see the tile saw in the bg of my last pic. I'd work on the viper one night then the bathroom the next..Viper got most of my attention haha..bathroom is half done