Front sheet metal, Fenders, Hood, alignment

[Jwawhite]

Taking a look at the alignment of the hood it appears I have equal spacing between the fenders but it may be too much. The mechanics of it, the inner fenders, is there a way to bring them in just a bit, or no adjustment?
What started this was I don't like the way the hood latch gets hung up each time I open or close the hood. This is my idea to center the hood latch: tape a piece of paper over the hole and mark the circumference of it. Break off a toothpick in the hood latch slot, lightly begin to close the hood, the toothpick pointer should indicate how far off the body latch is....and adj accordingly.

 

[frank long island]

how are the lines at front of fenders? as for the latch just loosen and push hood down don't close all the way pin/latch should move tighten and recheck this should work for side to side adjustment If its dragging from back move hood forward on hinges you can move the back of the fenders in but may mess up door lines your hood may be bent in the center causing wide rear lines these cars didn't have perfect lines from the factory if you can live with it I would alignment of these is a {pia} as fenders are bolted through the cowl half way down and may contain shims

 

[Jwawhite]

Hi Frank, the lines look good all around the hood to the cowel and hood to the fenders but the space seems excessive between hood and fenders. For example, you can see the bolt heads at the inner fender, not completely just the sides of the bolts, when you look at car head on.
Latch adj, your suggestion to move the hood forward, doesn't the core support lock plate also move forward as well as sideways? The hood face to trim is perfect.
Saw those cowel bolts to fender the other day....

 

[Daves55Sedan]

Frank Long Islands suggestion for centering the hood latch is exactly how I do it.
If the gap between fenders and hood are even from front to back along the side edge of hood, its probably okay, but if the gap is wider at front than it is at back (or vice-versa), it can be adjusted. Leave the hood alone. It may be necessary to remove the grille half and parking light housing. Loosen the bolts that hold the front of the fender to the front wall half panel. There are also two bolts under the fender where the end of the grille mates with it. They need to be loosened also. This should allow you to push the side of the fender inward to close the gap at the front, or pull outward to increase the gap at the front.