Hood Hinge Installation for 1960-⁠1966 Trucks

Cowl mounted 1960-⁠66 hood hinges are the usual fix when a big tire hits the fender brace. Our hinge kit for 1960-⁠66 trucks moves the hinge off the fender and onto the cowl. That frees up tire clearance and cleans up the engine bay. The hinge and strut kit adds gas struts, so the hood holds itself up without a prop rod. First, read every step below. Then set aside an afternoon, because there is drilling, cutting and welding in this job.

Tools you will need

• Tape measure, masking tape and a marker
• Drill with 5/16″ and 9/16″ bits
• Cutoff wheel or body saw
• Torque wrench, welder and basic hand tools

1960-⁠66 hood hinges install steps

1. First, remove the factory parts. Remove your factory hood, hood hinges, and wiper cowl.
2. Mark the centerline. Place a piece of masking tape roughly in the center of your cowl and draw a vertical center line. There will be a mounting hole for the cowl panel very close to center.
3. Mark the hinge locations. Measure out 22 13/16″ from the center line (left and right) and draw a vertical line on the tape for the hinge bases. Double-check your measurements — the distance between the two outer marks should measure 45 5/8″ (center of hinge to center of hinge).

Cut and drill the cowl for the 1960-⁠66 hood hinges

4. Next, trace the hinge base. Disassemble the hinge arms from the hinge bases. Set each base on top of the cowl, positioned 1/2″ back from the face of the cowl and centered on your line, then trace around it.
5. Cut the sheet metal. Cut along your trace lines with a cutoff wheel or body saw so the hinge base can drop down inside the cowl, then check for fitment. If you run windshield wipers, cut carefully around the wiper mounts.
6. Make a hinge face template. Trace the face of the hinge base onto a piece of paper or poster board and mark the 4 mounting holes plus the slot for the hinge arm. Line up the template’s center with your vertical line and mark the hole and slot locations.
7. Drill the mounting holes. Drill all 4 hinge base mounting holes with a 5/16″ drill bit, and the top and bottom of the hinge arm slot with a 9/16″ drill bit. Finish cutting the slot with a body saw or cutoff wheel.
8. Bolt up and mark final holes. Set the hinge base in the cowl with only two bolts — it should sit flat against the inside of the cowl with a slight gap on the outside. Mark, remove, and drill the final two mounting holes with a 5/16″ bit.

Hang the hood

9. Then install the hardware loosely. Insert the hinge base and loosely install all mounting hardware, including the hood lift strut bracket if equipped. The outer mounting hole may need 1-⁠3 washers to make up the gap — this varies truck to truck. No washers go on the inner side; it should sit flat.
10. Torque and check clearance. Torque all hardware to 25 ft-lbs. Slide the hinge arm through the cowl, reassemble with the hinge base, and run it up and down to check for clearance. Do not install the hood lift struts yet.
11. After that, weld the hood mounting pads. The pads need to be welded to the hood brace on the underside of the hood — the weld heat won’t affect the exterior paint. Either repeat your cowl measurements (22 13/16″ from center) on the hood brace, or loosely mount the pads to the hinge arm, set the hood on the truck with the inner fenders and front wheels removed, and tack weld once centered and fitted correctly.
12. Finally, finish and install the struts. Test fit, make any adjustments, then finish welding the hood mounting pads. If equipped, install the 4 hood lift struts with the lower mount to the outside of the firewall bracket to triangulate the shocks and stabilize the hood.