Switch Suspension 60-66 C-10 cowl mounted hood hinges are the perfect solution for tire clearance or just cleaning up the engine compartment. Installation does require some drilling, cutting, and welding. If you or your installer are not experienced with this type of work, please seek professional help for the installation. Installation can be completed in 4-6 hours. Read these instructions completely before installation.
The first step is to remove your factory hood, hood hinges, and wiper cowl. Next, place a piece of masking tape roughly in the center of your cowl and get two more pieces of tape ready for marking the hinge locations. Measure to find the center of your cowl and draw a vertical line on the tape. There will be a mounting hole for the cowl panel very close to center. Measure out 22 13/16” from the center line (left and right) and draw a vertical line on the tape to determine the location for the hinge bases. Double-check your measurements; the distance between the two outer marks should measure 45 5/8”. 45 5/8” is the distance from the center of the hinge to center of hinge.
Disassemble the hinge arms from the hinge bases. Set each hinge base on top of the cowl. Position the hinge base 1/2” back from the face of the cowl. Center the hinge base with the line drawn on the tape and trace around the hinge base. This will be your guide to cut the sheet metal on top of the cowl so the hinge base can drop down inside the cowl. Cut the sheet metal out with a cut off wheel or body saw and check for fitment. If you are running windshield wipers, make sure to cut carefully around the wiper mounts.
Next, you will need to make a template of the hinge face using a piece of paper or poster board. Trace the face of the hinge base onto your poster board and mark the 4 holes as well as a slot for the hinge arm to come through the cowl. Line up the center of your template with the vertical line made on the cowl and mark the 4 holes for mounting the hinge base as well as marking the top and bottom of the hinge arm slot. The height of the template should be set by the hinge bases when they are sitting flat inside the cowl. Once you have marked the locations, drill all 4 hinge base mounting holes with a 5/16” drill bit. Drill the top and bottom of the hinge arm slot with a 9/16” drill bit. Finish cutting the hinge arm slot with a body saw or cutoff wheel.
Set the hinge base in the cowl and bolt up to the cowl with only two bolts. The hinge base should sit completely flat against the bottom of the cowl on the inner side of the hinge and have a slight gap on the outside of the hinge. Mark the final two mounting locations for the hinge base on the inside of the cowl. Remove the hinge base and drill the final two holes inside the cowl with a 5/16” drill bit. Insert the hinge base into the cowl and loosely install all the mounting hardware. If equipped, also include the hood lift strut bracket, sandwiching the cowl sheet metal between it and the hinge base. The mounting holes for the struts will go on the bottom of the bracket when installed. The outer mounting hole on the inside of the cowl will require 1 to 3 washers to make up the gap between the hinge base and the inside of the cowl. All trucks are slightly different and you may end up with more washers on one hinge than the other; this is normal. No washers should be used on the inner side of the hinge, it should sit completely flat against the inside of the cowl.
Once all hardware is loosely installed torque to 25 ft lbs. Slide the hinge arm through the cowl and re-assemble with the hinge base. Run the hinge arm up and down, checking for clearances and make adjustments if necessary. Do not install the hood lift struts at this point. The hood mounting pads for the hinges will need to be welded to the hood brace on the underside of the hood. The heat from the weld will not affect the paint on the exterior of the hood. There are two ways to tackle this task. The first way is to make the same measurements you made on the cowl. Find center of the hood and measure out (left and right) 22 13/16” and mark for center of the hood mounting pads. There is a specific left and right mounting pad. Position the hood mounting pads 1” off the rear edge of the hood brace and center up with the measurement made previously. Tack weld in place and test fit the hood. Make adjustments if necessary. Once fitment is achieved, finish welding hood mounting pads.
The second way is to loosely mount the hood mounting pads to the hinge arm. Remove the inner fenders and front wheels. Set the hood on the truck and latch the hood. Ensure that the hood is centered and fits correctly. Then tack weld the hood mounting pads onto the hood brace from underneath. Test for fitment, remove hood and finish welding the hood mounting pads. If equipped, install the 4 hood lift struts. Lower mounting is designed to be to the outside of the firewall bracket to triangulate the shocks and help stabilize the hood.
For any questions or concerns with your install, don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected]
0 Comments