Porterbuilt Hood Hinges for 67-72 C10’s $225 (Free Shipping to Continental United States).
FINALLY! A clean, simple, and affordable solution for hood hinges on the 67-72 C10’s!!!! Too many of us have been rolling low without a functional hood for too long! Once we got the stance right, the factory hood hinges were one of the first things to go! There never really was a good solution out there, the most popular alternative was designed for a toneau cover… so it was no surprise it took so much work to get them to function in an “acceptable” manner, but never ideal. Well, the wait is over! Porterbuilt Street Rods designed these hinges specifically for the 67-72 C10 trucks. They’re a clean and simple cowl mounted design that look great and function even better!
Installation Instructions are provided below!
Step 1: First remove the hood, and cowl panel. Then we will need to find the center of the cowl so we can locate the hinge pocket location. I do this by measuring the distance between the cowl mounting bolts shown in the picture. I found this measurement to be 64.75″. Divide this by two (32.375″) and draw your mark!
Step 2: Now that we have our cowl’s center-line all marked out, we need to lay-out the hinge pocket locations. The hinge pocket’s will have a 46″ center-to-center. Measure 23″ to each side of the cowl center-line mark and scribe two verticle lines.
Below is the driver side location:
Below is the passenger side location:
Step 3: It is necessary to remove the vent blend door for the hood hinge pocket installation.
Step 4: It will be necesary to clean out the cowl so the hinge pocket sits flat. I had to remove some seam sealer here:
Step 5: Make a template of the hinge pocket face. This template will be used for locating the hinge pocket mounting holes, and slit for hinge arm.
Step 6: Use this template to transfer the mounting holes and hinge arm slit onto the cowl. (The hinge pockets are a LEFT and RIGHT side. The bottom of the hinge pocket will slope down towards the fenders). When marking the mounting holes and hinge slit from the template, line up the mark made in step 2 in the center of the hinge slit, and let the template rest flat against the bottom of the wire gutter, as pictured. Repeat this procedure for both sides.
Step 7: Once the mounting holes and hinge slit are clearly marked, double check the measurements (46″ center to center of the hood hinge slits) and then drill your holes. Use a 5/16″ drill bit for the hinge pocket mounting holes. Use a 3/8″ drill bit for the top and bottom of the hinge slit (the top of the hinge slit will be just over the top edge of the cowl. Be carefull not to cut this too high) and then use a cut-off wheel to connect the holes and create the hinge arm slit. Clean up the edges with a small metal file for best results. Repeat this step on both sides.
Step 8: It will be necessary to trim the top of the cowl opening in order to fit the hinge pocket in place. Repeat this step for both sides.
Passenger side pictured below:
Step 9: Install the front mounting hardware. Don’t tighten it down all the way yet!
Step 10: Drill the hinge pockets lower mounting holes in the base of the cowl. Use a 5/16″ drill bit, and be careful if your truck has all its interior trim! Install the hardware and snug up all the mounting hardware at this time! Repeat this step for both sides. The pasenger side will be directly above the a/c and heater box. Remove the glove box for easy access. The driver’s side will be just to the left of the steering column.
Step 11: Install the hinge arm into the hinge pocket. Use the supplied 3/8″ bolt and delrin spacers to sandwich the hinge arm. Don’t over tighten the arm, but make it nice and snug.
There is a driver and a passenger side hinge arm… don’t mix the up!
Driver side below:
Passenger side pictured below:
Step 12: Now that the cowl mounted hinges are taken care of, it’s time to install the mounting attachments to the bottom side of the hood! The mounting pads will be welded to the hood’s rear bracing. No worries, as the exterior paint will not be damaged! It will be important to measure carefully, and once the plates are tack-welded fit the hood up and test fit to verify location BEFORE final welding!
Just like in step 1, we need to find the hoods center line on the rear brace. There should be a small hole in the center of the brace, but measure anyways, just to verify!
Step 13: The center to center dimension of the mounting pads will be 46″… the same measurement as the hinge pockets. Measure out from the hood brace center-line 23″ to each side and make a mark. This will be the mounting pads center-line mark. Repeat this on both sides.
Driver side pictured below:
Step 14: The hinge mounting pad is 2.5″ wide… so take a square and measure out 1.25″ from each side of the center-line mark made in step 13 and mark the hood brace. The mounting pad will also need to be set 1″ forward from the back of the hood brace, as pictured below. Repeat this process on both sides.
Step 15: Verify your measurements and make sure the hinge mounting pads are square. Once you have verified the measurements and location of the pads, tack-weld them in place. There is a passenger side and driver side mounting pad, they are NOT interchangeable. The top edge of the mounting pad will follow the hood brace.
Passenger side pictured below:
Driver side pictured below:
Step 16: Now that the mounting pads are tack-welded in place, it’s time to test fit the hood. If your measuerements were accurate, all should line up well. If all appears to have lined up well, it’s time to remove the hood and re-install the cowl panel cover.
Step 17: After removing the hood, re-install the cowl panel cover. Remember NOT ALL COWL PANELS ARE CREATED EQUAL. It is necessary that the top of the hood line up FLUSH with the top of the cowl panel in order for the hood to clear the panel when being opened. During the testing and development of the hinges, I had a couple different cowl panels I used. One cowl panel fit flush with the top of the hood, and one sat approx. 3/8″ higher. If your’s sits higher than the hood as pictured below, there are a couple options. The first and best option would be to modify the cowl panel to sit flush with the top of the hood. This may require cutting and welding of the cowl panel cover. If this is not an option, I can provide you with shims that will sit between the hinge arm and the hinge arm mounting pads, raising the hood. These shims will raise the hood enough to clear the cowl panel, but will then cause a larger gap at the hood to fender line.
