I installed a new front hood seal a few weeks back while reassembling my project and the hood closes, tho a bit reluctantly. The problem is that it's elevated too much when closed - especially at the outside areas just behind the headlight covers !! Actually it's ok up by the cowl and gets progressively worse towards the front. I'm not sure the measurement at the tips behind the headlights - but it's obvious and annoying. I have the front latch adjusted down as far as the thing will allow and still catch. The hinge brackets at the back have oblong holes that offer a little adjustability and I have those mounted as low as possible, therefore my hood is not sitting proud in the back corners by the cowl.

Has anyone else experienced this? I thought some time would relax the seal but there's no way it's gonna drop down to where it needs to be. I'm thinking of completely trimming off part of the seal section that stands up a bit. Alternatively, I could add a shallow relief cut along the backside of that section to encourage it folding over more when hood is closed. Thoughts?

BTW, I say 'new' seal, but I got it a couple years ago as an un-installed seal from a member here in the classifieds (probably not the latest iteration in the aftermarket I'd suspect).

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If it were me, I’d use my heat gun to relax it and shut the hood. I’d try a few times before going another route. If it was not glued in I’d put the whole thing in the oven, get it hot and install with out glue and shut the hood for a few days before gluing. But that is me.

Before I paint these cars, I do all kinds of things with the hoods, including twisting the heck out of them. Loosen one of the 13 mm bolts. Adjust the stops. Look for evidence of accident damage and try to adjust for it. And finally, for my personal car, I don't run a front hood seal. I never drive in the rain, so I would rather not have the rust return under the seal.

Had a 914Rubber front bulkhead seal that doesn’t allow my hood to close properly that is a distinctly different bulb profile than what was there.

Wouldn’t allow the Frunk to close properly in a manner similar to what you’re saying. Not sure if this is what’s up with your situation. If you also replaced the bulkhead seal along with the perimeter seal, remove the bulkhead seal and see what happens to the fit.

I just reverted to the old bulkhead seal and the rest of the hood again fits to the new perimeter seal, and functioned properly with proper closing efforts. Hoping to someday find the proper seal. Till then I’ll make do with the old one.

^^ like he said. My 914rubber bulkhead seal is too sticky. A swipe with silicone lube fixed it.

Hmm . . . I’ll give that a try

I have a Uro seal on a customers car and it has the same problem. And it fit like crap. Had to section out sections around the headlights to get it into the channel.

My 914Rubber hood seal was a nice fit and didn't change how the hood closed. The firewall seal was a different story. It was too tall causing the hood to bulge when closed. Wound up buying a smaller door seal from an RV place that fit perfect.

If your hood seal is forcing your hood up around the headlights, something isn't right.

I've never had to glue a trunk seal.

If you have a new firewall seal in place, pull that off first and see how your trunk closes.

Pictures will help, close ups around the headlights etc.

-Dan

first make sure that the hood without the seal aligns PERFECTLY with the cowl and the fenders. If not that is the problem. Often the hoods are also bent from a minor accident and therefore bowed