Need help with roadster hood, doesn't seem to fit properly

[cobraguy13]

Do you have the body completely fasten to the frame? And if so is the engine hitting the center of the hood or have you already cut the hole in the hood to give the necessary clearance. I have built 3 MkIVs with high school students and have found the only problem with the hood is usually the mounting of the hinges. That being said make sure you have put the hinges together correctly or fitting the hood will be impossible.

[pyronuc]

The body is connected at the front and rear quick jack points, but is not riveted underneath the doors. All of the rubber bulb seals and such are installed underneath the body. The hood hinges seem to be aligned perfectly. The hood opens and closes properly with no binding. With the hood closed, the leading edge is centered and sits flush with the nose. The rear edge, in the center, sits flush with the body with a small rubber spacer under the hood. All of the gaps are still tight, but they are cut back enough that nothing is touching, except for the hood hinges and the rubber spacer. There is no engine installed, so nothing is pushing up on the hood, besides, if that was the case, the rear edge would not sit flush in the middle. The gas struts for the hood hinges are installed, but they do not bottom out. Everything seems to be aligned properly, and the hood sits flat and flush along the center line. It's just the sides and rear corners sit too high up, but there is nothing under them. The hood is just not curved enough. With a ratchet strap cinched around the widest part of the hood, it is pulled into a tighter curve and everything fits perfectly. I tried sticking some spacers underneath the edge of the fender, and it does close the gap at the rear corners, but makes the rest of the hood sit too low.

I think the real problem here is that this hood is too flat. I don't know if it's just sort of warped over time (if that's even possible) or what. If I can just get the hood to curve just a little bit more, and stay that way (like it is with the ratchet strap around it) it would be perfect. Otherwise it's going to take gallons of body filler to level the fenders out high enough to sit flush.

I did mention that the latches are not installed yet, so we'll see how it sits once I install those. Maybe those will pull it down tight.

Just another point of curiosity...are the rubber spacers meant to only be temporary and get replaced by some type of weatherstripping? Or do the rubber spacers stay in place and the hood sits without a seal along the edge? I mean, obviously the engine bay is open underneath, there's the gills, and the hood scoop, so I know it's not exactly air tight, but it just seems like there should be some type of weatherstripping. But if it shows it in the build manual, I've missed it somehow, because I don't see anything about weatherstripping except for the bulb seal around all the aluminum panels, the rubber edge piece for under the doors, and the bulb seal for the trunk. Is anything supposed to go under the hood?