Yesterday I was driving down the road at about 35MPH and i guess my hood was loose and it shot back into my window shield. No damage other then when the hood hit the wiper blades a few dents. But after i put the hood back down it seems to be to far back and there is a bigger gap at the front and when i try to put it up it seems to be hitting the cowl. What should I do to fix this issue?

Thank you

 

Thinking you have to expect the hood and/or hinges to get tweaked when this happened. My first guess would be hinges. The force of the hood flying back bent the hinges somewhat towards the windshield. Where the hood bolts to the hinges is there any play where you can position the hood on the hinges? I mean oblong holes that would let you move it a little farther in one direction or the other. It never occurred to me to look till now if there is an adjustment. Pictures might help.

 

I will post pictures this afternoon showing the gaps in the hood between body. I can only raise the hood about 10 inches before it get stuck. Is there a way to position the hood on the hinges with only opening it about 10 inches?

 

Prop a block of wood or something in there to hold it up, grab a flashlight and see if you can get a wrench on them.

 

 

If Pats suggestion doesn't give enough access, you may find that you have to just push past the point of contact to get access as horrible as it sounds. The damage is already done on that point. If available, try using a stiff plastic bar or wedge around the main contact point to help push the hood past it. Once open then you can try to adjust it. This job will really require 2 people to adjust the hood or 3 if possible, one on each side to hold it and one to do the bolts. Trying this alone would be a pain on a small hood, nevermind an XJ hood.

 

There is some wiggle room on the hinges where they mount to the underside of the hood. I had to do some "Adjustments" to one side when I rebuilt the front of my '99. In this case, I would pop the hood, put on some gloves and give the front corner a healthy yank. Either the hinges bent or the hood moved where the two bolts attach to the underside. The mount point on the underside of the hood is where adjustment are made. I ended up having to make the mounting holes a little longer to get a little extra adjustment.

 

attach a ratchet strap from one side of the hinge where the bolts are attached, to the other side…. Ratchet thoes two hinge points together tword the middle, without putting stress on the hinges themselves, but the hood and hood plates, and it should send you in the right direction. When the hood flew up the hinge points where they attach to the hood bent the hood itself by flanking it out a little near thoes attach points ; that’s why it looks raised by the wipers vs flush, as it was.

 

Remove wipers & vent panel, open hood fully, slacken bolts, pull hood forward, replace vent panel, adjust so it doesn't catch, replace wipers.

 

The hood is giving you clues. The tight gap at rear and the large gap in front tells you to move the hood forward, loosen hinges and try to move forward if you cannot you will have to elongate hinges or get new or used set of good hinges.