I used a tiny dab of urethane to glue the corner of the left cover gasket, where it meets the batwing, because it would catch under the hood. So I ditched the nose and worked some on the interior while it cured. While I was in the back of the car hanging panels, the top hooks for the seat I welded-in over a decade ago reminded me of Terry. Terry and I played in the same ballpark all of our lives. He’d been proud of me because at least he could have recognized something that far surpasses a grand slam.

Other than remove all parts including the frame horns, I haven’t done anything with the nose since I first posted. While removing it, I played with it some and discovered how the factory installed the nose.

I didn’t update my post, however, because I didn’t view it as applicable information, and I’m glad that I didn’t. Come to find out, it’s the only way you can install it, and I can do as good of a job as any redneck! And now--more than ever--I’m ecstatic that I didn’t offer any more technical information on how to install the nose.

After a few tries my way, this is my first ‘official’ mock, replicating the factory-install process; the alignment is about as good as it’s going to get. Because this involves an ongoing learning curve, I had yet to find additional indexes when I took those pictures.

The nose shifts out of alignment if the lower brackets aren’t indexed correctly. So I so broke-loose/pushed back the already-adjusted headlight buckets, pulled the lower brackets, and backed the nose off the fenders to create a slight air gap. I did this, because the air gap offered additional, actually the lack of, flex to find the remaining indexes.

It’s impossible to fix something you don’t understand, and I didn’t understand the nose any better than anyone else. The more you understand something, the more you own it. For instance, if the headlight brackets are indexed inboard, why do they ‘adjust’ out? They don’t ‘adjust outward.’ They slide open to allow access for the batwing; then, they close.

This is 100% bolt together, no hammering or grinding. As you can see in one picture, the lower-right bracket is out. It needed an adjustment, and hammering it would have destroyed it. I don’t know if it’s by luck or design, but there’s a point in which you can clamp it in a vice, and with very little pressure, make bend with 1/16” accuracy.

I have the exact same picture with the final install of the bracket. This picture was staged specifically so that I could offer technical comment on my process. In fact, I have numerous pictures of the process, all staged specifically for using with technical comments.

You may have noticed that my thread doesn’t offer a wealth of knowledge. That’s because this is a picture show. As for technical discussion, there’s an issue with the batwing/hood alignment; how much I don’t know. There is no solution, so I’ll have live with whatever I come up with. I know the solution, but I have no intentions of going that deep into the car.

I probably won’t update this post with the final snatch. There is no reason to because this is obviously considered just another post, and when I’m finished, I will be posting, what I plan to be, a large volume of photos that will more than cover the how the nose sits on the car.