Hood stuck
 

So, I closed my somewhat out of adjustment hood onto the safety catch now it wont release. :(

The front-back alignment is perfect and the left-right is nearly perfect too. The rear of the hood is popped up though.

I can push the hood down all the way and it closes nicely. Pull on the release and it pops normally. But from there, nada. I've tried letting go of the release, pushing down slightly, and pulling the release again- nothing. I've tried closing it all the way, pushing down slighting, pulling and holding the release, then yank the hood up all at once- nada. I've tried pushing the hood left and right, back and front while pulling up (and a weight on the release to keep it in the 'open' position) - nothing.

I guess the latch is broken or something. Very odd because I cleaned and oiled it before installation and everything seemed ok at that time.

Any ideas or tricks? What is the proper opening procedure (pull once or twice?)?

Thanks!

Try pulling the release at a 45 degree angle down and forward at the same time. My hood was difficult to open also until I figured that out.

Worth a try. I'll give it a go tonight and report back.

Thanks!

No go. :( Looks like I am taking the front end back apart.

-J

If the hood is "stuck" in the safety catch, get your fingers under the center and push down while pulling the release, then pull up. See if that helps.

Ok, so I went out with impact gun and tools and tried it one. last. time. (making this around the 25th attempt).

It reluctantly popped open!

Now that I can see what is going on, I can conclude the problem is the latch assembly itself. Pulling the release rod only moves the hook about half the distance it should. Pulling on the rod like you are literally trying to rip it off the car will get the hook to retract- in fact on one test, I was pulling so hard the e-clip that holds the rod in place popped off and the rod came out.

Looks like it needs to be removed and just flat out dunked in oil or needs replacing. At least now I can get to it! :)

In the mean time, I put a block on the core support so the hood doesn't accidentally get pushed closed. I'll take a look at it this weekend.

Thanks for all the help guys!

-J

My '68 hood has similar problems...will try some of this advice, it all sounds promising (I hope).

Me too...

So the answer is "pull harder"!

Mine takes too much force to actuate the safety release so may be time for a new latch.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1690926167

I have to pull on mine and give it the "fonz", bonk it lightly with my fist and it pops open.

I haven't looked to understand the issue but something must get worn or bent to cause such high pulling force.

My latch just laughed at my Fonz bonk. I had to grab the rod with vice grips and give it quite a tug. Definitely not the way it was intended to operate.

Does anyone know if it's easy to fix? If not, are the aftermarket latches decent quality or junk? They are priced low, which makes me suspicious. But if all the originals wear out and act the same, buying a used one may not help.

Mike

[My brother has a 69 gto , same problem. He said he pushed the latch back ( not bolts). But latch, said it worked. Who knows stranger things have happened

Revisiting - can anyone explain what wears out or jams to cause the safety catch to be so hard to move?

Is it worth trying to fix, aftermarket latches good enough, or can a used latch be trusted?

Mike

I can't see any reason a used latch couldn't be trusted. Mine still works well. From what you guys are saying I'd guess that either the release rod is getting a groove worn into it or the hole that accepts the rod is wearing so that it's getting elongated.
If either of those things happen you'd have to move the rod further to get any movement out of the latch.

Thanks Greg

I guess I'll pull it out and take a closer look. I was missing the rod so replaced the bailing wire with a new one. It works fine for the release but not for the safety. I suspect something got bent and failed to check it closely before I bolted it in..

Mike

My hood latch was sticky like that too. I took it out and cleaned it up in the parts washer to get all the dried lube and dirt out of it.
After that I sprayed it with some dry lube and now with one medium pull the hood opens past both catches and I can simply lift the hood up.
It’s hard to believe how much difference it made.


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Thanks tstroud

I had cleaned it pretty well and it seemed to be working freely but I don't have a new one as a reference for comparison.

I just pulled it out and by hand, it all works as I think it should. I can manually pull the lever and retract the safety catch all the way to its stop.

I don't know how much effort this should take, and it does seem a little difficult, but that is more about the leverage/geometry and not because anything is bound up.

Is the gap indicated in this photo typical? It doesn't appear there's any significant wear or bent parts so I think it's probably normal:

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1693441402

.....................................

Does the hole in this lever arm need a bushing? I think maybe it does and the slop between the rod and this hole may allow the rod to bend and/or just not pull well on the lever. The rod is ~1/4" and the hole is ~5/16". I think I'll run to the hardware store tomorrow and find a flanged metal or plastic bushing to put in there.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1693442388

There is a bushing in the radiator support that guides the rod so it makes sense for there to be one in the actuator hole.

......................

And do I have that clip on right? I suspect the "ear" goes on the outside but I don't think that would affect the latch operation.

......................

And finally, is the actuator rod supposed to have this bend in it or are they straight? Mine is obviously bent now, just not sure it's designed that way.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1693442579

Mike

Most of that looks pretty good except the bent arm. I will have to go check mine tomorrow. I don’t think mine has a bushing either. The clip looks right.


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Based on this image from the Ames catalog, it appears the lever arm on my latch is bent:

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1693445894

Not sure how that would affect the safety release but I guess I'll try to straighten it out.

The gap between the actuating pawl and the safety lever is narrower on this Ames image than on mine.

I might think about buying a repro but Ames says theirs is not like the image but is bright zinc plated. The ones like that I see advertised online don't look anywhere near the quality of the original nor the image Ames shows so I'm going to keep trying to get mine working.

I wouldn't be shocked if that bend changed the geometry enough to be the culprit or that the bend is exerting pressure on something that is tightening the movement up.

Yeah. I would try bending that arm back first. Make sure it’s clean inside there.


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Thanks to you both.

I now have a "custom" latch that is working well!

I concluded my latch had a difficult childhood so I spent some quality time with pliers, vice grips, and a hammer after a visit to the hardware store.

I straightened the arm, bent the "u-shaped" end of the arm to reduce clearance between the arm and the pawl/fulcrum, and bent the frame to allow a little more travel for the safety arm:

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1693535280

This is where I wanted to reduce clearance:

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1693535535

Finally, I found a flanged plastic bushing at Ace Hardware that I put in the rod hole to tighten it up:

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1693535675

If this proves problematic, I may have to roll over and buy a repro latch but for now, I'm good with it.

Mike

It'll probably last forever.

I'll be happy if it survived overnight!

Thanks again for another valuable PY assist!

I clearly enjoy learning the details of all these old mechanisms. For me, this latch is another tribute to the glory days of American manufacturing. Nostalgia!

had the same problem mine was bent as well, the safety latch would not release. I end up sawall it in half. and buying a new repo couldn't be happier. it was always a pain to open the hood. Gary

My hood has always gotten stuck and the solution for me has been to:
(1) Make sure hood is fully closed;
(2) pull hood release, if hood does not pop all the way up; (see step three)
(3) While Pulling on hood release, press hood slightly down from half popped up position.

This will allow you to pull the hood all the way up from the half-popped position.
Been using this technique for the last fifty years. Always works.

My hood has always gotten stuck and the solution for me has been to:
(1) Make sure hood is fully closed;
(2) pull hood release, if hood does not pop all the way up; (see step three)
(3) While Pulling on hood release, press hood slightly down from half popped up position.

This will allow you to pull the hood all the way up from the half-popped position.
Been using this technique for the last fifty years. Always works.

I think that's actually the normal way to open. Pulling the release opens it only to the safety latch, press down slightly and pull the latch to fully release.

Mine is original and pulls pretty easily. One firm pull and it goes past the safety catch and you just lift it up. It took a lot of adjusting to get there. A weak pull will stop at the safety catch.

Exactly the way mine functions tstroud..
Mine stuck for years after the repaint. I finally got tired of it and fixed it by squaring the hood opening. Measured from corner to corner and got the measurements equalized. After that it worked properly.

I went through days of toil and trouble on a 68 several years ago. After all the possible options were expended we ended up cutting a 1" x 2" hole in the hood above the latch. With access from above and a big screw driver we were able get the hood open. Once open we swapped different latches but the latches ended up not being the culprit. After hours of comparing the 3 latches we had and blueprinting, what looked to be the best latch, no progress was made. So we looked elsewhere for the problem.

In the end the was problem was the fixed box (?) (See photo) in the hood that the latch hooks into had come loose. The spot welds had failed and when the hood closed the box would slide over and no amount of movement in the latch would unlock the hood. Once the box was positioned in its original location and secured with a screw the hood opened like it was brand new.

Hello Shiny.... I was advised you replied to my post, but I can't find it. Not very good at all this just yet. The hood problem has given me a fit and I worked on it for an hour this morning. I am 84 years of age, but I had to get much younger and crawl around underneath, where I found absolutely NOTHING of use. Ha, ha, just got the car and can't even open the damn hood. I will go back out and try the Paul Bunyon approach. Hope this gets to you. Thanks. Richie

Hello again, for my 2nd post to you. Sorry, I did not even explain what the problem is: The 'Rod' under bumper does allow the hood to come up @ 1 inch off the 'Safety latch' but putting my fingers inside this one-inch opening does not locate any other latches as in a normal vehicle. The latch to allow the hood to freely open all the way up is about 6 inches back from the 1 inch opening. I tried pushing the latch that I can see with a long-handled screwdriver but it did not work. Thanks. Richie

I replied by sending you to this thread!

Sorry it's giving you trouble.

Sounds like it's hanging on the safety release. In these cars, the safety, or secondary release is also actuated by the rod. There is no other latch to release by slipping your hand under the hood.

Read through all the posts in this thread for ideas, but in general, after the initial release, push the hood back down about 1/2 inch. While the hood is down, pull hard on the release rod and hold it out as hard as you can while trying to lift the hood.

If this doesn't get it, read through to understand what you are battling and get some ideas.

Good luck!

Yes, I had read all the previous posts but yours helped me out the best (: I was able to get the hood OPEN, Yea! I then cleaned everything and coated it with firearm silicone grease. I held my breath and locked the hood. It did not open at first but after another 5 minutes or so I heard the secondary latch move and I pulled up hard on the hood and it opened a second time :) Now I have an idea how the crazy mechanism works. However, I will leave it open until the State Farm Insurance representative comes over and inspects the car and takes photos in order for me to have historical car insurance in the $50K range. Good job, Shiny