I'm restoring a 73 formula and have a question about the hood latch cable position. currently it is located on the outside of the car and the cable is fed between the grills and a pull handle sticks out of the grill. Is that the way the hood latches are supposed to be? Where would I find a kit to convert it to have it open from the inside? I just don't like the idea that someone passing by could open my hood without me knowing about it. Anyone know about this?

I'm restoring a 73 formula and have a question about the hood latch cable position. currently it is located on the outside of the car and the cable is fed between the grills and a pull handle sticks out of the grill. Is that the way the hood latches are supposed to be? Where would I find a kit to convert it to have it open from the inside? I just don't like the idea that someone passing by could open my hood without me knowing about it. Anyone know about this?

the 70-72's used a bar/rod assembly through the top of the grill to open. 73 uses a cable. it's supposed to come off the latch, down the center bar of the rad support, with a spring and a plastic hoop around the cable holding in the slack, then go to an angled bracket that moutns to the metal bracing behind the nose. from there, the handle should protrude through the valance opening below the nose. ironically, i've been thinking about getting a long length of bicycle brake cable and housing material and routing it through the firewall to the interior.

on my 73 the cable exits the grill area under the bumper between that & valance,their is also a bracket that bolts to backside of bumper, it (the cable) passes through this , sounds like some parts are missing? your idea about an inside release is were I will go soon, breaking that cable looks like a PITA.

i took a 75 thunderbird hood cable(any long cable with both ends will do) and made a bracket for the inside of the car and under the hood. it worked fine but there wont be a safety latch unless you make one. I just recently went back to the stock opener(the rod on the inside of the grill top) and welded an eyelet on that bar and ran a new bar from the rad. support and welded another eyelet on it and now i can lock the two together preventing it from being pulled.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by issach428:
i took a 75 thunderbird hood cable(any long cable with both ends will do) and made a bracket for the inside of the car and under the hood. it worked fine but there wont be a safety latch unless you make one. I just recently went back to the stock opener(the rod on the inside of the grill top) and welded an eyelet on that bar and ran a new bar from the rad. support and welded another eyelet on it and now i can lock the two together preventing it from being pulled. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Do you have pic's of this set up? Sounds interesting. And the same question to NW S/D, do ytou have pic's of the correct setup?

as soon as i learn how to transfer pictures from my stupid camera to the darn internet i will get some pictures.

Hmmm... Don't know. I didn't think my coathanger would reach to the firewall... http://forums.performanceyears.com/g...on_biggrin.gif

You think I'm kidding, don't you?

73 I,ll try to have pics up today sometime ,this area is hidden mostly & I might have to remove my valance.

Here's the way it's set up right, now this is a pic of the plastic handle that pulls the cable going through the left grill vent. If you look closely you can see the bracket that's supposed to angle the cable upward into the hole behind the bumper. I figured this setup was "jerry rigged". But how would you open the hood in the first place if the handle would only be accesible when the hood is only held back by the safty latch and already "popped"? How would it be "popped" open? http://forums.performanceyears.com/g...n_confused.gif

yummy! the bracket hanging behind the grill bolts to the bracing behind the nose. there will be two holes, one for the bolt, the other for a locating tab on the bracket to keep it from moving. just below that plastic grommet you see on the center upright of the rad support is a small hole. a spring goes there and connects to a little plastic hoop that goes around the cable and takes up the slack. when put together right, the handle will just barely protrude through the opening below the grille at the top of the valance panel. you pull the cable, hod pops, then you hold it pulled to clear the safety catch, sometimes you have to push down a bit on the hood while pulling the cable handle after the intial pop to get the catch to release.

Here are rhe pics , basicaly Xbird described it correctly, hope the pics help.

and the other(smaller)

nw s/d--omg, you're missing your plastic hoop on the cable! i'm amazed mine stil has all (ok, most of) the little bits after what it's been through. something tells me that formula 73's cable is going to be too short to connect back in the correct location, call it a hunch, but i think the cable broke and was tied to the latch somhow and the pictured rig was the only way to get it to work.

X byrd I don,t think I,ve ever seen a plastic "hoop" got any pics? hey thanks for the help. JF

This is the white plastic "hoop" and spring on my '73 T/A

Question wile we are on the grill area do either of your 73s use the bracket that goes from the valance to the core support upright? BTW I have a metal valance, & Dennis thanks for the pic, I know were that part is in my mess.

My '71 and '73 both have the bracket on the upright for the bolt that goes behind the license plate.

From what I can tell, late '72-early '73 cars used the plastic lower valance. They didn't use that bracket.

Dennis , thank you very much , now all I have to do is find one here in town.

thanks dennis too, now i don't have to shoot and download that one!
i got the brace for my metal valance from ron's potomac pontiac parts.