[F Body Freak]

Originally Posted by johnta1

The blue paint smears is for the braced hinge.
Quick ID for workers to see it was the corrected hinge.
(probably welded that piece on stock hinges then swiped paint on it until they got more corrected hinges in)



With the new body style Bird there were a LOT of stuff having to be reworked I imagine.

Is your car like a 01C or 01D?

Mine is O2A

[SD455DJ]

My 04D Formula has its original hood hinges and they are 524/525 stamped with the welded reinforcements and the light blue metallic (engine?) paint smeared on. It looks the springs are the small diameter 'early' ones.

Dennis

[F Body Freak]

Im counting 29 springs on your's, Dennis.
Mine also have the smaller springs, only an inch & a quarter around, but only 25 springs. I have some 2nd gen Camaro hinges that have inch & half around springs on them. I was just trying to figure out if mine were original, I kinda think they are, there's not much that has been changed on the car, but after learning all this stuff about the hinges I might look to change mine to the bigger around hinge. I'm concerned about these smaller spring hinges supporting my hood properly. I also just learned my Formula hood is an original 70 without the bracing they later put on them to fix the warping/bowing issue, so the bigger springs might be a good idea

[SD455DJ]

FBF, I can't say definitively if the springs are the original ones, but I don't know why they wouldn't be either. The hood is the original non-braced '70-only hood as well, and it's miraculously flat, thank goodness. The spring tension is not excessive, and the hood stays fully open without any droop. I'm sure there were multiple suppliers of springs and the '29' coils on mine probably represent that as long as they met specified tension requirements. My Formula is a Norwood car, if that makes any difference.

Dennis

[F Body Freak]

Yea, IDK if assy plant matters or not. Mine was built in Van Nuys. With the recent discovery of my hood & the issues that came with them, Ive checked mine out & it seems flat for the most part. Might be bowed some in the middle. The corners in the back are low, but I think that's just an adjustment issue. Might be hard to see in the Pics. Mine opens & closes fine, & stays open fine.