I have a guy trying to get his hood open on his 67. It's been parked for 20 years. Latch moves but will not release hood. Any ideas on how to free it?
You could try and get some WD 40 sprayed on the latch from underneath. Let it sit a couple of minutes and try placing a board on the bottom side. Tap lightly with a hammer and see if it will move. Might have to reapply some WD 40 and try again, but the important thing is to be patient, it will eventually give it up and come open.
hinges rusted up? hood rusted to sides...? tried to open a trunk lid here on a rusted car...it opened like a mouth...lol...top sheet metal opened ,but not the bottom....
There are three springs in a hood latch. One being used for the lock release. It's a smaller spring and can break. If it does it wont release the tang that holds the hood in the locked position. Pulling on the handle and feeling spring tension wont indicate it's not broken because that uses a different spring. Hopefully the wd40 works for you.
If it's a standard hood, you can take a saws-all to the top, and then buy my NOS one as a replacement.
(I'm always trying to help)
I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure. I feel like I am diagonally parked in a parallel universe. 1968 400 convertible (Scarlet) 1976 T/A - 455 LE (No Burt) 1976 T/A New baby, starting full restoration. 1968 350 - 4 speed 'vert - 400 clone (the Beast!) 1968 350 convertible - Wife's car now- 400 clone (Aleutian Blue) (Blue Angel) 2008 Durango - DD 2008 GXP - New one from NH is AWESOME! 2017 Durango Citadel - Modern is nice! HEMI is amazing! 1998 Silverado Z71 - Father-daughter project 1968 400 coupe - R/A clone (Blue Pearl) (sold) 1967 326 convertible - Sold 1980 T/A SE Bandit - Sold
Just install an OEM 400 hood on a 68, got it all lined up, checked and re-checked alignment of where the latch met the hood, decided it was good (left to right and front to back), closed the hood all the way, sounded good as it closed.
Now when I pull the lever, the first latch releases (the one on the passenger side of the latch mechanism), but the second latch won't release the hood.
I've tried pushing down on the hood a bit to allow the upper hook to get out of the way, no luck...
Any other pointers? I can probably fit a ratcheting wrench in there to remove the 3 bolts holding the latch mechanism in place, but I figured I'd ask you guys if there is something I'm missing.
Thx!
Learning as I go! Not stock, but doing as much as I can myself.
I alwasy have to release the first one, pull up as far as it will go and then push down slightly while pulling the lever. Then it will release the second. Then while holding the lever pull the hood open.
is the lever hitting the bumper or a bracket when you pull on it? i had a '68 that did that and i had to reach higher on the level to be able to pull just a little more to get the hood open