Bonton

Friends,

I searched. After getting my hood stuck shut I managed to open it today - had my son gently pull on release lever while I jostled the hood by pressing down on it so that it popped up.

1. Aligning the hood, alone, is problematic and is not for the faint of heart. At this point the rod seems to be going right into the center of the receiver though is still getting caught when I pull the release. After I got it open I tested the release visually as my son pulled on the cable and it is not getting completely out of the way. How to I adjust?

2. Should I get one or two helpers for the hood? Here's where I am-rod seems to be pretty well aligned with receiver but back of hood is low such that when I open the hood the hinges bind and I have to carefully open...SO what I believe I should do is loosen the rear most bolts and pivot the hood a touch so that the rear goes down and perhaps the rod has a better angle of attack. I have the hood shocks disconnected.

Lizard928

One helper is best for aligning the hood.

Dont focus on the safety catch, but instead on the pin.

The pin needs to be centered in the hole, or it will stick down every time!

Fabio421

I find that it's easiest to loosen the bolts on the top part of the hood latch assembly ( the part that's on the hood itself ). Loosen them just enough so that the latch can move around a bit. Then, when you close it, it will align itself. Open it carefully and tighten the bolts back down.

dr bob

Make sure the hinges are well lubricated and operating freely. Any misalignment with binding will cause the hood to move sideways as it engages the pin -- not good. Get them free, and you'll have at least one of the factors out of the way as you align the hinges.

If the car has not been in an accident that caused damage to the fenderwall at the cowl (and few survivors have), your hinge height adjustments at the hood should match pretty well side-to-side. I usually start witth the bolts at mid-range, forward bolts snug, rear with a little less tension. Set the hood down with the front latch removed (mark the previous location with masking tape frame), and adjust the rear hood height. After a few iterations, the height will be correct. Verify that the hinge plate on the hood is pretty much parallel with the hood itself on both sides. Goal is to have the height correct .and. have hinges working together.

Only after the hood is opening and closing smoothly and correctly, you can put the front latch back on and start the fitment process there.

Bertrand Daoust

I would suggest to:

1) Remove the upper part - the one on the hood itself.
2) Make sure both hinges and the lower part are well lubricated.
3) Align the hood at both hinges. It is better with a helper but you can do it by yourself. It takes time and patience but, of course doable!
3) Once you got the hood well align, put back the upper part but don't tight the nuts.
4) Lower the hood and align the upper part. Tight both nuts.

Et voilà.

dr bob

Readers should be aware that this is a continuation of the OP's previous thread on getting the hood open. See This Thread for the original inquiry.

Bertrand Daoust

Thanks Bob.

You can also remove the lower part. You will need to drill the four rivets to do so.
Then you will be able to clean, lubricate and ajust the cable.
Put everything back an you should be good to go.
Also, you can ajust the pressure on the spring on the upper part.

I would not play with both hinges to try to ajust anything but the hood itself.

Bertrand Daoust

Just read that the hood shocks are disconnected.
With the shocks on, it should lift the back of the hood.

dr bob

Also-- Talking to the OP's question about the cable not pulling the sliding part of the latch back all the way:

There's an adjustment for the clamp on the bale sleeve at the front latch. Loosen the clamp, slide the housing back a little, secure the clamp, and re-test.

Warning though that I seldom see that adjustment messed up except by folks trying to compensate for a stretched cable. If there's no evidence that the housing has moved in the clamp, seriously consider replacing the cable. They do stretch a tad just before they break, and they --always-- break when the hood is closed. It's not too inconvenient to route a new cable and housing, much less effort than wrestling with a stick-closed hood and then routing the new cable and housing.

Bonton

YES, this is what I found! And now the hood is popping up when I release it! Wish I'd thought to loosen the upper portion-DUH...I may go out and loosen it to get it just right.

Everyone, thanks for the help; this was really bumming me out not being able to open the hood.

Over the last couple days I've replaced the heater core hoses-PITA, replaced the "y" breather at the throttle body-another PITA...As well I replaced the MAF with a loaner from Roger. I still have vacuum issues to get through.

What I learned about the heater hoses is that as you're trying to fit on the lower hose - feed it from the cowl, otherwise there is not enough slack/angle from the firewall side.

I was begining to think the car was put together by sadists. I'm getting through it though.

Good grief! Glad I got some stuff done.

Josh

Ninespub

"I was begining to think the car was put together by sadists"
Ja, Vee haf vays of making you feel this vay.........

Bertrand Daoust