Hood hinge problem

SuperDave

I am at the stage of trying to get the Hood to work properly on this 54 Hornet Hollywood. It binds on the cowl and sometimes on the cowl vent. I do have new cowl welting.I have tried several differnt adjustments with the hood to hinge slots as well as the hinge to cowl slots. It appears that the hood does not jump up quick enough when released. Oiling the hinges seemed to help a little. In fact, the passenger side seems to work better than the drivers side.I am wondering if the springs are getting weak. Anyone have any experience with this? My 49 works fine and looks to be the same configuration. Suggestions are welcome.

rambos_ride

SuperDave wrote:

I am at the stage of trying to get the Hood to work properly on this 54 Hornet Hollywood. It binds on the cowl and sometimes on the cowl vent. I do have new cowl welting.I have tried several differnt adjustments with the hood to hinge slots as well as the hinge to cowl slots. It appears that the hood does not jump up quick enough when released. Oiling the hinges seemed to help a little. In fact, the passenger side seems to work better than the drivers side.I am wondering if the springs are getting weak. Anyone have any experience with this? My 49 works fine and looks to be the same configuration. Suggestions are welcome.

If I had some extra money I would bet you a 100.00 bucks that the springs are weak "like a girlie man"



My hood did the same thing - binding on the back edge and cowl. I didn't replace the springs. I installed gas lift shocks and immediately the rear edge of the hood would "popup" and clear the edge of the cowl.



I think if someone out there has information on where to get replacment springs you could be back in business.



The only other thing you might want to check - my stepdown has a rear brace that bolts from side to side. Possibly if yours is missing the padding in between the brace and the hood - it may make the center of the hood sag more than it should.

SuperDave

Rambo,

Me thinks you are right about the weak springs. My first clue was when I added some light oil to the pivot points. I saw at least a 50% improvement. I can't think of a way to "cheat" by shortening the spring, or changeing the latching points, but I wonder if it's possible to retemper the springs? Perhaps someone with metalurgy experience can shed some light on it. Perhaps it's beyond the home workshop ability..It sure would be nice to save some old springs in lots of applications.I have run into several situations where I would like to have rejuvinated a spring, but ended up replacing it or worst yet "rigging" it.

I do have the pads in place and actually reshaped the hood edge a little as well as shimming up the cowl lacing. The drivers side just doesn't pop up right away. Replacing those springs is not something for the faint of heart!

rambos_ride

SuperDave wrote:

Rambo,

Me thinks you are right about the weak springs. My first clue was when I added some light oil to the pivot points. I saw at least a 50% improvement. I can't think of a way to "cheat" by shortening the spring, or changeing the latching points, but I wonder if it's possible to retemper the springs? Perhaps someone with metalurgy experience can shed some light on it. Perhaps it's beyond the home workshop ability..It sure would be nice to save some old springs in lots of applications.I have run into several situations where I would like to have rejuvinated a spring, but ended up replacing it or worst yet "rigging" it.

I do have the pads in place and actually reshaped the hood edge a little as well as shimming up the cowl lacing. The drivers side just doesn't pop up right away. Replacing those springs is not something for the faint of heart!

I wouldn't try shortening the springs - but you may be able to temper them.



I went through the process of making my own torsion springs for my gas door - before I found out K-Gap sells them for 5.00 ea. - still a good exercise to learn making small springs - anyway I found this site that shows how to make all kinds of springs and tells you how to temper them.



http://home.earthlink.net/~bazillion/finish.html#stress



this link will tell you how much heat and how long - it's probably worth the try unless one of the other forum members knows of an exact replacement spring...?