I'm going to make a wild guess and say that was the spring that holds the release lever. If your hood release lever just flops around, that's probably the reason your hood won't latch. The spring has to be there to keep the latch that catches the plunger on the hood closed. It's probably held in place by a couple of sheet metal tabs bent over the tang and the center bar.


Kevin
1951 Chevy 3100 work truck
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1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car)
Busting rust since the mid-60's
If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.