Bill, my hood will pop up to the second latch ok but not even close to "rising on its own". It raises and lowers easily just shakey on staying up. I was thinking the same thing on the hinge pins and hoping perhaps they may tighten up in time when a little dirt/rust forms. Have thought maybe trying to tighten them up some using a hammer and punch. When I received the hinges they had grease at the pivot points so perhaps some of this got into the joints before I cleaned the stuff off. Don't think these joints are supposed to be lubricated and remember this problem starting 25 years ago when I gave each joint a squirt of oil thinking I was doing the right thing. No problem with the hood sitting correctly in the back.
