The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Spring-less Hood … looking for feedback from those who have tried this

I’m tired of wrestling with the hood on my ‘54 3100.
I am not looking for advice on fitting the hood, nor do I need links to instructions on the subject.
I’m simply asking for input from anyone who has abandoned the springs in an effort to get the darned thing to set even with the cowl and stay there. Aside from needing a hood prop, is there any disadvantage?
It’s something I’m considering, and I’d like to hear from those with experience.

Well...the springs were intended to be there for a couple of reasons. I don't know about the 1954 but if you'll work with adjusting the hinges you can get the hood to sit correctly in the previous years. I realize you don't want advice on adjusting but doing that can be funny. You may have to move the hinges in ways you don't expect to get the hood to pull down on the anti-squeak strip and stay put. On one side of mine I had to loosen all 3 bolts, push the hinge toward the cab on the top part and pull out at the bottom part on one side. It wasn't fun by myself but once I did that, all was Jake. The other side wasn't a problem. Good luck!

Yes, I gave up on the springs and I have a hood prop. I haven't missed the springs.

Disadvantage? It's not stock, but there are a lot of non-stock features on our truck.

My truck is quite un-stock as well.
Late 60’s Camaro front stub, lower portion of cab& entire firewall replaced, etc. Inner fenders are repop. I’m thinking that the Frankenstein factor is part of my fitting problem. I’ve taken that danged hood off and put it back on too many times, replaced & reset the hinges. Even went through the trouble of finding and buying original springs. The fasteners on the passenger side are extremely hard to work with because of the heater , and that heater is not coming out.
I just don’t want to deal with it anymore.

Is there any reason I can’t just remove the springs while leaving the hinges in place , as a trial?

You can do that. Here is my sincere suggestion, however. If you're in the same age group as a lot of us, please do this with a helper. When you remove that second spring piece you'll be dealing with a heavy hood that mother nature, God and gravity sincerely want to bring down on top of your noggin. Maybe you're built like Chuck Connors and this won't be an issue...but good luck!

If you ever have a chance to make it to one of our ODSS Wrenchfests in Maryland I am certain that we can get your hood to close properly with the hood hinges. And you will have the great opportunity to spend a 3 day weekend with some of the finest human beings that I have ever met.
We generally do this event in April.

Upon further review, doesn’t the spring mechanism(s) also provide the opening limit for the hood? Is there risk of over-travel and crunch damage if those parts are removed?

Regarding Chuck Conners factor- and I am a regular viewer of THE RIFLEMAN- I’m not built at all like him. I’m 72, 5’10” , 165# , really comprised heart , BUT , I have removed that cursed hood single handed 3 times in the last year. It certainly is a formidable piece of sheet metal.

Regarding the wrench-fest, that is a fine invitation, but Maryland is quite a hitch from Wisconsin. I’d love to bask in the company of other folks who have the same weakness for these grossly impractical, problematic old trucks as I do , but the logistics are too daunting.

No.

I was barking up the wrong tree-
I was considering removing the entire spring/ arm assembly;
I now realize that the right way to go is to remove just the springs and retain the rest.

It seems that my learning curve is getting steeper…

Here are some pics. 3/8" rod salvaged from something - I can't remember.

Clip is a Dorman Help! rack item.

Gord's rod will work fine, until you can make it out to Wrenchfest. Trust me. You will have a most memorable time, and drive back home with a fully functional hood. There are numerous older farts than you who make the trek every year.
What do you have better to do with your time?

Carl,
I fully believe that wrench fest would be a great experience,
but I must admit I just don’t have the giddy-up required for a cross country round trip towing a trailer.
Plus- I find myself at 72 years of age with a daughter starting her 2nd year of college, so discretionary income is a bit limited.

(I was a late bloomer…)

We'll just need to start a Go-Fund-Waveski then I guess.

Should have tried that at the start of my build - I wound up liquidating over 80% of my gun collection to fund my resto-mod HotRod.

But I digress…

Back to topic: I did become spring free today. I had a spare set of repop spring arm assemblies; I unsprung those and preserved the originals. I made the prop out of an old golf club shaft. The hood to cowl relationship now pleases me.
It rained heavily today; I’ll see about getting the ‘54 out of the shed for pictures tomorrow.

Everyone likes pictures, right?
Here are some shots of my golf club shaft hood prop, and a view of hood conforming to cowl.
Prior to spring removal the hood would work it’s way up while driving, usually about 1/4” or so ; it annoyed me greatly.
Not any more.

That looks great, and will surely work just fine without issue until we have a chance to establish the Go-Fund-Waveski and get you out here to the next Wrenchfest.

I will contact my financial advisor so he can prepare to manage the large sums of money that will be flowing in very soon.

The funds will remain in the hands of a third party until you make a tangible commitment to make the trip.
Trust me, It will be a gas.
Every one of these get togethers which I have been to, on the last day when everyone is packed up and ready to leave, I find myself just standing there, not really wanting to leave yet. I am not normally like that, but the crowd that shows up to this event are my kind of people so I don't feel like running away screaming like I tend to normally want to do.