The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Hood Support Springs

So the hood is aligned well but.... (always a but fitting a hood) the back end will not drop down. Seems the springs are a bit too tight.

When I remove the spring supports it drops in place nicely.

So I should mention these springs were purchased 15 years ago and allowed to sit in the box with no pressure on em.

Is there a way to make these less stiff?

It's not the stiffness in the springs.... And sitting in a box doesn't make them any stronger or weaker over time.
How are the hinge pins in it? That would be the first place to check then adjustments.

not sure what you mean hinge pins in it? I think I need to adjust the fenders

SO it has to be the springs - the back end of the hood is sitting up almost 3 inches and goes down only with a lot of pressure on the springs.

that symptom is worn hinge pivots, the spring pressure shifts the hinge halves causing the lift, won't happen with new hinges and the same springs .... weaker springs won't hold the hood up - you could always leave the springs off and carry an old broomstick around to prop the hood up

Bill

Just a shot in the dark here...I'm guessing you aren't using the 54 manual as your reference guide since Springs are not mentioned as an adjustment in the suggestions for alignment problems...( I just checked)
That's cool, I like to figure things out for myself too sometimes... But I find when I'm stumped the Manual is full of hints to get me where I want to be.

new springs and the lift is only present when the springs are attached. If I take them off the hood sits as expected.

Now I do not have the upper front latch pin that locks the hood down.

I am hoping to get that from parts needed. Would that matter?

the key is to:

1)Disconnect the support springs.
2)loosen the hinge bolts and get the gap between cowl and back of hood 1/8 to 1/4 inch.
3)while hood is down tighten the hinges from inside the cab, while putting pressure on hood downward. Get as tight to the rubber seal as possible.
4) lift hood and attach the support springs and test.

Key is pressure on step 3 - the support springs will push the hinges upward when attached as much as the play in the hinge pins.

now I am off by just 1/4 inch - will do it again in the am. Otherwise I need to elongate the hinge holes in the cowl.

Cowboy, your above post is dead on. Mine sit up and looked like a "cab over" until I disconnected the springs and then loosened/tightened the hood hinges like you mention above. Once I did that the hood shut nicely.
Somewhere in the tech tip about adjusting the hood it says to do it with a 2x4 under the front of the hood. This may help it to stay down to..... but I'd read the tech tip again to be sure it says that!!!!

Yes the 4 inch piece of wood lifts the hood slightly. This way if you get it tight to the seal witha 4 inch lift, when it shuts it is even tighter. The spring supports tend to lift just as much as the hinge pin play.

So the 4 inch board will make up for that play

My hood was still off by a 1/4 inch - I tried all sorts of things to get it down and back - nothing. So I opted to pull the hood off and elongate the holes. when I removed the hinges I could see there was a rub spot on the cowl - not allowing the hinge to move back completely.

These are after market hinges (New)as I only had one original hinge with the Truck. So I decided to measure the old hinge to the new. Low and behold the NEW hinges are 1/4 inch wider than the original - not allowing them to move back as far as they should.

Well China needs to understand not everything is better bigger, sure The Great Wall and Terracotta Warriors are fine but not chevy parts. ....the journey continues....

That did it a bit of grinding. I also elongated the holes seeing I had the hinges off. Grinding back the new hinge and repaint. Fits like it just came from GM plant