I just purchased this truck last week and am having trouble opening the hood. It seems as though the latch is broken but I can't see under the hood to know what part to try to move. Also the support that the hood hinge is bolted to has rusted out and collapsed. Any ideas on how to force it open?

 

before you start cutting and hacking on anything pull the hood latch like you are trying to open it, keep it pulled, and then bang the front center of the hood with the back of your fist or palm and see if that pops it open. this has worked on a lot of old dents that dont respond to the handle being pulled.

 

Unfortunately I think the handle has been broken off. There was a wire running under the hood which I was told to pull on by the previous owner however when I attempted this the wire very easily broke right off. The base of the handle is still there it is just a very short little piece.

 

Doesn't sound fun. Here's a picture of your latch mechanism. The handle is on the lower right. If you only have a nub left, you could try getting a vice grips on it. I think if you can move the hook on the left it will release. Getting at it through the grill maybe really difficult.

 

Thanks for the pic. I can see the smaller hook under the hood and it isn't latched to anything. Maybe if I press down on the hood and push on the tall hook with something I can get it to release. I may have to result to just cutting it though.

 

I'm not sure if its possible to get to the bolts, but if you can why not try to unbolt the latch assembly.

 

That might be a possibility as well. It has a plow on it so I'm not sure if I can get the grille off with the plow frame there to get at the bolts. I will look at it again today after work.

 

Thanks for all the help. With that picture I was able to smack the latch in the right spot and get it to pop open. Now the hood needs to come off and things need to be replaced. Looks like there is a bad exhaust leak for starters. Does anyone know the value of these trucks? I paid 1200 for this one with 4 wheel drive and a plow. I was told by the owner it had a 390 in it but the vin says it came with a 360.

 

Welcome to FTE

If you have an inside the cab hood handle (located to the left of the steering column under the dash mounted to a bracket), you have a locking hood latch. This latch is different than without the locking feature.

The locking hood latch does not contain a outside handle, only the safety catch.

Introduced in 1978, will fit all 1973/79 F100/350's, 1978/79 Bronco's. The cable's handle contains a key activated lock cylinder.

The cable is the same as 1975/76 Granada/Monarch (D5DZ-16914-A). The locking hood latch itself is also the same as 1978/91 Econoline (E7UZ-16700-A replaced D8TZ-16700-B).

The obsolete latch is EZ to find, there are some available NOS. No Ford Dealer/obsolete parts vendor has the obsolete cable, which can be a real b!tch to find used.

On sale day, 360's magically become 390's! 1968/76 F100/250 4WD: The only available V8 was the 360, 4th digit of VIN .. engine code Y