adjusting hood springs
 

has anyone ever tried to move the hood springs to there tightest position with out losing a finger or two? i tried the method of sticking a screw driver in there and trying to pry it to the next tooth but gave up for fear of damaging myself. the hood will stay up but not all the way open. it comes back down a few inches after its opened. it probably wont do much good to get one more notch on the hinge but figured its worth a try. cant really expect much more out of the springs, there only 52 years old.

I need this info too. All it needs is a bump to drop another inch or so, and it becomes 'over center' and then It slams down with a tremendous CRASH. It's happened to me twice and it was just dumb luck I didn't have my head or my hand in there. I always put a stick in it now because I tend to think back on my experience with removing mutilated rodents from those spring loaded traps.

I found that mine had worn grooves into the bottom of the hindge where the springs rides, thus shortening the length of the spring and the tension. I took them apart, using a screwdriver and a lot of whincing. Then I cleaned them up and welded in the grooves and restorered the tension. I put the springs back on as well as taking them off in a bench vise. That seemed to make it a little safer. It is scary, no getting around it!

thanks for the tip Spur. never thought to take the hinge off the truck. good call! like the idea of welding the spring to get more tension out of it to. thanks again

There's a place that will rebuild worn hinges,I've got the name some where.I was ready to buy a second set to have re-done when mine began getting loose.But as almost an afterthought,I got two hammers.Hold one behind the rivet to back it up,while hitting the rivet repeatedly with the other.Might be easier with a second person,but it removed enough slop so that the hood no longer tries to clobber me.The wife has taken on that task.It saved me quite a lot of money,and has worked for over a year now.

[quote=ibuzzard;11295854] ...But as almost an afterthought,I got two hammers.Hold one behind the rivet to back it up,while hitting the rivet repeatedly with the other.Might be easier with a second person,but it removed enough slop so that the hood no longer tries to clobber me.....The wife has taken on that task. quote]

That's a good idea to tighten up the moving parts! My wife is slowing down and can't hit me like she use to. However, I always wonder why I have sooo many aches and pains when I get out of bed in the morning. I'm sure it is not age related!!:-X04

Mine's 5 years younger than me, was a firefighter for 20 years and at 54 years old, she still packs a whallop!

annyone know when you should replace the hinges? I'm having problems with mine closing and opening, it is really stiff until you get it about halfway open then it moves with ease but doesnt stay up by itself,, I have a 55 and I'm thinking my hinges are from a 56, would that cause the hood to be stiff? I know the hoods are interchangable but not the hinges, could the be plug welded and redrilled? should I bitthe bullet and buy new ones?

These seem like obvious questions but have you lubricated them? Can you see any areas that are binding? Is it possible that they have worn an oval hole around the center rivet (or any other rivet), making things difficult? I think you could drill them out, weld back the holes and replace the rivets if you had to. Do your own rebuilding. That is one of the great things of owning one of these gems. You can actually see what needs to be repaired and do it yourself!!:)

Support the hood and slide a washer, or two, or three, between every coil of the spring until the spring is stretched out enough to put on the next groove then pull the washers out.

I'm with Spurredon.... It's kinda fun to think of how to fix it yourself. I keep thinking about those turnbuckles I see in the hardware store. Aluminum body, 2 eyebolts, one reverse thread....Reshape the ends into a spreader and crank it outwards and spread the spring. Lift it away from the hinge. Weld it up or whatever. Of course its easy to say when I'm sitting on the couch on Friday night by the wood stove.........

today I went out and measuerd the holes and they are the wrong ones for sure ...the 55 has 5/16 holes, and the 56 has 5/8 and the holes on the 56 are further apart, the hinges themselves seem to have quit a bit of side to side movement and the spring is a little lazy too, so put those all together and I think I will just get new ones, I dont need them right away maybe someone has a set for sale?

This was a great tip!! I had to put a bunch of washers between the coils....like 10 of em....but once they were in I was able to move the bottom of the spring to the next groove. Now my hood is staying up like its supposed to. :-X21

Which is the 'next groove'? Mine is in the middle position. Do I want to move it forward or back to keep the hood from dropping?

I moved my springs from the middle position to the front position....the groove closest to the front of the truck.