Hi I have a 1955 f100 and my hood needs a broom stick to prop it up. The hinges look ok. The hood hits the front passanger side when you close it Right where the fender and radiator supports bolt together.
With the hood not staying up does this mean the springs are bad on the hinge? Should I replace the springs? Or do I replace the whole hood hinge unit? If I could get the hood to line up and stay open on its own would be great. Any ideas?

Jerry

 

The OE hood hinge designs on these trucks were not that great. There are a lot of posts here dealing with this subject. If you don't have problems with the hinges themselves, you will eventually have problems with the hood bolts. I have a 56 with a stock hood/hinges set up and believe me, I feel your pain! Many will tell you just to go to the reverse hood kit. I think they are a good idea, and eventually I will go that way too. But right now I have not reached the pain threshold to part with the $300+ or so dollars to order one. Plus the job of removing the hood to install the kit! There is no doubt the reverse hood kit is a problem solver though. But if you are like me, and want to tuff it out with the current setup, you may want to check you hood bolts often, in fact one of the more knowledgeable guys around this site (Ax Racer) said these bolts should be safety wired. He is right! You do not want to lose a lower hinge bolt to the hood, if you do it's a real battle to open it again. There is one thread on here that talks about taking the hinges off and removing the springs, and lubing the center cam with a little grease. Next time i have the hood off for engine work, I plan on doing just that, along with installing some new springs ordered from Mid-50's, or Carpenter, LMC etc..(if they stock them). Also I believe that there is a billet hinge kit that can replace the orignals using gas tubes. There was another thread on here about that. Lastly I have talked to guys at truck shows who ordered rebuilt hood hinges that did not work as well as the ones they had. So they just got fed up and went with the reverse hood flip kit and were wondering why they waited so long. At least there are options!

 

thanks hooler. now i am torn between reverse hood or new hinges. i assume since the hood wont stay u p at least the springs are bad. now i found the top bot on my hood is missing a nut. any suggestions on how to fix it? if i get a good deal on hinges i might replace my old hinges.

jerry

 

On my 53, the hood was one of my lesser problems until the day it decided to open at 55 MPH while meeting a big truck in a curve That was the day I decided to go to a reverse mount and will never regret it. As far as I can tell it pretty much eliminates all of the adjustment headaches associated with the original hinges

 

I bought new reproduction hinges, and was disappointed. They were as bad as the old ones. Am debating a different option. Sound like your springs are worn out, but that won't fix the alignment problems.
Karl

 

Jerry, About that top bolt missing the nut, Mid-Fifty sells a kit (Hood Nut Repair Kit stock #82012 around $10.00) to help you out with that. It contains a special wrench and 4 threaded "sleeeve nuts", that when you slip them thru the hood bolt hole with the missing nut, it will expand to tightly fit the hole once you tighten it up with the supplied wrench. Twist the wrench out and you have a new threaded hole for a new hood bolt nut. I hope once you have a solid hood bolt in that upper hole, it will also improve you hood alignment. You might want to also order some new hood bolts, and the set of spring washers. Before installing them, it may be a good idea to use a 5/16" fine thread repair tap to clean them up, then install some new hood bolts. Don't tighten them too tight! Just get them snug. Then use saftey wire to lock them down. If you don't safety wire them down, then keep one or two of your old hood bolts as spares in you glove box. Chances are, you will need them!

 

after reading this thread i/m going to save myself some greif and time and just say uncle to reattaching my hood on my 54 f-100. i'll go with the reverse hinge thing to begin with. thanks guys.....saving time AND money, i like this site

quentin in stracuse

 

Does the hood stay up at all? It never stayed open to the max swing of the hinges, only to ~ 45 degrees for basic underhood service. If you wanted it opened further for tune up etc then you used a prop to hold it open. Biggest problem with the hinges is a frozen hidden pivot under the springs that prevents the hinge for operating properly. I have posted many times how to find and check the pivot. Second most common problem is clueless people trying to "fix" problems and making them worse: i.e. using the wrong bolts to attach the hinges to the hood, tightening the bolts down tight enough to bind the hinges and/or strip the threads in the hood, not using the wavy washers on the hood bolts, trying to "wind up" the springs, not adjusting the latch properly to pull down the back corners, drilling or ratting out the cowl holes to move the hinges around, bending the hinges due to lack of lubrication.
I didn't like the complexity of the front hinges on the market so I made my own that worked, but I haven't worked out a latch for it. I have since gotten another set of hinges from a front opening hood vehicle I want to investigate, but right now the front end is off my truck so it will have to wait until I reassemble. Most alignment problems are due to the front sheet metal not being installed properly and/or parts left out. I have also posted several times the right procedure that starts with the radiator support and then the hood. the fenders are last and matched to the hood, not the other way around. Do a search on my user name.

 

Hi Axracer. The hood does not stay up at any position. I have only taken the hood off for sand blasting. I am using the correct bolts and washers. I am leaning more towards it is the springs. There is some play in the spring with the hood propped up. I will check the fender and radiator support alignment. And also the hood. I will do a search on your posts.

Jerry