This is probably a stupid question, the hood latch has always been hard to pull on my '86, but over the last few months it has become near impossible to open. It takes two hands on the cable and I'm worried I'm going to break something. I lubed the latch but it didn't seem to do anything. The truck is kept inside and it doesn't look rusty. The cable seems free once the hood pops open. Any ideas?

 

My 86 is the same way. Im curious to the outcome.

 

Dad's '81 had a really stiff hood latch - until I adjusted it. I actually adjusted the latch itself down, which would seem to be the wrong way. But, I also adjusted the bumpers as well as the rear of the hood. After adjustment it worked quite well. At least it did until I sorta took a few things off. Here's a picture from today:

 

first, use a screwdriver to latch the latch with the hood staying open, then try pulling the cable. if its still stiff, lube the cable and the latch until its smooth.
if this test gives you smooth operation, moving the latch up a little would be a good place to start. other adjustments that gary mentioned may also be necessary, but moving the latch up is the first thing i would do, and other adjustments should come only if necessary to align the hood to the rest of the body

 

Rep's to you, Josh. Good idea to check the linkage separate from the hood. Why didn't I think of that?

 

This help. Click the link its worth it.

https://www.google.com/search?gl=us&...ZJH08NYG-xM%3A

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I wound up taking the striker off of the hood and wire wheeled it and it's working much better now.

 

Mine was the same way until i pulled a hood latch, hood catch, and cable from the junkyard and its a breeze to open up

 

Makes sense to me to clean the years of gook, funk , & dirt out of them ..The cleaning process can get crazy It's a factory riveted mechanism you really WOULDN'T want to take apart..You can't get inside it and clean like a clock or a watch..So you may soak it in different steps with different solutions. Dirt sticks to grease and lube..The old grease in it has attracted years of dirt. I plan to soak mine in a mix of gas & kerosene. Blow with an air hose BLOWGUN..Repeat that 2-3 times. Probably a two day deal . Then boil in vinegar. Blow it out. Soak in rust remover for the heck of it. Wire wheel what part of it I can get to.. Maybe rub it with scotchbrite. Maybe wet sand what I can get to.. Spray it out with carburetor cleaner..If you wanted to paint something like this.. Brownells Alumahyde epoxy gun finish is some pretty tough stuff. Since gun oil won't hurt that then you can lube the heck out of the latch..When it comes to your ride.. We tend to lube stuff ,and that's a good thing..After so many years , the dirt sticks to the lube & builds up and and needs to be cleaned out of a mechanism..I don't want showcar perfection because I wouldn't be able to use it. But I do want die hard reliability..Mechanically & structurally sound

 

Safety catch sticks....Look at the sheet metal on the hood where the safety catch " FLAT HOOK " catches .There is a slot in the sheet metal.. the hook need to pass thru the slot FREELY (;and UNRESTRICTED ) the only part that catches is the tip of the FLAT HOOK.. When you pull the cable release, the hood jumps up , then you reach in to disengage the safety catch. You push and it's;feels stuck.. The flat hook gets stuck in the slot..Most times the slot is closing up.. When you push the release, it only has enough travel to retract the tip of the hook back..Try spreading the slot..Making it longer might kill the safety function. Avoid making the slot longer.