I have a 1982 F100 302, and I've been trying to re-stab the distributor in for weeks at this point, however when I came down to work on my truck this morning I found that the hood would not open, as the latch release did nothing and pushing the lever underneath the hood that you usually push after pulling the light does nothing as well (sorry I don't know the proper terms). I have been hiding my tools in my engine bay to prevent theft, so I presume that I must've just not cleaned them out of the way on the sides of the engine bay properly and they got jumbled up somehow. Just a guess though. Also I believe it's worth noting that the passenger side of the hood Is slightly raised almost to the position it would normally be in after pulling the latch, while the driver side of the hood appears to be in a completely down and locked position as if not having pulled the latch yet.

I've looked at videos online but everything I have found has not had the same kind of latching mechanism that I have. I don't know how they work, what the names of pieces are, or where anything is. Any help would be appreciated, as I have a friend coming to visit tomorrow, and I would like to get the distributor re-stabbed before they arrive.

 

Can you push down on the hood on the high side? If you have a helper try pushing down while someone pulls hood release inside the truck.

 

I would push down on the front center latch area, while someone else pulled on the release. Sounds like the hood is in a bind which is putting the latch in a bind, the reason it won't release.

 

That did the trick, thanks! Now for this stubborn distributor...

 

FWIW, I spray my cable ends with penetrating fluid every now and then.