Has anyone who has a front tilt hood (53-56) installed a lock mechanism with an inside the cab cable release? I've been thinking about this and would like to know what others have done so I might get some ideas. Thanks for the help.
56FUN

 

Yes Sir! My front-tilt hood is pinned between fenders and hood at the front and latched at the firewall. The latch mechanism is operated by a pull cable **** at the lower dash edge inside the cab. I use gas struts to support the hood when up.
The latch post is on a plate that is bolted to the rear hood cross member at the cab centerline. The latch plate is slotted for adjustment.
The latch mechanism is triggered by the latch post displacing the catch when it enters.
The origin of the latch mechanism is unkown to me. It looks like many older trunk latches that I have seen. I suggest scouring the junk yards for donors.
I have considered changing my latch to a Cadillac trunk latch. These electric mechanisms are released from the inside (button in the glove box) or with a key in the lock. You have to plumb electric to both dash and hood, since both halves of the mechanism need power, but the end result is way cool, since the latch pulls the lid down slowly until nested. Check one of those out. It should be fairly cheap at the salvage yard.
Do, however, provide for a cable operation in case the battery goes dead.
Keep us up on your progress.
When I figure out how to post pictures in the gallery, I put up some pictures of my setup.
P.S.: Recently, my old latch jammed and I couldn'r get the hood open. I had to cut my hinge pins to get in an un-jam the latch. I installed spring-loaded hinge pins that I can reach to manually release it next time.