CLosed Hood and now it won't open!
 

The hood latch on my 49 is driving me nuts. I finally get it re-assembled so it shuts but now it won't re-open. What did I do wrong and how can I get it open? The handle won't release it. Any ideas? Dynamite is so messy! :)

First question--do you have that big rectangular rubber bumper installed on the front end of the hood. If not, the hood pin probably went too far down in that hole and the ridge on the point of it is now stuck inside that latch mechanism (sounds kind of kinky, don't it, lol). If that's the case, you'll have to find a skinny long metal bar and stick it in there sideways and knock it opposite the direction of the side that is caught. Ask me how I know this. I thought I was going to lose my mind one day when it happened to me. :-arrgh A big long flat screwdriver might also accomplish the task. But I learned the hard way--if that rubber bumper is not on the front, you run the risk of the hood going down too far and getting stuck.

I do have the rubber bumper on there but I guess it still went too far. I had all that apart and I probably didn't adjust the latch mechanism properly. I'll try your suggestion tomorrow with the big screwdriver and see if I can get it unstuck. :(

Good to know I'm not the only one who does such stupid things....:)

Vern, I did the same thing. What Doc said is correct. The spring loaded pin is stuck inside the latch. I was able to unbolt the pin through the grill. It took a long open end wrench. I could get the wrench on the nut, move it one flat, then turn the wrench over and repeat. It took a while and made a great sproing noise when the nut came off and spring popped the hood open. I also made a bunch of scratches on the bottom of the hood and the latch support before I figured it out and was trying to move the hood around to get it to release. Thats why I'm not painting it until everything else is done.

So if I manage to get it open what adjustment needs to be done to prevent this from happening the next time I close the hood? :)

If the rubber bumper is in place, I would imagine you need to shorten the length of that pin, so that the ridge of that pin doesn't go down far enough to get caught in the latch.

I'll give that a shot. Thanks. :-wink

Same thing happened to me a while ago. Frustrating to say the least. The screwdriver trick worked for me. You will need to turn the pin in further (down, shortening it) to stop it from happening again.

I didn't shorten it enough and it got stuck again. Then I shortened it too much and it wouldn't close. Two hours later and many adjustments a few turns at a time, it now opens and closes normally. Now if I can just get those gaps at the rear of the hood closer, I'll be in fat city! :)

YOU GUYS RULE! :-wink

Thanks. :-X0A6

It seems to me I read that in like the 70's and 80's maybe more that Rolls Royce did not even have a hood per say. When it needed serviced the shop would remove the whole front clip because the owner was not supposed to do it. Hey it's my story and I am sticking to it. Until ND Bill chimes in and corrects it.

Well, I appreciate your help guys. I went out to the garage to look at hooking my voltage regulator to my generator and the hood was stuck down. After saying "What the Heck!!" a few times and wondering what I was going to do next, I came here and searched for hood stuck.

Well, I put a screw driver at the front edge of the pin and pushed it back a smidge and it popped right open. I noticed that the pin is a little loose. I never have touched it before. After opening and closing a bit, it looks like I need to tighten the pin up and get the rubber bumpers....:-X25

Glad you got it open. These guys have the answer to EVERYTHING! :-wink

After it happened to me, I adjusted it to where it needed to be and then put a second nut on it from the bottom to lock it in place.

All Rolls-Royce & Bentley have a hood, regardless of what year they are, but the Brits refer to the hood as a bonnet. Packard also used the term bonnet instead of hood.

Harrier,

just got my first 48, made it home, on the way stopped to check things out hood seem loose, so shoved it down. you know the rest.

Im trying to move the pin in the keeper through the grill? not been tapping bumping and still not getting it to open. Any clarifications on what im missing?

KJ