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Hood Hinges

vwnate1

vwnate1

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Oboy :( ~

I replced my totally worn out hood hinges last night with a pair from the junkyard and I added some stiffeners to the hood and now the rear edge of it sticks up 1/4" ~ 1/2" or so and looks bad . I can press it down but it pops right back up again .

I lubed the hinges and they seemed O.K. to me before I removed them from an undamged truck but now I dunno if they're shot or what ? .

I tried looking in the archives but that's no good .

I *thought* I'd checked them well before dismounting (the hood appeared to open & close well but I didn't think to look at the rear edge) so now I'm not sure .

Unlike other hood hinges , these don't have any up/down adjustability .

I'm hoping someone here has been through this before and can help ! .

TIA ,
 
More lube? Maybe there's still some gunk in the hinges.

My brother's '73 Blazer did the same thing. One night after cleaning up some PO issues, he took it for a test drive and the hood popped up while he was driving (separate issue). After putting the springs back on the hinges, he sprayed (soaked) the hinges with some wd-40. Closed the hood and it sat flush with the fenders. Now it takes less effort to close that hood than the one on my '85.
 
Lubricants

Just so you'll know : WD-40 is a SOLVENT ,not a lubricant so it'll loosen up sticky things and then evaporate over time leaving it dry to wear out worse and faster than before .

I use various lubes but on hood hinges I like Aeorosol Chain Lube as it's really sticky and wicks in easily , then the carrying agent evaporates leaving you with
basically EP grease in whatever you lubed with it .

So far my hood latch seems good .

Maybe I'll dress the hinges , maybe I'll take some lube to P-A-P and find better ones .

I dunno yet , still working on other , more important issues .

THANK YOU ! .

BTW : LUBE YOUR hinges before they wear out ! the hood should close *very* easily ! .
 
Hi boss *_^

Most of the hinges of this vintage had problems with the limit of the upward travel of the lower arms, causing the hood to be to high at the rear after closing the hood. If this is the problem you can push down on the rear of the hood when it is closed, and it will go down. Look at the hinge, and see if you can move the stops that will limit their upward travel. By limiting the upward travel of the arms it lowers the hinge point and moves the hood towards the normal position when closed. Look at the hinges ab bit ans study their geometry. Once you understand the motion, it should make sense. Make small adjustments, and bring it to where it needs to be a little at a time.
 
Thanx !

I've been doing just that and so far I've not figured out how this adjustment is done .

The hinges don't seem to have any adjustments I can discern :confused: .

I'll have to fiddle with them some more I guess .
 
Hinge Adjustment

USA4EVER said:
Hi boss *_^

Most of the hinges of this vintage had problems with the limit of the upward travel of the lower arms, causing the hood to be to high at the rear after closing the hood. If this is the problem you can push down on the rear of the hood when it is closed, and it will go down. Look at the hinge, and see if you can move the stops that will limit their upward travel. By limiting the upward travel of the arms it lowers the hinge point and moves the hood towards the normal position when closed. Look at the hinges ab bit ans study their geometry. Once you understand the motion, it should make sense. Make small adjustments, and bring it to where it needs to be a little at a time.
Click to expand...

I keep reading this and I still don't see any adjustment ~ I'll have my brother print it out so I can tape it to the windshield and maybe he'll show me .

I hope to go find another fuel tank to-morrow morning before it gets hot again .

THANX for your helpful input ! once I figure it out , I'll prolly wonder why I didn't understand you advice right away :o .
 
Nate,

I had the same problem on a 77 K20 I redid several years ago but I had replaced the front fenders with Jap repops the minnesota salt destroyed the original ones I went to the junkyard and got more hinges same problem hood stayed up in the rear so I thought maybe the holes were off on the repop fenders so I took the hinges off and used an air grinder to elongate the holes and made my own adjustment worked out good and the rear of the hood was down where it was supposed to be.
 
Sorry for the delay


They don't actually have adjustments but they do normally have stops that can be bent or reshaped to prevent the over extension where the hood is to high in the rear when shut. These can be confusing, look at the hinges and study the configuration. I will see if I can find a diagram to help, I am not sure if any reference material exists for this problem
 
Thanx !

I do see the holes where the crash holder mounts go , this is to prevent the hood from decapitating the driver in bad frontal collisions , they're all mangled on this poor old truck .

I was thinking of elongating the hinge to body holes....
 
Hi Guys,

Old thread, but I'm having the same issue. I just picked up an 80 Suburban with 60k miles and the hood sits high at the back and rattles like crazy. The thing that I'm wondering is if those stops are supposed to have rubber bumpers or pads on them? There's 3 on mine and the middle one looks almost like it works like a latch - it recesses inside a bracket at the middle of the hood.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Pete
 
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