61 Buick Lesabre. It bent the old hinge. Can't find a replacement (I've tried, may have sourced one, but still confirming). So I straightened the old one and welded 2 x 3mm plate to the 2 pieces that bend. No way they are bending now. Spring off, hood closes perfectly Spring on, it tries to bend the hinge again, it can't due to the welded plate, but it tries. Clearly the spring on that side needs to be a bit "looser" with slightly less tension. Any thoughts on how to reduce the tension a tad ?
Maybe I'm hunting. 27 coils 8.5" length hooks 90 degrees different to each other. 67 and 69 Impala look like they will fit. But can't find any that are available now...all are late Nov shipping.
This stuff is out there if you look, just with a quick search I found some NOS and then these, 63 the same? if not there were tons of these things made......... https://www.ebay.com/itm/2934942991...:Buick&hash=item44559f9a0b:g:4TkAAOSwqCteTsmL
I would think there is something else wrong with the hinge…the spring hasn’t gotten stiffer over the years.
move the two spring anchor points closer together if it doesn't have to stretch as far it will have less tension
If the rivets have wallowed out the holes then they may be binding up the hinge. If the spring can be readily removed, the tension will be off the hinge pins and the slop can be observed. If the correct hood spring tool is not available, a pack of door jamb shims can be used. Mostly close the hood and start sliding in the shims between coils. When opening the hood the spring will go slack, if you have enough you maybe able to slide the hook end off the hinge.
The hinge itself actually bent, which is why I took it off. I can't find a replacement (I've tried every source I know for 61 Buick parts, including 3 dedicated Facebook groups to the model). None to be found. So I took the original off and rebuilt it. Rivets were solid. No slop at all. but it still bent the hinge. I have replaced with bolts, and there is a little wiggle but very very minor wiggle. To get all the wiggle out I have to tighten them so tight that then the hinge won't move. So I tighten so tight then loosen it about a quarter turn, minimal wiggle and hinge moves. So I know the wiggle isn't the issue as it bent originally with the rivets in place and they were perfect.
And give it a little wiggle on the way down. My 68 442 has terrible hinges, bad design. The hood doesn't open far enough (as witnessed by the scars on my head from the latch) and they are notorious for causing people to bend the hood in half trying to close them. Mine was bent and straightened (poorly) when I bought it 25 years ago and I have never found a good replacement to swap it out. The "olds wiggle" combined with pushing it back prevents further damage when closing I have found.
It can't be that difficult to find. did you check French Lake Auto parts in Annandale Mn? they have 100s of acres of cars from the 20's thru the 70's in their salvage yard. @396skip is the owner, send him a PM
Also apply some spray lubriplate on all the pivot points and between any place the hinge parts rub each other.
The OP is in Australia I can see where nothing from the USA could get there before mid Nov. I'd be surprised if it got there that fast, really. Pull the springs and use a prop rod to hold the hood open when you need to do something under it. I made one for my coupe that attaches to the under side of the hood, one end pivots and the loose end has a hook to hold it in place on the under side of the hood when the prop rod isn't in use. Another option might be those little hydraulic extension rods like the new stuff uses. The prop rods are more traditional (couldn't resist). Gene
This is the technique. Push back near the front corners with your open hands, not pull down vertically. Hood will start to move back/down and you follow the hoods motion. Almost an inverted 'J' motion. If the hood has ever been removed the hinges may not be properly realigned. This will also cause binding. Look for old witness marks on the bolts/hinges and see if getting them back to where they were improves the hinge actuation.
My 1970 Ranchero had a big, long, heavy hood which also required a bit of finesse to get it closed. If you pulled it straight down from vertical it would hang up and you would definitely bend it. The trick was to give it slight lift and pull over to the right then it drop down without any trouble. It was almost like a safety feature so the hood wouldn't close and clobber you unexpectedly.
Thanks all. I’ve ordered 3 different springs to try. None factory correct. But that’s fine. For now springs removed and prop rod being used