Hood won’t open

[Traveler]

I adjusted the passenger side hinge a little lower, ie: 1/8” at the same time I installed a hood stop bolt. Went to open it today and the hood won’t open, it releases from the latch and opens high enough to get your fingers in to lift it. Tugged on it enough force to lift it but didn’t want to bend anything.  It looks like the side I worked on is bound.  The things I notice; looks like the hood is going down on the passenger side when I attempt to open it,  the hood won’t close (latch seems out of alignment).

Any suggestions?

 

[420ponies]

It usually relaxes when the it comes off the pin in front, and then the springs take over to lift it. Make sure your pulling all the way forward on your pull latch,that should "pop" it up,but you still have to pull that arm to get it past that if the catch arm is still holding the hood. Can you do a video of what you're seeing? That could help us find the cause.

[cny first gen 71]

Yes it is a double latch after you get your fingers pull the latch again it should open. There is an adjustment on the part that bolts to the hood too.

[Traveler]

57 minutes ago, 420ponies said:

It usually relaxes when the it comes off the pin in front, and then the springs take over to lift it. Make sure your pulling all the way forward on your pull latch,that should "pop" it up,but you still have to pull that arm to get it past that if the catch arm is still holding the hood. Can you do a video of what you're seeing? That could help us find the cause.

It comes out of the latch and I can raise it 3-4” then it binds up

[Leghome]

On the back of the hood on the side you adjusted as sometimes the get going up. I had this happen another of my cars years ago and that is the only way I got it opened. I had to have someone lift the front of the hood at the same time. By lifting the front and the back it popped up easily and I do not remember what I did after that but only had that problem once. I do remember replacing the hinges at some time and it might have been at that time

[Leghome]

When you do get it up check out plat in the hinge pivot points

[420ponies]

Sounds like a hinge issue. That little bit of adjustment might be a the hinge pivot point. Your hinges might be the problem. Was it working properly before? Make sure those areas have just a touch of lubricant (silicone spray works best). If they're worn some, best bet get them rebuilt. Steve Lavoie had his done and a world of difference. I'm sure he can get you that information,right Steve?

[cny first gen 71]

Yea once you get hood up check the pivot points on the hinges for any play.

[Chevy Dave]

I had a difficult opening my hood, the lower latch assembly had a broken weld.  After repairing the latch , it works great.

[Traveler]

On 3/31/2025 at 7:29 PM, 420ponies said:

Sounds like a hinge issue. That little bit of adjustment might be a the hinge pivot point. Your hinges might be the problem. Was it working properly before? Make sure those areas have just a touch of lubricant (silicone spray works best). If they're worn some, best bet get them rebuilt. Steve Lavoie had his done and a world of difference. I'm sure he can get you that information,right Steve?

I replaced both the hinge and the spring recently, while in the process of adjusting the hood, I took some PB blaster and lubed up all of the pivot points and yes, the hood was working fine short of not going home on the passenger side. In other words, the hood was sticking up in the rear on the passenger side.  
 

I’m at a loss at to what to do now.  I don’t want to take the inner fender well out and unbolt the hinge but I may have no other option.  What do you think?

[jft69z]

15 minutes ago, Traveler said:

I replaced both the hinge and the spring recently, while in the process of adjusting the hood, I took some PB blaster and lubed up all of the pivot points and yes, the hood was working fine short of not going home on the passenger side. In other words, the hood was sticking up in the rear on the passenger side.  
 

I’m at a loss at to what to do now.  I don’t want to take the inner fender well out and unbolt the hinge but I may have no other option.  What do you think?

Loosen the back bolt on that side and drop the hinge down a little (you can push up on the front of the hood to lower the back hinge point). Slow and steady wins the race here.

[420ponies]

19 hours ago, jft69z said:

Loosen the back bolt on that side and drop the hinge down a little (you can push up on the front of the hood to lower the back hinge point). Slow and steady wins the race here.

Ditto .I'm still adjusting mine, and I have the Eddie Motorsports Billet ones.

[Traveler]

Well I got it open, harbor freight sells a inflatable pillow that I placed in the back between the hood and the firewall, got the hood to open. now to try to close it, it’s all out of wack.

[Traveler]

I found this drawing, the yellow box has what appears to be a measurement 5.12 ref. Any opinions are welcome

[cny first gen 71]

I would remove the part that bolts to the hood until to get the hinges where they need to be anyhow, that way you can adjust it up and down and back and forth. 

[MI_Custumz]

I played heck getting my hood to adjust and release. Replaced the hood latch assembly and adjusted the hinges. I don't remember exactly what I did, but was a long process. I think I snugged the hood hinge bolts enough to hold and pushed the hood down where it needed to be and lifted it enough to tighten the bolts. The latch and front bumpers were easier to see what was going on with the grill out.

[RON T]

I tried to adjust mine one time, that was the last time too 😱