I have a 1950 Ford coupe and last week when I pulled the handle from inside of the car the cable did not go back in after releasing the hood latch. Has anyone replaced the spring that returns the hood latch back to the lock position? I am not referring to the safety latch spring. The latch ***embly has two of the three factory rivets replaced with nuts and bolts. I ***ume a previous owner replaced the spring before. Does anyone know where I can get this spring? I have been unable to find who sells them. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Check in at the oldest hardware merchant in town. Likely there are other applications for such a thing
Thanks TTT. I might end up doing that if I can't find the correct replacement spring. Anything would be better than putting a ratchet strap across the hood!
Yes, I have searched the web and cannot find anything. I will call shoebox central on Monday to see what they recommend. I'm going to remove the spring today to see what it looks like. Does anyone have a part #?
Good News! I loosened the two bolts/nuts, and the latch sprang back to the lock position. I put oil and worked the latch back and forth last week several times before I posted this thread, so I ***umed it was a broken latch spring. That's what I get for thinking! I will put a couple of thin washers between the plates that house the latch to give it a little more room to move.
While you're at it, it might be a nice idea to add a wire hook to the latch to make it possible to open the hood in case the cable breaks.
I am going to add a wire to the latch as suggested. I am also going to solder a little blob on the end of the release cable because I don't trust that cable lock on the end from slipping off if I pull too hard on it. O-boy I can already hear the jokes!
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