Ok, 1954 Chevy Belair and lately i will be driving down the road and every little while the hood will pop open. Not all the way, the secondary catch keeps it from flying open. I have adjust the spring thingy (good tech talk huh) but after about 20 miles or so toady it popped open, then it popped open twice in 3 miles on the way home. I do not have the springs that hold the hood open (back by firewall) Will this cause this to happen... if not what can i do ???? Thanks for all the thoughts, advice and ideas in advance
i dont know what causes it but ive heard alot of belair owners complaining about this same problem..put a safety chain on it just in case thats what my buddy did
I say take the whole thing out and clean and lube all the parts that move. my best guess would be that the part that moves back and forth when you unlatch the hood is dried up and not closing all the way. I'm thinking there is a spring in there as well that closes the latch.. perhaps that has broken or fallen out. your lack of hinge springs will not effect this. if anything they would make it harder for the hood to open unexpectedly. lube it up, check for a broken spring and I bet you will be back in biz-ness
Hi Tony. I've had a couple of chevys, but can't remember the exact setup for adjustments. But about no hinge-springs...I don't think that wouldn't affect it. Maybe if the hinges themselves were really loose, the wind-pressure could possibly shift the hood back, and the rear of it up, allowing the latch to let go...but I thought that the male portion of the latch became trapped by the female portion. Is the rear of the hood lifting at all? Maybe no springs does allow that to happen. One thing I know for sure...before you do any more driving or testing, put a bungee cord or somethin' on that ****er. I think 49ratfink is on the right track.^^^
Tony I would look at the grove in the hood pin where the spring loaded latch fits and make sure its not rounded out on the bottom lip and also the actual slider latch to make sure it has good edged on it and not beveled. This is what I usualy find when looking at worn hood latches and cars with problems like you have. I have welded them and then worked it down with a file and make it new again. Or you may find some better parts at the local old car salvage yard.
Having a hood fly open is no fun,especially at speed.All my stuff is getting hood pins or tilt front ends from now on.
Does that car have the typical ***** and spring loaded foreskin kind of latch? (I don't know how else to describe it) If so, I've seen broken latch springs that look fine at first glance. Check the foreskin spring and the main return spring. Also, what RAY said - worn areas need to be addressed. Check the ramp area where the round part rides on the latch. Also, I believe running without hood hinge springs would allow the hood to rattle tensionless, and cause damage to the latch. So yes, hood springs DO keep the hood closed IMHO
Don't know how similar they are, but I had the same problem on my '55 Buick. I dis***embled the latch mechanism and found the piece that actually does the latching (sorry, don't know the correct terminology and I never took pics of it), was worn. I laid a bead of weld along the edge ato build it back up and then filed it down to a good, straight edge. Never had another problem with it.
The springs on the rear help hold the hood in position, without them the hood moves around a lot, especially at highway speeds when wind will move the back of it off the cowl...additionally, the edge of the latch mechanism is prolly worn (it's only 57 years old after all...!!!)...and may need fixing as Tagman said, or replacing. Lube it all up and see if that helps... OR, simply use a plastic-clad cable, a couple of threaded closed loops and a padlock to hold the hood down and do not trust the secondary latch...had the hood on my '47 Chevy wrap around the top at 75 mph some years ago in Montana and that is not fun...I never take a car out on the highway without a cable and a padlocked hood nowadays...!!! R-
Does anybody have any pics or info handy, on how to did their hood safety chain? Mine has never came up, but I have heard so many storys about this, I thinking about putting a chain on mine.
Hey, I think What Texas Ray described is "Right On"...... Read IT three times, Three ! I've heard this to be a problem'mm...........Mine Blew all the way back, at 55 speed.........Smacked tha' w/shield, dug into BOTH FENDERS, an, Naturally curled back corners of the hood. Yes, I did throw rocks ! Lotsa ROCKS. (No, It did'nt Break the Windshield.................Chad did THAT !) _______________________ Smoke'______________ "Happy Motorin' Starts at The ESSO SIGN "
Thanks 49ratfink. Was looking for my post and you found it first... Don't know if this is similar to the earlier Bel Air, but it gives me SUPER piece of mine when punishing the Muncie!!! Came up with this idea of a small hole in the hood latch combined with a pit pin pushed through the hole (through the grille) when the hood is shut. This way the pin through the hole is below the hood latch receiver and there is NO way the hood can come up. Gives good peace of mind if nothing else and is simple...
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