Hood Dillemma....

[Stepper562]

Has anyone had this issue before??? My hood wont stay down in the back, right infront of the windows on each corner. I push the hood down with my hand and it stays seated but the minute I drive a couple of miles it rises up.

[Goldfinger]

Check the hood brackets they may be bent. Thats an odd hood shouldn't it have a separation between the cowl and hood?

[pumpgas]

Springs are just worn out is why it won't stay down. 2 options, A)replace the springs.....B)lower the rear hing bolt effectively lowering the hood

[Stepper562]

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

Check the hood brackets they may be bent. Thats an odd hood shouldn't it have a separation between the cowl and hood?

Brackets are not bent I checked them....

[Goldfinger]

Is there anyway the bracket could have loosened itself and brought itself towards the top? we had a caprice that had done this and we fixed it by loosening the bolt and applying downward force and tightening it.

[Stepper562]

Originally Posted by pumpgas

Springs are just worn out is why it won't stay down. 2 options, A)replace the springs.....B)lower the rear hing bolt effectively lowering the hood

I did lower the hing all the way and still popps up. Looks like I`ll be replacing the springs, cheapest first try hehehe.

[Stepper562]

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

Is there anyway the bracket could have loosened itself and brought itself towards the top? we had a caprice that had done this and we fixed it by loosening the bolt and applying downward force and tightening it.

Heres the wierd part...the more downforce I apply to the bracket and tighten it down the higher the hood sits up on the edges. The higher the bracket sits the smaller the gap gets hmmm???

[Goldfinger]

Well its all in the geometry of the bracket. you may just need a crowbar to pry it up. But that is odd you have me stumped. It could still be a spring problem

[ray_mcavoy]

Hi Stepper562,

Originally Posted by Stepper562

I did lower the hing all the way and still popps up.

The 73-80 hood hinge adjustment is a bit counterintuitive. You don't simply lower the hinge in relation to the fender. Instead, you need to "rotate" the hinge in relation to the fender.

Rotating the hinge up in the front / down in the back will lower the back edge of the hood like you need.

If you max out the adjustment of the slotted holes in the hood hinge and the hood still sticks up in the back, you've likely got a hinge with worn pivot points. A trick that might still work to get the hood back down would be to loosen the front bolt holding the hinge to the hood and stick a shim between the hinge & hood.

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

Thats an odd hood shouldn't it have a separation between the cowl and hood?

Thats how the 73-80 hoods are made ... no separate cowl panel like 81-up.

[N2TRUX]

Ray is correct. I have the same issue on my 77 and tried the obvious of just lowering the hinges. That actually make the problem worse. The hinges have to be rotated where the back goes up and the front goes down. Mine still pops up so I feel its the springs are weak.

[Stepper562]

So the front 2 bolts on the hing have to be all the way down and the rear single bolt up....if you think about it I`ll be shifting the hood forward and down correct???

[pumpgas]

Hold on just a sec.....how did the hood get like this? Did you just buy the truck or did you just have the hood off of it?

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by Stepper562

So the front 2 bolts on the hing have to be all the way down and the rear single bolt up....if you think about it I`ll be shifting the hood forward and down correct???

Hi Stepper562,

Just the opposite. Rotate the hinge so it's up in the front and down at the rear. I don't think the "rotating adjustment" of the hood hinges will move the hood forward or backward very much. But if it does, the holes where the hinge bolts to the hood are slotted for forward/rearward adjustment.

MARTINSR posted an excellent description of the hood hinge adjustment here --> http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ad.php?t=67951

[Stepper562]

Originally Posted by pumpgas

Hold on just a sec.....how did the hood get like this? Did you just buy the truck or did you just have the hood off of it?

I bought the truck months ago but just noticed the issue when I started going through the truck...
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[Stepper562]

Originally Posted by ray_mcavoy

Hi Stepper562,

Just the opposite. Rotate the hinge so it's up in the front and down at the rear. I don't think the "rotating adjustment" of the hood hinges will move the hood forward or backward very much. But if it does, the holes where the hinge bolts to the hood are slotted for forward/rearward adjustment.

MARTINSR posted an excellent description of the hood hinge adjustment here --> http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ad.php?t=67951

Thx man, I'll give it a shot today after work and report back.
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[pumpgas]

I agree with the others, I'd try to rotate the hinge toward the firewall, ie Back down and front up.

[Cherub]

I say just weld it on and be done with it.

[jonessmc87]

my dads 75 gmc has been that way since the 80s. its had different hoods, different fenders, different hinges but it always raises up on the drivers side. whenever we shut it we just give it a good shove down and it stays till the next time we open it.

[Stepper562]

Try to rotate the hinges today....still nothing. They sit fine once I shove it down after closing the hood but a drive around the block and voila, they are right back up.

I think I`m just gonna purchase a cowl hood (this one seem to be bent) new hinges and springs.