Hood latch stuck... little help?

[yossarian19]

Like the title says, my hood is stuck shut. I'm basically SOL for getting anything else done until it's unlatched. Tried for around 45 minutes just now to jimmy it open... no luck.
Anyone done this before, have anything helpful?

[Daze57]

Well first spray it real well with wd or lb pb blaster than if and when you get it open make sure it is not Bent also make sure your return springs are there.

[Highsider]

Originally Posted by Daze57

Well first spray it real well with wd or lb pb blaster than if and when you get it open make sure it is not Bent also make sure your return springs are there.

This ^^^ and pound the sort of flat, front part of the hood, with your fist while trying to release the latch.
I have been panicked and a sharp thump sort relieves the pressure on the latch.

Let us know how you fixed it.

[OrrieG]

check denees thread, i seem to recall she had a hood latch issue. if not her a site search might find it.

[Denee007]

I thought I answered this a few minutes ago? I don't have much of a memory if it gets over a week! lol I remember it being open when I got my truck, then I shut the hood, and that was it! The truck didn't have a grille, so I began removing every bolt possible. Unbolting the latch from its housing doesn't help much. It'd probably be nice if there isn't an engine in the truck, then you can get under the hood and work on it from the inside, but then the radiator is in the way! I think I used a long skinny screwdriver to unlatch it, mainly the funky looking thing on the bottom right of the latch I pried it inward, then the safety latch part caught it, then I pried it, then up it came, but remember feeling very helpless on this!
dne'

I didn't think I'd ever find this picture!

[nvrdone]

What year is your truck?
On my 49 the hood latch handle / release lever has a tendency to drop down behind the grill bar. I just pop it up with a screw driver & it releases.
I have seen hoods be out of alignment & then you have to push to one side, get ti centered & then it releases
Good luck

[yossarian19]

It's a 57 and I just rebuilt the hinges, perhaps not being careful enough about aligning the hood when I re positioned everything. The cab side should be OK but the hood / fender alignment was a little off. That could be it...
I'll work on it today and let you all know how it turns out, try to take a picture if anything seems useful for the future.
Thanks for all the information, folks.

[yossarian19]

Wasn't the hinges at all.
Copied & pasted from my build thread.
I forgot to take pictures as I worked, but...

You can see in the above picture that there is a hooked "primary" catch on the right, which is if I recall correctly a single stamped piece with the hood release lever.
Cut into this single release / primary catch is about a 3/8" relief that the secondary catch, which is the ramping (not hooked) section on the left of the center tower looking piece, keys into.
The design works so that pulling the hood release will directly disengage the hook while allowing the ramping secondary catch to pivot, allowing the hood to be lifted.
The problem on my truck was a combination of three things.
First, the ramp on the secondary catch had a flat spot worn into it which formed a natural stop point.
Second, everything had a little surface rust on it.
Third, the grease on it had long since turned to grime.
The three of these together meant that instead of smoothly disengaging as I lifted the hood, the secondary catch just jammed in place.
I fixed it by soaking it in PB Blaster over night, lifting the hood release, and manually disengaging the secondary latch. I used my hands but it would have been easier with a pick or pliers.
I don't think I could have done this, or done this so easily as I did anyway, with the grill in place.
Fortunately, you can actually remove the grill with the hood stuck down. The bolts holding down the latch support panel (bridge from radiator support to grill) were *just* accessible with a 1/2" open wrench. Remove those, loosen / remove the bumper, undo the rest of the dozen or so bolts, remove grill... THEN it's pretty easy to work on the broken / stuck latch.
In the following picture, the secondary latch was moved by the pivoting piece above the clock spring.

Wish I could describe all of this better but hopefully it helps somebody in the future...

So, instead of finishing my wiring, I got the hood latch cleaned & greased. Got the hood opening & closing, and put the grill suround body work back in place. I'm skipping over some sheet metal massaging, some rust, and a few broken bolts.
Grill itself is on hold for a while.

Tomorrow when I'm done with customer's car, I'll get brake lights working. For real this time.

[Highsider]

Good job solving the problem.
I enjoyed the descriptive story on it, too!