I plan to change out my hood springs soon. When I remove the old springs, do I need another person or some kind of hood support to keep the hood in place or will the hood be stable?

I'm planning on doing this myself and prefer not to have my fender paint raked up.

Thanks.

You will need a support rod to hold the hood up. The best way Ive found to remove those springs is get a chain link, one half of it has a nut that screws up and down. Cant think of its proper name but they are used to fix a broken chain. Kinda Like them chain links for bike chains but different. smile.gif

Put that link on the bottom end of spring and then attach the other part of link to chain. Then pull down on chain and spring end comes off the hinge.

There is an old school method of removing hood springs......

Get 8-10 6 penny nails (thick nails).
Open the hood and use a wooden rod (mop) to prop it up.

Work a nail in between the coils, repeat a couple coils away. After a few the spring should about fall off.

You may nick the spring up, but it's easy to touch up once you put them back on.

Just removed mine this past weekend. A special tool is identified in the service manual--looks like a mini T-bar with a J-hook on the end. Easy to fashion out of stock steel 5/16" to 1/4". Didn't do that though. I used a piece of 1/2" electrical conduit pipe cut to ~12" in length. Drill a hole on one side of the pipe (not both sides!) the size of the spring end. Attached it to the spring end and grasped both ends of the pipe, pulled with great force(not a whole lot, but anyone should be able to do it if they position themselves correctly) and slipped the spring off the hinge end. You could also use the hood hing as a pivot point when stretching the spring onto the hinge when you install the replacements. Piece of cake, cheap and readily available material to accomplish the task!

You should be able to purchase your springs from the GM dealer in your area. Standard hood springs: #3864680 or SS springs: # 3848272. Approx $14 ea.

You must prop the hood open.

I just clip a Big pair of Vise Grips onto the hook and pull it off. The springs really aren't under that much tension when the hood is open.

Peter

I highly recommend Erics chain idea. I had busted many knuckles over the years when I first saw the chain trick. It makes the job so easy it is a breeze.

What I use is a chain from a "pogo stick". It has a flat hook at the end that is not too big to get in the way. It is without a doubt the easiest way to remove the springs.

Thanks for the responses.

One more question - I'm installing new springs to try get the back of the hood flush with the fender. It presently sticks up a bit. If the new springs won't do the trick I'll need to adjust the hood hinges. Will I need to remove the (new) springs to adjust the hinges or can this be done with the springs installed?

Thanks.

Before you change your springs read the following "Basics" on panel alignment. The hood section is not long but should clear up a lot. Read it until you fully understand it. If I didn't say it clearly, ask.

The springs have nothing to do with holding the hood down. In fact, the stronger the spring the more it will want to pull the hood up. If your springs are holding the hood up, they are doing their job.