I am putting a 69 SS hood on my 68. I bought new hinges and springs from Tamaraz on ebay. I am wondering if they shipped me the wrong springs. They are a long way from fitting onto the hinge and very difficult to expand. How hard should the springs install onto the hinges? I figured with the hinges all the way open the spring should almost be at rest, then when you close it it expands. Any thoughts? I need to get the hood installed so we can see how bad it fits or maybe be surprised.

Thanks for any help

Josh

I figured with the hinges all the way open the spring should almost be at rest, then when you close it it expands.
Josh
You figured wrong.:D They are tight even at rest. You can mount the hood then stretch the springs on to the hinges. Others have but I'm not big enough to do it that way. I stretched the spring using some chain and the bumper jack. Then insert a bunch of paint stirring sticks. Some guys use nails but I didn't want to scatch the paint. Put the spring on the hinge then lower the hood slowly. That will stretch the spring and the sticks or nails will drop out or at least pull out with little effort.

Josh... bolt the hinges to your fenders, hook one end of the spring to the hinge...get a 6' length of chain ( enough you can get to the front of the car )...hook it to the other end of the spring...wrap the chain around your arm, and gently lean back. The spring will expand and just hook it on to the hinge. Safe and controllable... Then you get to align the hood... that's the fun part ;-)

Thanks for the suggestions. I have used the chain method before, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't installing the wrong springs. I will try a chain, then if I still can not get it I will try the paint sticks

Thanks Again

Josh

You definitely figure wrong, hood spring are a major pain to install.

Hook one end of the spring on the lower attach point and put the largest Phillips screwdriver you can find through the other end of the spring. Hook the business end of the screwdriver over the other attach point and use the screw driver to lever the spring in place. It's kind of like putting the springs on drum brakes but on a much larger scale. It takes both arms and a lot of muscle but it can be done.

Tom

You need to bend the springs side to side with your hands to break the powder coat loose. I used vise grips tightened all the way and hooked the spring through them without actually clamping down on the spring.

I made a " J " hook, hood spring installer. It shows a picture of one in the 70 Shop manual. Works just fine. Its a G.M. idea. No marks, No hurts, No errors...........
Bob:thumbsup:

The "J" hook described by Robinl5 can be found on page 11-2 in the Service Manual for anyone who is interested.

I just got back my rebuilt hinges from Willie Wilson - Wilson Parts & Antiques (super work, super service, super price) and had need to paint both my hinges and springs. I wanted to stretch the springs open far enough to get a good coat of paint on the inside as well as the outside. I built an inexpensive jig out of some angle iron that I had around the shop and a couple of 3/8" x 6" eye bolts from Home Depot. It not only allowed me to get a good coat of paint on the inside, it allowed me to do the paint stick trick after the paint thoroughly dried. With the short lengths of paint sticks inserted between the coils, it was to easy install the springs on the hinge assemblies. Once on, the hinges allowed enough leverage to expand the springs and let the paint stick pieces to fall out. Problem solved.

I hope you got 29 coil springs, instead of 26 coil springs. That could be a factor on why it is so difficult to get spread as well. the 29 coil SS springs slip on much easier than the 26 coil Malibu Springs. All methods listed work great, I have a turnbuckle I use to put them on, easy as pie.

Try this search, (Hood Spring Replacement-Casino Royale Style) . Works well.

just a heads up. put a piece of plywood with some padding under it against your windshield if your luck is like mine, the spring will slip and smack your windshield. Jim

I stretched the springs with my floor jack, inserted six penny nails and put the springs on the hinges off the car first.