I got a new set of hood hinges from Year One and I'm trying to install the old springs on them.

How in the heck do you do this without completely ruining the finish on the new hinges? I'm lost. It was hard enough taking the old springs off. Any tricks?

Thanks in advance!

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70 Impala Sport Coupe (350)
66 Chevelle (I wish, still looking)
http://www.geocities.com/ledsled_26m

On my 64, I took a piece of 3/8 pipe 18 inches long, cut a notch in only one side of one end. Made the notch wide enough to fit over the hinge where the spring hooks. Made the notch about 1/2 inch long. I hooked the spring to the top hinge hook, put the pipe through the lower end of the spring, placed the notch over the lower hinge hook. Now all you do is pry till the spring stretches and slides down the pipe onto the hinge hook - easy and safe - about 30 seconds to do it. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif

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Make it the way you like it, forget what the other guys say!
http://chevelles.com/showroom/alelcaminofront.jpg
http://chevelles.com/showroom/alelcaminoside.jpg

I don't have enough room at the bottom of the hinge, the heater box is on the way on one side and the washer motor on the other. Did you do this with the hinges in a vise, not in the car? Good idea, though. Any others?

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70 Impala Sport Coupe (350)
66 Chevelle (I wish, still looking)
http://www.geocities.com/ledsled_26m

I finally understood what you were saying, I guess I was thinking of it wrong. I tried it, and it worked like a charm! Thanks so much!

I took some pics and drew an illustration to clear things up for people that might be lost like I was. I had to do it on the front spring mount instead of the rear, but it's the same concept.

This is the pic of the tool itself, I used the handle to my car jack since I have a couple. http://www.geocities.com/ledsled_26m/hoodhingeillustration.jpg

You might get a laugh out of this, it surely shows my freehand drawing ability. (Where's my AutoCAD when I need it?) The spring's in blue, the hinge in black, and the tool in red. #1 shows the direction you pull, #2 is the direction the spring will slide. http://www.geocities.com/ledsled_26m/hoodspringinstaller1.jpg

If Geocities tells you that the page is unavailable, just go up to the location bar, click on the address, and hit <enter> again, for some reason it's been doing this lately.

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70 Impala Sport Coupe (350)
66 Chevelle (I wish, still looking)
http://www.geocities.com/ledsled_26m

[This message has been edited by ledsled (edited 09-14-2001).]

[This message has been edited by ledsled (edited 09-14-2001).]