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I removed my hood for engine work and painted it while it was off, so the hinge and latch bar marks got covered up. I read a bunch of other hood alignment threads, but they mostly refer to pre-'76. The '77 hood has the bars on the hood and slots on the latch mechanisms. My plan was to get the hinges correct so the front hood gaps are correct and then make sure the bar is centered over the slot in the latch. Is it really this simple? I read a lot of people's nightmares about stuck hoods on the earlier C3s.
It's pretty simple on the 77 up latches. When I put a new custom hood on mine years ago. I left the latch bars off the hood while getting it shimmed and aligned. Then once happy with the fit. Installed the latch bars one at a time. Lining them up so they were centered when fully closed. I did also need to shim them for the correct depth. But maybe because it's a aftermarket hood. I'll take some pics and put em up.
Shims were needed to get a tight latch with the hood at the correct level. When you just lightly set the hood down have the bar slightly towards the front of the car. Think of the arc the hood swings on. Try to have it centered when all the way in and latched.
Yes, definitely to the emergency pull wire. Id put one on each latch when you first install them. You can pop the plastic knock outs out of the wiper trough and run a wire through both.
I run my emergency wires down. To be reached from under the car. With a wiper tray cover the above method would prove useless.
Once again, I'll put up a couple pics.
Pic's
in these photos you can see the method and the routing. On the bottom of these cables are loops secured with crimp on cable stops. The divers side you need drill a hole in the latch and secure with a cable clamp. Passengers side crimp and solder a eyelet terminal connector. Hardware store garage door cables. Very inexpensive.
Last edited by 4-vettes; Sep 28, 2025 at 02:34 AM.
Yes, definitely to the emergency pull wire. Id put one on each latch when you first install them. You can pop the plastic knock outs out of the wiper trough and run a wire through both.
I was thinking about that. If you don't have a wiper tray. You can pop out the plastic plugs and insert a bent screw driver and PUSH on the release. Pulling???
The way mine run and others I have seen on 77 and up latches. The passengers side needs to pull towards the drivers side to release. The drivers side needs to be pushed from the firewall or pulled down from the engine side.
So dropping them down as I pictured above makes perfect sense. The loops on the bottom are just above the bottom of the frame. And are actually easy to use.
Going through the plugs with a cable. Not certain.
And if you have a wiper tray cover. Not possible.
1977 hood latch alignment
