boltnut

Possible ? Want to take the hood off today and won't have any help. The one neighbor that's around today I wouldn't trust .

Looks like there really isn't any room for error.

DO2G

I don't think so, without some very creative planning. I've done it a few times and always had a helper.

Good Luck

nate99

I've test fit mine by myself, but I don't know how you could go about bolting it up.

If you were really determined to do so, you could maybe hang it by some rope from the latches at the rear from the ceiling joists, but that would take some fairly serious precision.

boltnut

Yeah. Was considering jacking the car way up....hooking the hood to ceiling or engine hoist.....then lowering car after unbolting.

I think I'll just buy some beer and wait for the help to arrive....

Roco71

I have done it several times while my car was in primer without a problem. Would not consider it while in paint.

76stingracer

Have do this several times. I place thin pieces of cardboard between the hood and the fender were the hinges are. My paint is not 100% so I don't worry to much about it but if I had a new paint job I would wait for a friend. I always have the hinges mounted to the fenders first, lay the hood in, then tilt the hood up (left had on the leading edge with left shoulder under the hood - driver side). Get two bolts started (hinge to hood) and repeat on the passenger side.

mrvette

With the stock hinges, I did it all the time, now that my hood is reverse hinged, from the cowling, it's done the same way, ....

take a couple of bath towels two layers thick between open hood and fender, wadded up against headlight canisters under hood gear....both sides, take a yard long wood stick release support, hold with stick on top of engine, this will vary a bit due to different engine setups...

remove latch assy from hood, lay down on fender, then remove both bottom hinge bolts, hood needs by vertical enough to do this, maybe do this before removing latch, like I say it varies from car to car...

then remove the top hinge bolts from hood, letting it balance and settle gently down, let hinges flop.... hood is not settled into the valley in front of radiator...

I am 6'5" so it's easy for me to lift the hood off then, shorter guys maybe want to lift hood up and outta the valley a good bit and rest flat WAY back from stock position, once again wadded up towels...

then lift it off....

the main trick is two layers MIN of towels between hood edge and fenders.....I never had a issue doing that....

7T1vette

If you have a gargage with exposed joists, you can do it by yourself.

Drive car into garage nose-first; lift hood and park it so that the upper latches are right below a joist. Use 1/4" nylon rope (or other suitable rope) to tie the upper latches to the joists firmly.

Remove mounting bolts between hood and lower brackets. Put heavy blanket on the nose of the car and so the blankets go down over the lip in front of the hood. Now, lift/tilt the hood so it comes out off its hinges and the end rests on the blankets. If you need to, just back the car out of the garage...the hood will just slide off the nose until it is hanging.

Now, if you need to get the hood down...that's another story, if you want to do that by yourself, too. But, depending on how you tied the ropes off, you could wheel a table or cart under the hood and slowly lower it with the ropes (ie, Instead of tying the ropes to the joist above, use longer lengths and run them over that joist, but tie them off somewhere else that you can easily reach. Then you can untie them and lower the hood down.)

P.S. I did this in the garage behind my car in my avatar when I lived in AZ. Refurbed the inside of the hood and reversed the process to reinstall it. Make sure you put good markings at the forward hinge connections so that you don't have to fight trying to line-up the hood again.

Easy Mike

I've done it. The hood isn't particularly heavy, but it is bulky. I can lift the 68 hood from the front of the car. That doesn't work as well for the 80 hood. I lift it from the side.

7T1vette

You must be 'one BIG dude', Mike...

81pilot

I have taken mine off alone many times. Loosen each side slowly. remove the lift lock rod thing from the hood. I leave one bolt on each side, with the hood open I slide a blanket, t shirt or huge rag or pillow down under the front of it, hold it open and remove the remaining bolts and let it carry its weight on whatever you stuffed under the front of it (needs to be fairly large pillow or whatever). I have a large wingspan so I just grab it from one side to the other and lift it off. It is a bit trickier going back on, but taking off takes me 5 minutes and I have never chipped any paint yet. But way easier with 2 people.

boltnut

Thanks guys that was probably easier than removing the hood off my old 67 firebird was. I even managed to lift it off from the drivers side and store it safely.

So much easier to get at the rad and rad support now !

Red 69

I parked my 79 under the rectangular opening to the space above the garage and placed a 2" X 4" across the opening and through the V-notch in trusses. This locked the 2x4 in place. The car was driven under the space and with the hood opened, I attached rope to the latch mechanism at both rear corners. The doubled, loose rope end went over the 2X4 and tied off to an immovable place to anchor. The fender tops and nose were covered in a well padded movers blanket and taped in place. The painted edges were covered in tape to resist bumps and chips. The hood support was disconnected from the hood end, then the hinges from the hood side only. Once the hood was free, I simply pulled the rope and hood away from the car and back to anchor. The car was backed away and the hood lowered to a floor blanket. At that point I could manage the hood relocation to a safe place. The reverse could be used to replace the hood, but two helpers to guide the process offers some insurance, or someone else to blame if things go wrong LOL.

Go Vette Go

Great job! Now you can kick butt with it out of the way but be careful - with the hood off - you'll see more things to work on....."while your at it"

RobbSalzmann

I do it all the time. Same as mr vette describes, and I'm not quite 6', but I do have long arms, as evidenced by the scrapes and calluses on my knuckles....

mrvette

OH GOD, my old cabinet maker was maybe 5'8" or so, and he had arms down to his knees.....the comments the crews made .....source of mucho laughter....

texasbaehr

I try eveything myself but that is one job I needed help with. I did not want to take the chance of damaging the hood. The C3 hoods are not very stout, one slip hitting the floor or a fender will most likely crack something. With two it's quick job.