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What worked for GJohnson worked for me, as I posted earlier. The first photo is the pass side, the second is the driver's side. On mine, the pass side was nuts I was able to unscrew; the driver's side was weld nuts on the metal reinforcement, and I had to grind those two off. Jack up the front and take off the wheels for access. Good luck!
I went out and looked at the latch again.
The depth of the lip from the moveable latch dog (half moon) and the fixed ring isn't as much as I thought it was. There is a fair roll on the edge of the fixed area that brings it pretty close to the same as the movable part.
I think it's safe to say it's probably fully latched, if it was close enough to get caught on the fixed part it really could have caught on the movable part (and now that you've undid the hinges it probable did if it wasn't before)
the other thing is that there is a step on the latch pad where it gets pressed on,
Now that SHOULD be out of the way when you pull the latch open but there's a chance (maybe) it could catch the lip on the spring loaded ring (???)
Maybe now that you're disconnected the hood, tie that lever over so it's fully "unlatched" and pulling the hood as far forward as you can letting the car part of the latch run out of travel in the slots etc, that would force the pin to be at the back of the hole in the latch.
Then moving the hood straight back in small (really small) steps, press down a little so the ring part is not pinched between the spring ring and the bottom of the mushroom (hopefully it will slide on the sprung ring), move the hood a tiny amount rearward and then lift it to see if "found the hole", press and move a tiny amount, lift, curse, repeat, curse, repeat (moving and cursing).
Actually, I think you really need to get that car-side part of the latch to stay in one place, otherwise you're chasing 2 problems around.
Can you get a string around the spring part of the mushroom or around the fixed stopper there or something and pull it tight towards the windshield or towards the front of the car somewhere and tie it off, Or go in with some form of slim-jim with a hook on it and grab the stopper and pull it while moving the hood around, at least that way it might not move around with the hood and then it's just a regular old stuck hood problem LOL
M
Reached in and removed all 4 Hinge Bolts. Lifted where I could, but LH Latch remained latched.
LH Latch undone. You can reach it from underneath with a long Open End and patience.
Same with the RH Latch.
Now knowing which way the LH Latch opens, thought I'd try pushing it's Crossover Cable lever outboard with this.
Placed it in like this, pushed, and Praise the Lord, it unlatched instantly!
Needed to ask my neighbor again to help re-hang the hood once more. He was great in helping me again.
BTW, these Latch Alignment Tools worked GREAT. You can find them on eBay, or maybe someone on the forums here who has faith in never having to remove their Hood again.
THANKS for the great responses. BUT, always remove lower latches when removing the hood, or AT LEAST place a thick cardboard between lower Latch and Hood if lowered and screwing around with latch mountings. You don't ever want to have to go through this. Totally preventable.
You or should use a piece of stainless steel cable attached to the (bottom female latch receiver) lever. Eventually the cable to the hood release handle under the dash will brake / fail, and you will be in the same boat once again. Use Google to research how other CF Members have attached the cable. I think you need to have the cable as a back up, since there is no way to get your hand on the release lever from underneath the car. Glad you got her opened.
I made a L tipped push pull rod out of .100 steel flat bar and bent the tip 1/2" it's about 18" long. stays in the jack compartment!.... through the hole and unlatch!
Chevy DESIGNED this in in ALL C-3's.
Unkahal
Originally Posted by Andy Tuttle
Need a picture of that!
L-46man, are you referring to something like this? From my Alan71 photo collection:
Yes mine is a bit shorter...made it on-the-spot many many years ago.
GREAT PIECE THAT!
COOL.
PS I use the loose bolts and grease method for re-aligning the latches; Basically..
1. Align the hood, Don't latch it....you'll come back to the final alignment later
2. Mark/Scribe the hinges
2.1 Tighten cables with no slack.
3. Prop open half moons.
3.1 mark the hinges and their original positions
4. Loosen the latch just so it'll JUST move under latching.
5. Use red grease for witness marks.
6. Slowly close hood. do not latch!
7. check grease for direction(s)
8. Tighten latch.
9. Adjust cables.
NEVER LET YOU HOOD SLAM CLOSED!....I see this with newbies at the shows...I flinch everytime is HEAR that noise!
Great way to break the hood!
I push down one latch at a time 'preferentially'....IE it will tell you which side it 'likes first'.
The CE it's the pass side.
The 69 it's both either or.
The 78 SA it's the driver's.
BTW, these Latch Alignment Tools worked GREAT. You can find them on eBay, or maybe someone on the forums here who has faith in never having to remove their Hood again.
YES!! Those alignment tools work great! I ordered one after the disastrous stuck hood episode that led me to grinding off a couple of weld nuts to get it open. I didn't attempt to close the hood again until after the tool arrived. It was perfect.
I was able to get my fingers up to the 68 driver's side latch. Used my 70 to see where to push the lever. Will install an emergency pull cable to help if another lockout. The photo was taken after I got the hood epen. Anywhere to buy explosive nuts?
I made one of those tools based on the drawing that was floating around from way back but I wasn't 100% convinced the tool was sitting on the cone fully pulling it into position so ended up using tape and stickers so I could "see" where it was and adjust accordingly
Tried the scope camera, and poking the latch through the plug hole. No luck. Thank you to Catfish for photos to confirm what welded nuts to cut off, to disconnect the forward hinges. After toasting my 1.5 amp Dremel oscillating tool, I bought a 5 amp version, and good quality blades to make the cuts. I was able to unbolt the bracket the holds the hood open, from underneath. My hood was only stuck on the drivers side anchor point. FINALLY have the hood off! Will through bolt the forward hinges, and thanks to some good tips here, will do a better job adjusting the anchor points. Thanks again to the generous, helpful folks on this forum! You guys rock!
Where does someone find those green "Latch Alignment Tools", never seen those before this thread.
Ecklers sells them, not sure if other places do. I saw a video where a guy had good results with it. Did not work well for me. Seemed too tall in my opinion. There are other suggestions the guys have shared, I'm giving those a try.
So I was able to reach up through the engine compartment from the bottom and free my drivers side the 2 times my hood became stuck. its not easy but its doable if you know someone with long arms.
