ghoastrider1

sooo, battery is dead so gonna jump it from under the car hooking up to the starter stud that the battery cable hooks to and grounding it somewhere nearby. Going to use my pick up for the jump. I have a friend that runs a body shop and he says he has never met a vette hood he cant open. Price..a few beers. This is the guy that priced it for a paint job, so tossing that around in my head while down there. Trouble is, the unit I served with in Vietnam ( 129th Assault Helicopter company, I was a door gunner/crewchief on Hueys) is having a reunion next week here in Indy and I kinda would like to drive the vette there, ugly, peeling paint and all. It is still a project in progress ( probably always will be) and you know how some folks turn their nose up at that sort of thing. Doesn't matter in the long run..or should I say short run as I almost 68 years old.
Anyone see any problems with the attempted jump?

Jstockton

Can you not remove the side panel for the battery cover? should be a couple of screws inside the fender and loosen the one at the bottom with a wrench?

Maybe it wont come off with the hood closed?

***Edit - Never mind I think there is a bolt on top you have to remove.

johnnymo63

As long as you're on ramps or jack-stands, it should work fine.

Have you tried unlatching the hood from both sides of the car? Hopefully you can get one side to pop up.

I'm off Thursday. Maybe I can come over if you need some help.

ghoastrider1

thanks John. Its Wend. evening and going to the drags again with my buddy Ron. Going to try it tomorrow. I can get the pass side to pop, just not the drivers side. Tired of trying so gonna jump it and then drive it down to Lafeyeete rd/34th st. to his shop. Hopefully. will post in the morn my luck. You saw part of my health issues and what a pain and effort it is for me to crawl around the darn thing, lol. Still, it hasn't taken all the fun out of owning a vette. just rather work on it from the top side.

dc6902

My passenger side has been stuck closed the last couple days. Finally removed inner fender liner and after a few attempts with some other implements I used a brake spoon to force against latch and it opened immediately.

Good luck.

hcbph

Sounds like a good reason to add those safety release cables to the car. One more way to pull the hood latches on them.

xrav22

Jack up securely.
I did the same take out the fender liners and reach up and loosen the 2 front latch bolts then pry outward , worked for me.
Mine was drivers side.

1bdvet

I had cable break, and couldn't open side of the hood. What I did was take metal coat hanger, pulled it from hanger and straight bar to make hook. Then I went fishing, by slipping in under the side of the latch, and pushing the rubber seal down, and just kept trying to get the latch, when I did, it opened, all in 5 minutes.
Good luck!

ghoastrider1

well crap. cant work on the car this morn, forgot I have an apt with the heart doc at 10"30 this morn at VA in downtown Indy. I will get to the car.

383vett

If the battery is dead, I would put a charger on the thing from the starter terminal to get the battery healthy and then start/jump the car.

1bdvet

Good luck with the VA, hope they don't let you wait to long on your appointment.

Thank you for your Service & WELCOME HOME.

Raidmagic

This will get that hood open!







Just kidding. Good luck with it. Drive that bad boy to your reunion and enjoy it. Forget that paint. Thank you for your service.

dc6902

http://www.grumpysperformance.com/hoodlatchtool2.jpg

As I indicated earlier,going into the wheel well and laying a brake spoon sideways against the lever allowed me to open it very easy. My cable had come off the lever.

C5 Newb

That won't work, has no blade in it......

kg4fku

Have you tried having someone push down on the hood above the latch while pulling the release lever?

If someone adjusted the rubber bump stops too high then there could be an excessive amount of upward pressure binding the release lever on the latch.

Raidmagic

lmao!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ghoastrider1

well folks. front pass side is up in the air, wheel removed. have small charger hooked up to the starter stud (battery power cable is hooked to) and ground hooked to some flange coming off the engine. Charger reads its charging. Wish me luck on, A, don't burn the car down, B, don't hurt the ECM, C, it charges. D, damn thing doesn't fall on my head. Next on the list is to drive it foe a bit until its fully charged, over to the fellow that swears he can open any vette hood using the coat hanger trick. personally. I think I am going to have to go thu the fender liner. But, what the heck, always ok to learn something new or a different way to do things.. like trying to charge it using the starter hook ups. I did have to use the flap off the carton of brake pads to make sure hot clip doesn't contact any other metal parts.

1bdvet

Keeps us all posted, bet the coat hangers does the trick.

ghoastrider1

Ok, charging by using the starter "hot" stud and a ground on the engine works. Just make sure you use something to block "hot" lead from touching any other metal under there. Sooo, if any of you have a stuck hood and a dead battery.. there is hope of getting her started. I used a slow charger for a few hours, not enough room for jumper cables. NOW, on the getting that damn hood open on Monday. Thanks guys, will up date coat hanger method.

JungleCat

Good luck with that hood!