After reading that several CFers had the same problem I did, hood doesn't pop up the half inch or so upon release, and several hours thinking about it I went out and tried adjusting the release on my 89 coupe. First, I smeared grease evenly all around the catch pins on the hood and closed the hood. Then I reopened it and looked to see where the grease was rubbed off. This is the main contact point. Note.. there will be some grease rubbed off where the latch plate is cammed to the side by the catch pin. Mine was hitting on the rear of the pins making a shiney spot. Then I backed off the 2 bolts and the nut on the rubber tipped stud and moved the plate in the opposite direction of the rub mark, just a little bit. I regreased the catch pins and closed the hood and tried opening it, looking for the pop up. My driver side popped up first try, the passenger side needed more adjustment. I moved the plate again, opposite direction of the rub mark, regreased the catch pin and closed the hood. BINGO!! My hood now pops up a half inch or so when I pull the release. After this adjustment I noticed my release handle seems easier to pull. Cool. I also noticed I didn't have to drop my hood from the normal foot high position to get it to latch, 6 inches works now. Less noise, stress on the hood, and stress on my nerves at dropping a heavey fiberglass hood from a foot high.

Give it a try... it wasn't hard to get the correct adjustment. And you won't have to hold the release lever with one hand and pull the hood up with the other anymore.

:flag

 

Great writeup. I thought about suggesting that the hood could be adjusted in yesterday's post, but was afraid I'd cause someone to get their hood stuck. :cheers:

 

Thanks for the compliment. I was afraid of getting mine stuck so I went slow. After looking at it and playing with it some I've decided the likelyhood of getting it stuck is minimal... provided the release cables are in good shape and properly adjusted. I know some people have had their hood stuck but I'd bet it was cable related, not catch pin related.

 

Thanks for the tips. Any pics?

 

Sorry... no pics... It's easy to do though. I did the adjustment on the latch pin mounting plates, they're bolted onto the hood. The play in the bolt holes allow for some movement. Like mine, you can probably see how much you move the plates by looking at the marks on the hood that are exposed when the plate moves. The holes won't allow the plate to move very far out of position, either. Loosen the 2 bolts and the lock nut on the rubber tipped screw stud to allow movement. Try not to turn the screw stud. If it turns out (lengthens) it may not allow the catch pin to move into the latch far enough to catch. You can test this adjustment by pressing downward on the closed hood right above the latching mechanism. A small amount of play means there's enough travel for the catch pin to engage into the latch. No play would mean the catch pin is barely engaging the latch. The downside of this condition is that the release will be tight feeling and you may cause cable stretch or worse... beakage. It might be good at this point to note that the rubber tipped stud takes most of the stress when you drop the hood to close it. It's best to have the parts properly lubed and adjusted so you don't have to drop the hood from a great height. I always cringe when I have to drop the heavy fiberglass hood. But that's the way of the beast, so to speak.

Give it a try.. and Good Luck!! :flag