60-61 hood hinges

[TRybas]

Could someone please confirm these are the correct hinges for a 1960. Nothing appears to be bent but they are binding to the point where I can not close the hood. They move freely when the hood is not attached. Something is twisting when the hood is bolted on. I’ve tried everything. I believe they are original but maybe a previous own was in there before me.

[Ed Snyder]

Could someone please confirm these are the correct hinges for a 1960. Nothing appears to be bent but they are binding to the point where I can not close the hood. They move freely when the hood is not attached. Something is twisting when the hood is bolted on. I’ve tried everything. I believe they are original but maybe a previous own was in there before me.

I assume you've oiled all the pivot points. I have a similar problem with my '65 Suburban that may have nothing to do with your problem. If I open my hood too far, the linkage actually goes "over center". The only way to close it then is to pull that particular pivot point forward by hand to get it to close again. So I always stop just short of fully open when I lift the hood.

[TRybas]

Yes everything greased. It’s not an issue of hyper extending rather the last 6-8” from being closed. It’s smooth the whole way till than. It’s almost as if there should be a second vertical spring on the back of the hinge.

[AZKen]

They are correct. I hope you have the springs hooked correctly and not with a wire. You will have to explain more exactly what is or is not happening. Does the front come down and back stay open or what? Post good pics of hood when "stuck".

Was hood OK before disassembly? Any new parts? Hinge parts?

[Jim A]

I lubricated all apparent places on my '60 a couple of years ago and have needed a broomstick prop since to avoid concussions.
I does work smoothly, though for years the back needed an extra little push down.

[TRybas]

No. I am not using wire. I put it on there as a last ditch effort to test a lower spring tension.

I was able to get it after several more hours. Still need to massage the back side down as Jim A. describes.

I ended up bolting a 2x12 across the hinges in the closed position. Cinched down hard to leave an imprint of the hinge than loosened the the board just enough to allow things to rotate; raised the board to the open position and could see the hinges were non-planar.

I reattached the hood twisting the hinges to where it wanted to be when in the fully closed position.

Thanks for the input everyone.

[Prowbar]

That is a clean truck!

[bhap]

There is a company that rebuilds the hinges. I think the problem is that the holes get worn and out of round so they start to bind. When the holes get too big, it is difficult to get the back of the hood to adjust all the way down.

[James]

If the aft end of the hood is not going all of the way down or pushing the aft end of the hood down doesn't help much then the hinges are not adjusted properly. Then hinges operate as an over center device. When the hood is approx. 3-4 inches from fully close the hinges goes pass an over center position (you can tell this by the neutral feel in the hood movements). This action will cause the spring to pull down the back of the hood. To make this happen you will need to raise the hinges higher on the fender. If you move the hinges down it will not go into an over center condition resulting in a raised aft hood.