Hood Alignment

[Toby Brown]

After removing and replacing the front hood hinges, how do you align the hood?

[GregVandenbussche]

fit two pins/screwdrivers in the aligned little holes drilled on both sides of the support (the part with all the holes should have two extra non regular looking holes on both the hinge part and the hood part.
Not my picture but you can see the two holes on this side easily :


I just realized you said "replaced the hood hinges" so my guess would be to ideally screw in a "loose way" the hood, remove front latch and then carefully try to line up on the car in closed position... at least i did it like this on my car with the non original hood.

[Martin Benade]

Start with the hood lightly tightened (and latch off as Greg said) with it as far forward and as high up vertically above the cowl, otherwise the first time you close it you may have quite a time getting it open again, and chipped paint on the cowl and rear hood edge. After the first closing, see if it is aligned left and right checking near the front sides. Then gradually begin inching it back into place, 1/8 " at a time. The last part is the trickiest, adjusting the latch without getting it stuck closed. Remove the spare before this step just in case you have to drill a hole or something to get it unstuck. If you get in a pickle, pm me for my phone number.

[John Brooks]

Also Put a piece of tape over the latch on the body to check center, as you adjust the length, stick a drill rod or a nail in the align holes to start, they will get you close. And allow ups to get the bolts in.

It's a good time to put the emergency opening cable into the fender well, before you start on the hood. A flexable bike brake or throttle cable works well.

[Toby Brown]

Thanks for your advice. I actually only had to take one hinge off the car and using some advice from the forum about making sure the openings were parallel and cleaning the hinge really well it seems to have done the job. Since one of the original hinges is still in place and I marked the other to help realign the hood it should go back together correctly. I was just curious how to fine tune the gaps if needed. If the temperature ever gets above freezing I’ll put the hinge back on and have a go at it.

[Bob Kittel]

Also Put a piece of tape over the latch on the body to check center, as you adjust the length, stick a drill rod or a nail in the align holes to start, they will get you close. And allow ups to get the bolts in.

It's a good time to put the emergency opening cable into the fender well, before you start on the hood. A flexable bike brake or throttle cable works well.

explain this one, if the hood pull doesn't work then how does an extra pull work?

[jule block]

I think if main cable breaks there is an alternative way to open the latch otherwise your in deep trouble.

[Martin Benade]

That is true, but does not help in case of a latch/adjustment problem where it is latched and will not release, which can happen.

[John Brooks]

The "alternative release method", is a second cable to the left fender well. Get a bike brake cable or flexable throttle clable from a lawn mover or motor cycle. Remove the cable from the cover. You bore a couple tiny holes in the top front of the left fender well about 2" apart. One over the other, forward of the spiral wire coil for the fog lights. Up forward under the hood seal, out of the way.

Now loop and swage one end of the cable to the release lever where the cabin release is, and now run the cable out the top hole and back inside the lower hole in the fender well. Pull it tight and lock it with a sewage or screw clamp, like the heater cables.

Now you can put a screw driver into the inner fender, between the cable and fender and pop the trunk. Spray the area with undercoat ion to hide the cable and keep the water away.

All 356's should have this mod. And broken cable or hood kink means cutting a hole in the bottom of the battery box, and trying to release the latch with a long rod.

[Jon Schmid]

My Roadster has the little access hole in the left front fender for inserting an emergency rod (per the owner's manual) to release the latch if the main cable breaks. What I did was get a length of sheathed wire cable, loop it through the opening on the latch, and crimped the cable end to the cable with a wire rope crimp sleeve. Then I ran the other end out through the fender opening, cut the cable to the proper length, looped it through a nice sized fender washer, and crimped the other end with another sleeve. Works like a charm.

[Martin Benade]

I thought some kind of string or wire was a factory item, not a modification. Anybody know? Regardless, that only helps open a perfectly functioning latch with a broken cable, not one stuck shut by an adjustment problem.

[Mike Wilson]

I don't know if it was factory installed but I have seen original cord attached to the hood latch. It is yellow (probably because of age). It was basically German clothes line, plastic coated string. Roy Lock (RIP) wrote an article about it. I thought I read somewhere that the roadsters has a green cord.

On a related note, the C models do not need an emergency release cord because if the hood cable breaks, the latch releases to the open position.

Mike

[Jon Schmid]

I thought some kind of string or wire was a factory item, not a modification. Anybody know? Regardless, that only helps open a perfectly functioning latch with a broken cable, not one stuck shut by an adjustment problem.

My Roadster manual mentions using a long rod (not supplied with the car) to run through the fender opening to pop the latch. From what I had heard, that was a real bear, hence the use of the homemade backup cable. But I would say you're right, Martin, if the latch is jammed shut by a misaligned hood then all bets are off--I don't know what would work.

[Mervyn Hyde]

My manual has a similar suggestion regarding a stuck latch. I fitted a wire through the fender hole to the back of the latch, as others have done. Clamped at the latch end and looped in the fender end. Putting some thick tape over the latch is a great idea when fitting the hood. If that sticks, then the hood fitting becomes ... the next job.

[Jon Schmid]

I don't know if it was factory installed but I have seen original cord attached to the hood latch. It is yellow (probably because of age). It was basically German clothes line, plastic coated string. Roy Lock (RIP) wrote an article about it. I thought I read somewhere that the roadsters has a green cord.

On a related note, the C models do not need an emergency release cord because if the hood cable breaks, the latch releases to the open position.

Mike

Hi Mike, it wasn't. Here's the deal from my original owner dad's 1960 Roadster printed 9/59. Page 39 "Emergency Access to the Hood Locks: After some verbiage "Open the hood lock through the emergency opening by means of a wire (approx. 1/8" dia.) which has a hook at one end." No mention of cables because they never came from the factory that way, at least not in 1960. And you're right about the C's, been there, done that with my coupe.