The Official 356Talk Forum

Up under the instrument panel in the interior of the car, remove the bolts securing the hood hinges.

For all that offered suggestions on my dilemma "front hood won"t open" I thank you. I solved the problem by fashioning a very flat (1/16th" thick 2"wide and 12" long) hook out of metal, sliding it between the hood and nose (after taping the edges of surrounding area), hooking the post (male part of latch) and gently prying it forward. With seemingly little effort the hood popped open. A big sigh of relief. No paint damage, etc.

Robert

Now take the flex cable out of a Bicycle Brake and attach it to the Hood Release and route it out into the drivers fender well. Bore a couple #30 holes up high, by the tube. Feed the end of the cable out and back in the other hole and secure the bitter end inside the trunk. Cover it with undercoating. Next time you can find it with a screwdriver and pop the hood.

A backup cable is nice, but will not help with this type of adjustment problem. Robert, you done good! A clever solution once the suggestions pointed you in the right direction.

Robert Janusz wrote:For all that offered suggestions on my dilemma "front hood won"t open" I thank you. I solved the problem by fashioning a very flat (1/16th" thick 2"wide and 12" long) hook out of metal, sliding it between the hood and nose (after taping the edges of surrounding area), hooking the post (male part of latch) and gently prying it forward. With seemingly little effort the hood popped open. A big sigh of relief. No paint damage, etc.

WHOA!
We got the 'open the stuck hood' gold metal CHAMP right here!
Spectacular! When someone posts regarding this issue in the future, I hope you chime in. And can you post a photo of the magical tool? Inquiring minds...

Bob asked me to post this image for him. This is some good old fashioned ingenuity right there, nice work Bob!

I am glad it is here for anyone to see that may have this same issue in the future.

Thanks, Sebastian. Hope one of us remembers this thread nest time it happens.
Really neat!

Ron LaDow wrote:Thanks, Sebastian. Hope one of us remembers this thread nest time it happens.
Really neat!

The thread title is pretty searchable and the good thing about the younger generation is that they are pre-programmed to search a site for information, not like us old guys who frequently ask the same questions on a regular basis!

After a couple of days and many hours of attempting to snag the stuck hood latch on my '63 T6 I went out and bought a Harbor Freight inspection camera ($75.00). I drilled a half inch hole in the driver side inner fender to provide access to the frunk. I then attached a hook fashioned from an 18" aluminum rod to the endoscope. After a couple of tries I bent the rod in an arc allowing me to maneuver around the spare tire. Within 10 minutes I had the hood open. The relief that came from hearing the hood pop open was well worth the $75. In any case, I figure I will more than make that amount back with what I save in doctor fees by performing self-administered colonoscopies in the future...

Great idea. Thanks Tom

Thomas, I think you are now guilty of a HIPA violation of your own medical records.

Bumping this thread. I got to use my emergency release cable under real circumstances earlier today. Somehow the hood latch release hung up and the main cable wouldn't open the hood. I had to pull my backup cable as far out as it would go before the hood popped open. While probing around checking to see if the main cable broke (it didn't), the latch release suddenly popped and sprang back into place. I sprayed some lubricant on the latch release pivot points and all is now working well. That backup cable sure came in handy. I always close my hood by lowering it carefully onto the latch and then pushing on the hood handle to close it--I do not "drop" the hood closed, so I don't know why this happened unless it was because the assembly just needed some lube.

Since the tangential issue of emergency hood releases is already part of this discussion, here are the instructions from the 356A driver's manual:
Some 356Bs and Cs seem to have come from the factory with a pre-installed emergency release, usually (if I recall correctly) a wire/cable with a white & tan striped fabric sheath. I've seen that same cable in a few cars.

I keep meaning to install one in my 356A.

My Roadster never had a factory installed emergency release cable, which is why I installed one. My C has the automatic catch release so I don't need a backup cable.

The B's came with an emergency release cord that turned yellow with age. It was essentially thin German clothes line with string, not wire, inner core. I had just the end of the original one on my car when I purchased it. I read that the roadsters came with a green cord much like electrical wire. The C cars did not need the emergency release cord because if the cable breaks, the latch automatically opens.

If you Google the topic, Roy Lock (RIP) researched and wrote an article on it.

Mike