[TR] Help on adjusting the hood (engine compartment) latch on my TR4A

[Geo Hahn]

Dave --

I helped a friend with a jammed latch on his TR5.  I used a 1x2 with a
thick rag secured over one end in for padding and, from under the car,
pushed up on the bonnet in the latch area while he jostled the releases.
He had the lever-type back-up release.  We finally got it to pop.

As I recall. after we got it open we carefully re-lowered the bonnet to
near the latch and we could peek in and see that the pin on the bonnet was
not well aligned with the opening in the latch and apparently this mismatch
was applying some lateral force that had jammed the works.  There is quite
a bit of movement possible in the mounting of the piece on the bonnet.

Geo



On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 4:29 PM, Dave Connitt <dconnitt at fuse.net> wrote:

> Well,
> Guess what.. I managed to close and lock my hood and can't open it now.
> The good news (if there is any) is that I had installed a backup mechanical
> linkage in case the cable release quit.
> A little history first..
> 1. I had completely taken apart the spring assembly that bolts to the
> underside of the hood so I am not sure how to adjust that and it is more
> than
> likely not set correctly.
> 2. I have new rubber bumpers in the rear of the hood and had adjusted them
> so
> the hood sits flat and level alongside the cowl.
> Thoughts..
> I am considering attaching a pair of vise grips to the vertical stainless
> steel wire which is the "handle" for the mechanical release and tapping on
> the
> vise grip (lightly) while someone pushes down on the hood over the latch.
> If that doesn't work, I could remove the headlight buckets, remove the
> bolts
> on the hinges and fish a long rod of some kind up to the latch and trip the
> release that way.
> Once I get the hood open again, does anyone have any suggestions on steps
> to
> adjust the hood latch so I can open and close it without stressing out?
> Thanks,
> Dave Connitt