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Hey folks,
My hood hangs low and I am fairly sure it is the springs on the hinges. I have a spare set of hinges and I would like to know if there is a safe way to do the job. The hinge even when open has a lot of energy and I would like to know how to properly remove and replace them.
If you do not know the spring is the type that is wound around itself, it is not the kind that is a coil that has two hooks one at each end.
Also, I do not want to used the extra hinges as they are not as clean as what is one the car.
Thanks,
Darin
anybody?
Can you post a picture of the hood hinge and spring? I looked in the '49 shop manual section pertaining to the body and it doesn't address removing the spring. The hood to my '49 is pretty well a storage unit right now, and getting it open would be a chore.
During the car show on Saturday at the convention I can hopefully get a look at your setup and maybe then I can make a helpful comment.
It's supposed to be fun!
1949 De Soto Custom Convertible (project)
Darin, my 53 has the hooks on the end. In all cases there is a lot of energy and the springs need to be compressed and held in place. My springs as yours probably are - are compressed when the hood is up. My springs cause the hood to sag also so I have been looking at the situation but this is not on the top of any of my lists. The spring needs to be held in the compressed position with stranded steel cable or chain with proper connectors holding the ends together. You want minimum slack so there is no "impact loading". Or you could get lucky and find the tool if there is one or have a pro do it. Somebody must still do this. It is kind of the same process used to remove coil springs from the suspension. As with the suspension, you want two means of holding the spring compressed. Hope this helps.
Darin,
There is probably no safe way to replace the springs on the hinges, at least I cannot think of any. Looking at the hinges I can see only extremely unsafe ways to approach this task:
- Make some kind of bandage around the spring strong enough to keep the spring compressed on the pin, drill the pin out of the hinge, move pin/spring assembly to your good hinge and somehow press or weld the pin into it.
- If you do not want to remove the pin you'll have to somehow press the spring (with a bandage) out of the pin - inner spring end seems to be wedged between pins split ends. The real challenge would be to wedge these ends back since with the spring around the pin there is no way you can apply any force to the sides of the pin (maybe spot-weld it). If you're still alive - remove the bandage.
Neither or of the above seem to be safe, practical or sane...
If I had spare hinges with good springs I would use them. Have your spares sandblasted and anodized or just spray paint them - it will take less time than the recovery from potential injuries would and will cost less than medical expenses...
- Igor.
P.S. The hinges, Darin asking about, look like this:
A sagging hood can also be symptomatic of worn out hinges.
Because of the difficulty of safely removing AND having to figure out a way to reinstall the other (maybe...?) stronger springs, you might consider having the hinges rebuilt and let the rebuilder take care of the issue of renewing the springs.
You might give these guys a call and see if they can help you.
It's supposed to be fun!
1949 De Soto Custom Convertible (project)
Yes, that photo is correct.
I think I may just have my spare set rebuilt and go from there.
Till then I see a broom handle in my future. 
Thanks folks for all the good info.
Darin
