[DeTomaso] Front hood latch hard to close

[clay willmott]

When I got my car last year I had the same problem and discovered it had two components-the mounts and the latch were both bent.

First the sheet metal brackets holding the latch are flimsy.  They can be bent upwards but do not seem to stay where you put them.  I was advised to weld in new ones but had no way to do this so I re-adjusted them with pliers.  I also found the holes in the latch for mounting are larger than the studs and move over time. Also, if you over-tighten the nuts so the latch does not move around you can actually bind/bend the weak stock latch and make it nearly impossible to close the hood.  Take the one you have now off and look at it from a side view and see if it is already bent.  If so bend it straight or get a new one.  Even a slight bend makes a big difference with these latches.  I used a special array of washers with star type lock washers to keep the latch where I wanted it and gently tightened it which solved the problem.  Every 3-4 months though it seems to need adjusting as I cant tighten it down as tight as I would like or it binds the mechanism.

If you or a friend can weld you could replace the mount with careful measurement and never have to deal with it again though.

PS-It seems people remove the extra external spring that helps to pop the hood back up as well.  My stock latch was missing this spring so I took it off my new one as well.  I was told removal makes closing the hood easier.

Clay


> From: matt at nwpantera.com
> To: detomaso at realbig.com
> Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 18:50:15 -0700
> Subject: [DeTomaso] Front hood latch hard to close
> 
> Hey all,
> Can anybody tell me how to reduce the force required to latch the front hood? I always have to give it a hefty two handed push down to get it to engage. Looking at the mechanism I see two return springs,neither of which seemingly have little to do with it. I tried lube but no help and the hood side prong seems to be adjusted down to the max.
> It latches and opens ok but I feel like I'm giving CPR to an elephant. Must be some internal spring in there?
> Suggestions?
> Thanks folks,
> Matt Wells
> 3584
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