VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 48 hood springs

OK, I give up. Have tried for two days to figure out how to get these things on. I remember reading some post somewhere that you could bend the spring to open the spaces and insert coins or washers to "stretch", expand, enough. Well all I managed to do was stretch and bend the thing. Also once expanded there was no way to hook it in the hole and swing the other end around to hook. What do you guys do or use?

You might think Halloween is scary but you ain't seen nothing yet...lol I'm just kidding...it's only a little scary...you got a catchers mask or a hockey goalie thingy for your face ? If not just be ready to duck , O.K. ? Now the hood is already bolted to the hinges and is propped wide open right ? O.K. now I'd get a buddy to hold the hood to prevent it from moving and causing any damage to your paint job...He'll be on opposite side as you...You hook one end of the spring through the hole in the hinge , hook side down ( the spring will now be in the wrong direction ) bring it back under the corner of the hood so it's close to where it's suppose to be...now you have to decide which pry tool is gonna work for you as a lever...your going to hook the spring on the pry bar ( or BIG #%!* screw-driver ) and hook the end ( last two inches of the pry bar ) in the slot that spring end goes in on the car...with two hands yank forwards and as the spring slides down the the pry tool and over and in to the slot and pull the tool free . One BIG QUICK MOTION w/muscle , It's serious #%!* , GO at it Psyched-up ! Good Luck ( get well soon ) Kevin47

Kevin47 is aboslutely correct on this. My "prybar" of choice is the longest flat bladed screw driver in my tool box, maybe 18" plus handle. I place the screw driver just as Kevin said and pull it down. Works everytime but is a bit intimidating and it sometimes makes a loud noise when it pops in place. I like the screw driver because I can get a better grip on the handle instead of an all metal bar. Where safety glasses, oh and a hard hat in case the person holding the hood for you drops it when the loud "BANG" happens scaring the bejeezes out of him when the spring pops into place. Just kidding about the hard hat.

I'll go along with the two previous comments - it can be scary, but usually if the spring slides down the pry bar and the hook end misses the slot, the spring will go down through the space to the ground below. Usually!! Not always!!

I'v done it using the jack handle as the prybar.

Ah , Geez...you had to warn him about the loud "Bang" ! That's the part that makes you say "Holy %!#! Get that catchers mask and them safety goggles on !" . lol . But not to worry... the springs not go'in anwhere...but the hood might ! . And TAP48 is right about the other person... watch for their reaction...feel their pain . lol . They'll probably think twice before ever help'in you again ! Good Luck , Kevin47 ..and don't forget the safety glasses for the help , too...

So, make sure "will" is in order. Notify next of kin. Find big a** screwdriver. Pack hemorrhoids and go for it. Will try it this weekend.

That'll give you time to get them muscles in shape...and don't forget to eat your Wheaties...I think I taped some strips of card-board ( two or three thick ) to the top of the fender near hood corners , with-out springs in place the hood is all squirrely and the corners want to gouge your fenders...Good Luck...tell us how it went...

The only change I would strongly recommend is using the biggest PHILLIPS screwdriver you can find. My cousin and I took off and put on the hood springs a half dozen times trying to get the hood properly aligned and quickly found out that the spring slides off the end of the Phillips screwdriver into the body mount catch plate a lot easier. With a flat bladed screwdriver, the spring gets stuck trying to slide over the end, making the job even harder than it already is.

How did you get them back off ? I usually wait 'till the hinge breaks ! lol

Here is a hood spring tool and a vidio. The vidio takes a little while to load. Probably 15-20 seconds.

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/miscellaneous/hoodspring.htm
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/miscellaneous/images/InstallSpringsTool.mpg

Nice Guy . Nice Video . Nice use of Floor Jack . Loud Lights . I have no idea whats happening...but I have two Questions...How do you get the tool back off the spring ? and , Isn't the pry bar method faster ? Bonus : try drilling re-bar sometime and see what that crap does to your drill bit lol

"How did you get them back off ? I usually wait 'till the hinge breaks ! lol"

You lower the hood as far as you can (which stretches the spring) and still get Cousin Dave's hand in there and put as many washers in the spring as you can force. It still won't expand it enough to fall off, so you then you have to grab the spring and push down until you stretch it enough so that you can lift the bottom of the spring off the cowl panel. Takes a bit of muscle to get it off (luckily Cousin Dave again). :-)

After another look at the blueprint I understand my confusion . This tool is for '49-'54's not '46-'48's . It's a different hinge set-up altogether . To bad it won't work on earlier models . Who's "Fatso" ?

I bought a set of spring tools from Austin Ott up in Flint. He has made up written directions on their use and they're pretty solid. I review the directions with him and they were vert clear. I suggest contacting Austin as he's one of the Technical Advisors. I think hes for "46 to "48s.

Thanks Mehl , but I'm ever optimistic I'll never f#*k with them springs again...see my recent post in '37-'42 forum , "spare tools " lol

The screrw driver method described works the best, and the fastest! Just use common sense in protecting yourself while doing the job. It really is quite easy!

Oops, I didn't notice the years. They talk about it on ChevyTalk alot on the 49-54 forum, I didn't even think about it. I haven't had to do anything with hood springs, so don't have any experiance with them.

I'm new around here whats ChevyTalk ?

http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/index.php?

It's the second best forum for vintage Chevrolets on the internet!

Wow , Thanks Brewster ! I like it ! Another "site" to keep me from actually "working" on my car ! lol Kevin47

Maybe it is so simple, that some of us that were 15 and 16 year olds back in the early 50s were un-aware of all the problems you newbies are having with the Chevrolet hood springs. We used long screwdrivers and vice grips. If the vice grips weren't tight enough and slipped or the screwdriver slipped, WHAMMMO! ZINGGGG! no big deal, just count the fingers and eyeballs, hunt up the tools and the launched spring and start over. We were some tough little dudes back then, after all WWII was a recent memory...No OSHA, no EPA, no Ralph Nader, No E-85 unleaded or hybrid cars, No TV, No Fox News, No Tea Party, No Socialist, we hung Nazies and electrocuted Commie spys We ate Chinese food and played with American toys, shot Winchester and Remington, and Daisy rifles, Ithaca and Fox shotguns at birds and wild beasts.
We just had Mom & Dad and GOD Almighty looking over us.

I don't know how close the sprig set up on the 41 is to the 48 but, I picked up a tire iron at a u-pull-it yard that has a V grove on the one end that I use. Spray some silcone on the shaft and the spring slide down.

I installed my springs in 3 minutes or less per spring. Get a strap with a non-slip buckle. Put the strap around something on the front suspension such as an A frame member or shock or something in that area. Put the strap through the buckle on the other end of the strap. This will make a giant loop that is around something on the front suspension or in that area. Hook the upper end of the hood spring to the hood in the proper position. Hook the lower end of the hood spring to the strap that you just made a loop with. Tighten the strap which will stretch the spring. The non-slip buckle will keep the strap from loosening. Once the spring is just barely able to be pushed onto the lower attachment point, release the pressure on the strap. Work the strap out from under the hook on the spring and you're done. I promise...3 minutes or less per spring. Here's a picture of a strap that will work. Anything similar will do as long as it has a non-sliping buckle.
http://www.paddlesports.com.au/images/P1020238.jpg

This is much safer than the pry bar or screw driver method.

If you need help, contact me. I'd be glad to talk to you on the phone. I have a 41 chevy and tried for over a week to install my hood springs using all sorts of tools. I'm a whitewater kayaker and have straps laying around everywhere. Who would've thought a $4 strap would do a 3-minute job so easily...

Used this spring tool from Austin Ott on Dad's 46. Worked like a dream and alot safer than other methods....ask me how I know!!!

O.K., I give , how do you know ? lol Really , I'd like to see what they look like 'cause it's hard for me to wrap my brain around . Can it "help" with removal , too ? Thanks , Kevin47