VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 hood not secure

I have a 47 sedan and have had many miles of great driving . But now I cannot keep the hood latched. I have adjusted it before and had no problems. Any ideas is the latch just old like me.

Please tell us the extent of your previous adjustments. Was it the Hood Lock Plate, the Hood Latch Control, or the Hood Locking Mechanism that you have adjusted? Have you checked your manual for advice? Be careful to not mess with the locking mechanism to the extent that the hood will not release. The 41 latch is not accessible through the grill so it requires removing the inner fender the horn is mounted on. This is very time consuming. I hope the 47 locking mechanism is not that hard to access with the hood stuck in the down position.

Good luck, Mike

P.S. Have you made adjustments to your hood alignment, or any front sheet metal, since the hood last locked properly?

Thanks for the reply. I have been adjusting the nut and bolt mechanism on the hood itself up and down. In the past that seemed to solve the problem. Now it shuts but if I go over any bumps in the road it will release itself. I will check the manual.

Although I have no experience with these years of cars, I wonder if the hood latch cable is sticking and not allowing the latch to fully grab the hood bolt. If you can reach it, try spraying some lubricant (like JB Blaster) into the cable housing and on the pivot point of the latch.

Cheers, Dean

I had the same problem on my 47 and ended up putting another latch plate on. That fixed it. Wondering why, I looked closely at the one I took off and concluded the piece that catches the hood pin was worn down from years of the hood pin rubbing across the end when the hood was being closed. It was barely going into the pin groove so any flexing of the hood, fenders, etc. caused it to unlatch. The difference in the two pieces was not great but apparently enough in my case. Good luck in solving your problem.

dick

Try moving the hood latch plate forward. There should be enough play to do that.

This was the advice I received when my 41 hood kept unlatching same as you roport on yours. Moving the latch plate forward took care of the problem.

Good luck,
Charlie

1946 Front End


I think the problem is caused by the latch mechanism (see arrow in first picture). The control cable could be out of adjustment so the the latch doesn't close all the way as shown in the second picture. The third picture shows the hood locking mechanism which is attached to the HOOD. There are 4 screws/nuts that hold it in place This must also align with the HOOD LOCK PLATE which is attached to the sheet metal in front of the radiator. It is also held on by 4 screws/nuts. If these plates are out of alignment then the large bolt shown in the first picture will not seat correctly. The fourth picture shows a spring that could be missing or broken. this spring may not be visible (depending on the year of your Hood Lock Plate). You will need to access it by removing the Hood Lock Plate. It provides tension on the hood latch control.

Likewise, if the large bolt is too tightly adjusted it will not stick down far enough in the oval hole it rests in when the hood is closed.

Good luck, Mike

P.S. 1st check the length of the large bolt (do you have it so tight it is not long enough. 2nd check the control cable adjustment. 3rd check the alignment of the two plates holding the lock mechanism. The two plates shouldn't need adjustment unless the hood or front sheet metal (grill,fenders, etc.) have been removed and reinstalled.

There is a possibility you cable spring is worn out ???...The one in the last picture

Following the service manual instructions I left the latching plate loose then gently closed the hood letting the hood pin center the plate. raised the hood and tightened the 4 screws. The hood still would unlatch itself. I changed plates and followed the same procedures toward centering the plate and the unlatching problem went away.
I suppose there is enough tolerance had I just moved the original plate forward a bit and maybe that would have cured my problem also.

dick

As mentioned before what ever you do,do not lock yourself out...The hood opening on its own is a much smaller problem then it not opening at all

The latch on my '46 started doing that last year and no matter how I adjusted it I could not get it to stay latched. Thank goodness for the safety latch! Anyway, my issue was the spring that holds the catch onto pin had weakened after 60+ years. I had another latch and swapped springs to see if it was the spring, problem solved.

Glad to hear your sucsess

I'm not sure about that. I guessing you've never had a hood completely open at 60 mph! I can look back on it now and laugh, but it was quite an eye opener when it happened.

Safety latch did not work???

FYI, The safety latch has a spring on it. If it is broken then the latch will not work. I have an extra hood latch plate (plate attaches to the hood) that had a broken spring. I made up a new spring from springs I bought from Ace Hardware.

Checkout the 3rd post
Hood Hinges

Good luck, Mike

No, that was when I discovered that the tip of the safety latch was worn or broken. Hood went straight up, Then slammed down when I stopped. Bent the back edge of the hood when it hit the cowl and also dented each side if the cowl.

I guess I be corrected....Not good