VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Sagging hood 53 Chevy

Guys, this topic may have been covered but my hood has been bothering me for a few years now. It does not stay completely in the upright position. I bought new correct stainless springs a while back from Chevs of the 40s, and they were installed with that special tool, but the guy who painted my car said the hood was too stiff and just flew up, so he oiled the the moving parts of the hinges.
One hinge has always been a bit wonky as you need to gently move the hood to the right each time to close it. Also bought 4 shoulder bolts but haven't used them on the hinges, not sure if they will make any difference or not. Anyone have any ideas before I remove the springs ?

Sounds like worn or bent hinges causing it to be "wonky".

Hi all,I just did the same thing to my car using the 49-54 springs.I was told that those would work the same,I'm not sure.My hinges aren't "wonky",but I am wondering if that is the next step.I just may live with it,that hood is extremely heavy and I don't want to damage the car in the process.I would hate to go to all the trouble and swap out the hinges and still have the same issue.any ideas?

Is the hood undercoated. Most dealers undercoated the under side of the hood and it added a lot of weight to the hood....The 1949-54 hoods were far from being heavy in their natural state.

The hood on my 1951 Chevrolet is not only undercoated but the dealer also added thick insulation under the hood as well. The hood on that car weighs a ton but amazingly the hood hinges still keep the hood open.......but not as high they should because of the excessive weight.

:) :grin:

It has been my experience that on the 53 and 54 cars, when opening the hood - it goes 'way up to the top of its travel, and then settles about 8" or a foot, where it stays open.

This also makes it especially convenient to whack you head on the pointed edge of the hood.....

I don't think I ever saw one that stayed up - all the way up.

Yes,there is a lot of undercoat sprayed under the hood,I'll just put the old springs back on and live with it.Incedtly,there is quite a bit of undercoat all over the bottom of the car.I guess the original owner had the dealer spray it when it was purchased.Maybe that's why the car has absolutley no rust on it...go figure the stuff really worked!! For what it's worth the car had always been garaged and babied all of its' life even though it has seen 10 different owners.Each owner also documented anything they did to it,so there are few mysteries.Thanks again for all the posts!!

Yes Chevy Guru is right, the hood goes all the way up and then settles down about a foot. So how did mechanics back in the 50s work on the motor ? I use a broom handle to prop it up to the maximum position. For the other questions, yes my hood has the factory underspray black bitumin, but my friend has a 52 chev and his hood stays up all the way. Perhaps the 49-52 cars had a better design hinges & springs.

The left side lower hinge rivet is a bit wider and looser than the other side, so that may be why I need to adjust the hood to the right each time I close it.

I also noticed that different suppliers sell different springs. Filling Station have black ones, Chevs of the 40s have chrome ones. Whether they are tensioned differently I don't know

Tony,I'm with you on the broom handle,although I would rather not use it and have the hood stay up by itself.I was wondering also if the hood ornament added to the problem,my 210 has the optional bird instead of the "rocket".Any idea of the weight differential between the two??

Yes I know what you mean about the broom handle Dave, I would prefer not to use one either. I wouldn't imagine the extra weight of the bird would make that much difference, you could try removing it completely then seing if the hood stays open, I don't really think that is the problem. I actually think it is the springs that vary, with some of these reproduction ones at a different tension than the originals. I think my original springs actually held the hood up better than those polished stainless ones.

Hi, I am getting in on this conversation kinda late. Have we lubricated the pivot/moveable parts of the hinges? When properly adjusted the hood will strike at the required spot to catch the latch. Several items may be loosened and adjusted to accomplish this cure.

The hood on the 1949-1952 opened the same distance. The hood on my '50 drops down also. They did that when new.For certain jobs the mechanics use a broom handle.
The undercoating actually attracted rust. The salt water would get behind the undercoating and spread rust. Big chunks of U.C. would fall off and the rusted metal was still stuck behind it. Your 1953 must have lead a very sheltered life. The proper was to undercoat was to spray on a very thin coat. Some "sprayers" thought they were doing the customer a favor by applying a heavy coat. In the winter they would coat over the salt slush and all.
If it were possible to tie a few coils together it would make the springs stronger.

Thanks for the tip Ray. Yes the pivots and moveable parts are all lubricated. I haven't actually done any adjusting to the hinges. The guy who painted my car was a professional bodyman/restorer, and he couldn't adjust it right, or maybe he didn't try. I am assuming the loosening and adjusting is done where the hinge meets the hood. Hopefully I won't have to remove the spring to do this job. I will also have a look in the manual to see what it says about the adjustments. Just for the record I noticed that the Filling station sell original style large hood rivets (not the shoulder bolts). Flaring these on the removed hinge doesn't look like a fun job though.

Guys, I finally found a good tight pair of 53-54 hood hinges with no slop, had them cleaned and painted black and am now attempting to fix the problem which was a worn right side causing misalignment when closing hood. I managed to get the spring off with the special tool and used two radiator clamps to hold it there, although this tool didn't stretch it enough so I had to wedge a chisel into the top coil to get extra stretch before it managed to come off the hinge whilst holding the hood in extreme open position.

My question is with the adjustment at the cowl now that I have installed the new right hinge ( I haven't replaced the left side yet).

When I close the hood now the top right corner touches the inside of the cowl just under the beltline moulding and is touching at the closed position (chipped paint slightly). It didn't touch with the sloppy original hinge. I did notice there is some slight adjustment at the hinge bolts ( up/down and left/right ).
Which way would I have to move the hinge to bring the top corner forward slightly when opening and closing ? I'm hoping the minor adjustment would be enough to stop the corner from touching. I realise I need to remove the spring again to adjust the hinge.

Hi Tony,

Now isn't a great time to mention this (I just noticed this thread), but I don't think black is correct for the 53/54 hood hinges.  I don't suppose that's your biggest concern.    I believe they're supposed to be 'silver' - natural - whatever you'd call it.  I've always painted them with my old stand-by of "dull aluminum."  I don't mean to cause you anymore hassles, just thought I'd mention it.

Bill.

Hi Tony,

I think you will be able to do the adjustment with the springs installed. If you have any slack in the bolts, just experiment until you get the proper fit. If the hood is too close to the cowl, move the hood out.

Bill, yes I realise they are supposed to be an aluminium colour but I wasn't too fussed about that.

Ray- I loosened all the bolts but there doesn't seem to be much slack left, so was unable to bring hood forward enough. That is with the spring on.

The Chevrolet Service News says you should adjust with the springs off. Perhaps I may have got more movement out of the hood this way. I don't know. I ended up having to slightly trim the curved end of the hood with a file and touch it up so that it didn't touch the cowl. Although it is still very close. The bodyman that did my car a while back had to trim the straight end of the other side before paint or it would have been touching.

Hi,

That is not normal. The two bolts on each side and on the hood should allow any movement needed.

It may be that the car (hood) has suffered a bad experience and has the hood and hinges out of line.

Ray,

Do you think I should have removed the spring on the left side and installed both hinges loosely before attempting the adjustments ? I was planning on replacing the hinges one at a time so only replaced the right side thinking that the gap on the left side cowl is acceptable. Didn't think it was also necessary to remove the left spring and do the hood adjustment using both hinges. I am now thinking of another attempt at this and remove both springs, replace the other hinge, both loose enough to move, then close the hood on a large sheet covering the cowl and see if I can pull the hood forward slightly. I also noticed that there is a washer under the top bolt of the left hinge to bring it out slightly. Could have been there from new or put there later to compensate for the bad one on the other sude. Perhaps I should also remove the latch at the top of the grill in order to get it forward. It really only needs about 1/4 inch or a bit less.

You are right my hood is warped. The right side is a good fit on the cowl seal, then the back of the hood progressively goes higher at the drivers side and doesn't sit down on the seal at that end. The engine heat over the last 50 years must have warped it as there has not been any collision damage to the hood and the hinges were straight except for the looseness in the one I removed.

It is best to adjust the hinges by moving the hinges and retightening the bolts. Though it does not look good washers or shims can be installed between hinges and body. The factories had to use shims on many of the bodies to get a reasonably good fit.

Another option: If you force the hinge open further than it wants to go it will bend the hinge and lower the rear of the hood when closed. If you are careful you can "adjust" one side that way without effecting the other side. Watch the other side carefully so you don't nick the fender or cowl with the edge of the hood.

For others, If you need to raise the back of a hood place a wooden block between the part of the hinge bolted to the hood and the cowl and fire wall and pull down on the front of the hood (like you are closing it). Make sure the board is padded and wide enough to not dent the cowl and not too thick so you can nearly close the hood. Take out the board and check often so you don't raise it too much. If you only have a board on one side the other will tend to move over toward the fender. Take precautions so you don't scratch the edges.