1972 Eldorado need to slam hood to latch

[Bpeterson]

Hi, does anyone know what the adjustment....if there is one.... to make the hood latch catch when not slammed down.  I took the bottom latch off and cleaned and oiled but that did not make a difference. Maybe need to remove the top part (if it can be removed) and adjust.... if there is an adjustment.  Only latches when slammed down. Thanks!!

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Have a good look at the mechanism, as there is a number of catches that maintain the closure.  Meaning, that as the hood goes down that last little bit, there is a short rack of teeth that grab and lock.  You will need a torch (Flashlight) to see, but you can operate the lever by hand, and release it by operate it from underneath.

If the hood only catches on the first tooth, then the locking assembly is set too low down, or the hook too high.   With mine, when I close the hood softly, I can press it down by hand, and it clicks once or twice as the locking ratchet engages deeper down.

Sorry about the clarity, or lack of clarity of my pictures, but it is a bit dusty back there after a half a century of not being cleaned.

The teeth are strong, as is the operating spring.

Bruce.

[TJ Hopland]

When you release the hood does it pop up on its own or do you need to be lifting as the release is pulled?    The reason I ask this is with these cars usually that is a problem, they don't pop up when released.  If yours pops I would suspect someone did something to add more spring power and maybe its this possibly too much spring power that is causing your issue.

[Bpeterson]

Thanks Bruce and TJ for your comments and suggestions...really appreciate it! My  latch seems to be the same as Bruce's pictures.  TJ the hood does release but does not pop up.... it stays even with the body. The latch seems to operate normal when I operate it by hand with the hood up.  I tried moving the latch side to side and even put washers in between body and latch.  Neither helped.  Since the hood needs to be slammed to latch seems the latch needs to go up but no way to do that and the upper part where latch hooks to hood seems to be welded in.  I did notice there were marks above the springs so maybe someone removed the hood at some time.  Also the hood is a bit high where it meets the body near the windshield.  Maybe the hood needs to be adjusted...is that hard to do?  Hopefully the pictures will help.  Thanks!

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

What I did with my car to enable the spring to raise the hood when opening was to put a shock absorber rubber under it.   It just sits there.   When the hood is down, the spring pressure keeps it there, and when it is up, it just sits there.

Bruce.

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

A new spring works a WHOLE LOT better
Greg Surfas

[TJ Hopland]

What happens if you just set the hood down so it rests on the latch? Look at the side to side alignment with the fenders.  I'm just wondering about the alignment between the hood and the latch.  Can you peek up and see the pin and latch?  If you can't see it can you place a camera in the area and see it?

You may be able to get some clues as to the alignment by looking for wear marks on the latch and pin.  If you can't see any marks you could try adding something like grease or paint to see where things are hitting. 

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

Another thing to check is the straightness of the "tye bar" the lower latch attaches to. If the vehicle had been in an accident where the front end damage included the tye bar, it may need to be further straightened.
Greg Surfas

[J. Skelly]

From the looks of the hood, fender and door edges, the car appears to have had some minor accident damage since it was built.  The hoods never seemed to fit just right on these cars. 

Is the hood release from the inside of the car working properly?  The cable has a tendency to stretch over years of use.  On my '71, I had to adjust the cable slack under the hood where the cable connects to the latch.   Slack in the cable could be interfering with the proper operation of the latch assembly.