Pre-war (up to 1942) '39 LaSalle hood latch adjustment UPDATE

[tcom2027]

Good morning.

After taking off the shroud over the radiator and replacing it I can't get the latch to go over center all the way and lock. I didn't do anything to the latch on the shroud, just R&R'ed it. It's been on and off several times with no problem. I did try moving the latch fore and aft with no effect. Do I have to mess with the adjustments on each side underneath?

THe safety latch engages fine.

I don't have a body manual for the '39 so if anyone has something out of a manual showing how to adjust it and is willing to scan it and email me a copy, I would appreciate it.

And..... I HATE that damn shroud! I know it's part of controlling under hood temperatures by directing air flow in a  confined (for the thirties) area. 

tony

[Tom Boehm]

I looked in the 1939-1940 Fisher body manual and there is nothing about hoods in there. That is a Lasalle only mechanism and the book only talks about parts like doors and seats that are common to all 1939 GM B bodies.

I'm sure someone with a 1939 Lasalle will chime in.

[Warren Rauch #4286]

   I'm afraid I can't help,Just some general information.
 The fisher body manuals and Fisher Body Service News (Bulletins) only deal with the body they made. The chassis sheet metal parts ( Hood,fenders, running boards,grille,etc) are covered in the  Cadillac repair manuals and Chassis parts books. The body parts are covered in the Body Parts books thru the 40s.
   I checked the 1939 Shop manual and Serviceman issues. Shop only covers adjustments to aligning the  hood to the body,nothing on the latch. Serviceman nothing. This is a surprise,since the 41-47 latches had a lot of attention in the Serviceman.

Warren

[tcom2027]

Thank you Tom and Warren,

I've owned a '37 LaS, a '40 60 Special and 2 '41s over the years and never had a similar problem. THe '40 took a lot of effort to latch and unlatch, however it was something I could live with.

I have the '39 LaSalle manual, but my Serviceman  bulletins only go back to  '40.

I couldn't find anything searching the club site either. I guess I'll be spending some quality time getting it to know the latch better. Good news is it won't be as hard as replacing the fuel pump.


tony

[LaSalle5019]

That triangular shroud can be a pain to get setup right. When I've removed it I always mark it with respect to the mating parts so it goes back on exactly as the screw holes are slotted. The two rods that tie back to the firewall also help establish location to get the front end sheet metal all lined up. When I took the front end off my car I used some trial and error to get all the fits lined back up, including the hood latch.

That all said, besides adjusting fore/aft, I adjusted the cross bar up/down to get it to latch with the correct pull down force and get the over center to feel right.

[tcom2027]

Good morning Scott,

I had the rods off, and attached  the rods with the shroud installed so there is no tension on the shroud. I'm about to raise the crossbar.

What is confusing is I R&R'ed the shroud several times and it latched properly every  time I reinstalled it. Moving the latch fore and aft hasn't helped, so I am going to  start over and set it where it was when all this started and try adjusting the crossbar height.

[tcom2027]

Good evening,

I got the hood latch adjusted. Wasn't very hard just a little tedious.
I removed the latch and got the up/down adjustment bolts freed up along with chasing the threads on the hold down nuts.

THe up down is adjusted by loosening the 3/4" nut, holding it and using a 7/16" wrench to turn the center bolt that looks like it should be a socket head but isn't. It has flats on it, requiring q 7/16" wrench to turn. The flats are hard to see. Hold the big nut and turn the inner screw to adjust the height. As the inner nut is turned the shaft will rise or fall. I started with a basic setting of about a quarter inch depth and went from there. Count the turns as you go up or down until the desired tension on the upper latch snaps over center.

THe 3/4" nuts are thin and using a standard wrench on them makes it virtually impossible to get a standard 7/16" wrench on the flats of the inner screw. If you have tappet wrenches it's a lot easier. I happen to have a set so I didn't have much of a problem with that, although they would have benefited from thinning. Most mechanics working in the prewar years and thereafter had tappet wrenches. Ideal thickness is .200", which is just under a quarter inch. A standard open end ot box end wrench can be ground down however. It doesn't have to be perfect. You aren't working on the space shuttle.

Raising the latch makes unlatching and latching easier. Lowering the latch makes it harder. Your choice. Centering the back and forth in the center of travel worked for me. 

Years ago when I was at a show in Sonoma California I was looking over a '41 Cad convertible coupe with the owner and when he lowered the hood the ornament almost latched itself. It took very little effort to latch or unlatch it. He said it never unlatched while driving or when parked on uneven ground. He said he tested it by parking with one rear wheel on the to of a curb and the others along the curb. The hood stayed latched. I would have preferred a little tighter.

I hope this is understandable and helps. Again, thanks to all who responded.

tony