Thanks to reading the Tigers United article (thanks to Steve Laifman's
suggestion) , and speaking to Dan Walters last night and combining the
information, I have now fixed my hood so that it opens and closes better
than ever before. Being the mechanical genius I am, the United article
was a bit complicated for me to follow but I did get a couple of ideas
from it I used. Dan's suggestion, which I highly recommend, was to
unscrew the spring assembly on the hood as far out as it will go before
attempting re-adjustment of the mechanisims. The idea, which worked out
perfectly, is that the spring assembly , adjusted out all the way, holds
the hood up enough so you can see how everything is alligned (use a
flashlight, etc.), before you attempt closing it and maybe making a big
mistake (and not being able to get it open again).
I then took masking tape and covered the receptor hole in the car body
(in the heater core cover), and gently layed the hood down so the spring
assembly on the hood pokes through the masking tape. Lift the hood back
up and see if the spring assembly is hitting exactly in the center of
the receptor hole, and adjust it until it does (using new masking tape
every time). It's a very delicate, and hit and miss proposition until
you get it right, taking numerous back and forth adjustments of the
spring assembly.
Two things I found that need to be checked repeatedly as you adjust are
that if the spring assembly aligns (when you close the hood) too far
back (toward the windshield), the "disc" at the end of the spring
assembly (on the hood) catches in the "latch" inside the receptor hole
in the car body (the little piece inside the receptor hole that pulls
back, toward the car body, when you pull the hood release lever in the
car). This prevents the spring from lifting the hood up when you pull
the hood release handle. This didn't end up being too serious as I
played with it as even when it caught, a bit of wiggling of the hood
released it. On the other hand, if the spring assembly is aligned too
far forward (toward the front of the car), the "hook" piece on the
spring assembly (the almost flat piece that the spring assembly tightens
down onto when you screw it into the hood) may not release from the
external latch on the car body (the little "hook" piece that pivots
forward, toward the front of the car, when you pull the hood release
handle inside the car). This could be a lot more serious as if that hook
can't pivot far enough forward (toward the front of the car) to release
from the "hook" piece on the spring assembly....... the hood may indeed
be stuck closed.
Which brings us back to Dan's suggestion of making sure the spring
assembly is screwed out far enough so you can see in there to see how
things align.
I hope this makes sense as it is still a bit complicated on paper, but
it works. My hood now closes easily (before I had to really shove it
down to do so), and opens easily too, and lifts up about 3/4 inch (on
one side, anyway) so it's easy to grab the edge and lift it up.
The final thing to check before you take my above advice is that all
your latch hardware is there and not broken. The pictures on the Tigers
united site, and other locations, are good to compare your Tiger (or
Alpine) with.
Steve Sage
Tiger MK1A
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