Jack W. Drews wrote:
If your extra hood release gadget is the kind where you bolt a little
crank-shaped piece to the side of the hood latch bracket and drop a
wire straight down through the firewall, then the problem could very
well be that when you tried it, the crank went over-center (too far
to the cowl side) and has locked the latch trigger in place.
Being a supplier of this hood release kit, I think I should expand on this a
bit. Yes, the emergency release lever that I supply (or you make yourself from
Joe Cannon's instructions) can sometimes be pulled "over-center", but at a
point well past the point where the factory latch would have released the
bonnet. Once it passes this point, the emergency lever will continue to rotate
down out of the way, and the factory latch will return to it's "latched"
position. If by some strange circumstance you happen to get the release lever
and the factory latch "balanced" or "locked together", you'll have a situation
where the "extra hood release gadget" will be holding the latch open, not
closed. A good tug on the release rod will pull it free and allow the factory
latch to return to the closed position, provided you have used something more
substantial than a piece of thin wire for the release rod (my kits use a .125"
stainless steel rod).
This situation might occur if the attachment bolt is left too loose, allowing
the release lever to "walk" around a bit. You can tighten this bolt too much
and cause the lever to bind, but too loose can be equally problematic. A more
likely cause is that the bolt hole is in the wrong location (and you may recall
that Uncle Jack mentioned repositioning the bolt hole on his to reduce the
chances of this happening). The "crank-shaped" release lever needs to be
positioned such that it rests "snugly" against the lower and front edges of the
original hood latch, and the large radius of the release lever must not extend
below the lower edge of the original hood latch bracket before you drill the
hole. If you allow the lever to drop away from the bottom of the latch or
below the bottom of the factory latch bracket, the pivot hole will quickly move
to a point where it becomes easier for the emergency release to go over center.
If you miss this "sweet spot" for the bolt hole location,
then a "stop bolt" placed back by the release rod will provide a quick remedy.
I have changed the installation instructions provided with my kits to stress
the importance of this hole location, and a stainless steel "stop bolt" will be
provided in the future for added peace of mind.
Anyone who has already purchased one of my kits and would like a stainless
steel stop bolt (and nut) can send me an e-mail and I'll send them out free of
charge.
Mark Macy
Macy's Garage
New Carlisle, OH
www.macysgarage.com
'57 TR3 TS16942LO
'57 TR3 TS17734L
'61 TR4 CT675L
'62 TR4 CT611L
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