Hello All,

I've a lot of little projects and fixes on the old 120, this is a plus as I get stuck on one; I get to move on the the other! The hood won't close. I've not adjusted or moved a thing on the front end. The hood is semi open as it would be if you pulled the pull for the hood latch. I check the the pull and it seemed fine. I checked the latch in the nose, and it was moving well enough. The pull on the inside is now broken. and the wire has a kink in it.

Any solutions so I can pass inspection? I never had a problem with the latch, before I swapped out the metal nose that was pushed in- for a fiberglass one; but I don't know if it makes a difference.

thanks in advance,
greendread

Have you considered taking the car to a body shop, one that has experience with older cars, not one that lives off insurance wrecks. Here's a place that helped me that's not to far from you, www.cartalk.com/pa/easton/150339/yankee-trading-company. Not saying they can fix it but another pair of eyes might be helpful.
Here's the # I have for them, c2005 610-559-1750. I went there to see just how a front over-rider bar was mounted. They were doing a very acceptable job restoring a 122 wagon at the time.

Thanks they sold and closed a few years ago

Yankee Trading went out of business a few years back. Jay was planning on moving to Thailand.

They still came up on a web search, sorry for the bad info.

Hello All,

Hello All,

I removed and adjusted the nose till the hood got close to closed. There is zero rubber under the hood. I took a picture of the latch with the pull wire on- It is the same with the hood pull wire in. The latch is fully closed. during reassembly I found that the lower right side of the nose is warped and will not go back in place, I want to force the issue, but I don't ant to break the fiberglass. I removed one of the bolts to the latch to make adjustment easier. PB Blaster did not work in unfreezing the hood pin, nor did the vise and torch. I believe that the pin is going too far into the latch and nose to lock as it should.

I am willing to buy another hood latch, I don't want to get into another nose piece. I have to dented steel ones in my closet already. I guess if I can't fin a solution I can sell the thre I have to offset the $700 OE nose

https://www.brickboard.com/GALLERY/images/11639.jpg

The sliding plate looks different to mine which is a bit strange. The original set-up had a small rubber buffer on each end of the hood and these do keep it a bit above the front panel so there shouldn't be a very close fit. I'd remove both the top and bottom parts of the lock and do a total clean and lube on the bench. The lock nut for the top one can seize but a thin wrench will fit inside the spring. Holding the adjuster with a screwdriver at the same time can be difficult too but easier if off the car.
How bad are your bent metal ones? The commonly dented centre section can usually be pulled out if not too bad.

I usually use the html copy/paste from Photobucket but that seems not to work now otherwise there would be a picture of my lower lock. Sorry.

Hello Derek,


I don't know what you mean by sliding plate? Maybe this is the rub?! I took off every bit of rubber hoping to see the hand up. The lock nut has beaten two wrenches a can of pb blaster and a blow torch. At this point I am not against buying a new one from VP. The two nose sections I have are toast. The body shop I was working with said neither would be worth fixing. I have seen folks cut and form new steel for them, but they were clearly not lazy people.

Thanks

gd

The sliding plate I mean is the piece that is pushed aside by the cone on the top piece before it snaps back behind it. In your case this isn't happening as far as I can make out from your posts. If you put some sellotape over the bottom part and a spot of paint on the tip of the cone you'll be able to see if they are out of line.

I would think you would be able to extend the pin portion on the hood side of the latch assembly.
It's nothing more than loosening the locknut at the base, unscrewing the pin as required for a proper close and then re-tightening the locknut.

But first get your cable replaced.
--
"Differences of opinions should be tolerated, but not if they're too different' - Sharon Craig

Thanks for the reply,

I tried that, used a torch too. It wouldn't budge. I pulled the hood release wire off the latch on the nose, and nothing. It looks like the pin on the hood goes too far down to catch the latch at the nose.

This us strange. I'll try and post some photos.

Thanks greendread

Swapping the nose is probably the source of your problem. A fine adjustment of the latch part on the hood itself will more than likely remedy the situation. But I guess now you have to replace the cable.