68 Hood hinge

[shelbydoug]

I apparently made a mistake in judgement by lubricating my hood hinges?

Now the hood sticks up in the back and won't go all the way down.

The joints are nice and tight on the hinges and the little lube put on them makes them smooth as silk.

I'm thinking that this is a spring issue like they are regular Mustang hinge springs? How do I tell the low tension springs from the standard Mustang spring? 

Are there other issues that cause this besides the spring?

[Coralsnake]

The 1968 springs are the same as the Mustang springs.

Did you take the hinge off?

[shelbydoug]

Yes I did. I set the hinge lower to try to compensate.

I elongated the bolt holes further to set the hinge lower but it made it worse.

Branda has the 67 and 8's listed together as low tension springs.

[Corey Bowcutt]

I have a similar issue so anxious to hear how it gets resolved.

Just a thought, if lowering the hinge made it worse did you try raising it and see if it gets better?

[shelbydoug]

I have a similar issue so anxious to hear how it gets resolved.

Just a thought, if lowering the hinge made it worse did you try raising it and see if it gets better?

No. It seems illogical though.

[Coralsnake]

There was no oem/low tension spring. Its a figment of your catalog vendors imagination.


Resolve the issue by applying slight upward pressure on the front of the hood while fully opened.

You will need help to tighten the boltss and cock the hood hinges at the same time

[shelbydoug]

There was no oem/low tension spring. Its a figment of your catalog vendors imagination.


Resolve the issue by applying slight upward pressure on the front of the hood while fully opened.

You will need help to tighten the boltss and cock the hood hinges at the same time

I stay away from fooling with anyone else's imagination. I have enough issue with my own.

That procedure sounds strange? Do you have an instructional video on your site?

If you lift up an open hood, how do you know when its down in back?

[Corey Bowcutt]

Did not seem logical that lowering it would make it worse either but it seems it did?  I have not tried correcting mine yet and have not studied the kinematics but if I understand Pete's instructions it sounds like the idea is to rotate the hinges a little as apposed to translating them up or down?  Again anxious to see how it gets resolved.

[kjspeed]

I have the same issue, but only on the passenger side. After closing the hood I just push down on the passenger side above the hinge and it settles back down (somewhat). I was just writing it off to fiberglass irregularities. Let me know if adjusting like Pete recommends does the trick for you. ~Kevin

[shelbydoug]

It's a strange setup. You actually need to rotate the hinge assembly to raise or lower it. The enter line of the hinge is not on center by design.

[67350#1242]

The rotation is such that the rear of the hinge becomes lower than the front.

[Bob Gaines]

I apparently made a mistake in judgement by lubricating my hood hinges?

Now the hood sticks up in the back and won't go all the way down.

The joints are nice and tight on the hinges and the little lube put on them makes them smooth as silk.

I'm thinking that this is a spring issue like they are regular Mustang hinge springs? How do I tell the low tension springs from the standard Mustang spring? 

Are there other issues that cause this besides the spring?

It sounds like it is not a lubrication problem but a hinge adjustment problem given the description of what you did. Yes regular Mustang springs on 68 and 69 from the factory.

[TLea]

The adjustment procedure is counter intuitive, you want the back of the hinge to roll as the front drops

[shelbydoug]

I know I've done this before, just forgot the specifics. I've always got the old ball peen hammer to beat the hood down into place if all else fails.

I've noticed that the spacing on 68s between the door and the fender is greater then on the 67s consistently. I'm wondering if Smith screwed with that to get the hood to fit. It always seemed a little big for the stock space provided?