hood straightening

[mikeh]

Thanks Bob! 

[shelbymann1970]

No springs here either (original hood & fenders)
I use a short piece of chain between the spring mounting points on the hinges, holds the hood open great!
I'm sure there is a cleaner/nicer way to do it but NO SPRINGS!!

I think it was Bob who mentioned using the chains before to me. Great idea. I found though that I could install the light tension springs by hand so I went that route instead of cutting and making a chain setup since I already had the springs. Gary

[shelbymann1970]

No springs here either (original hood & fenders)
I use a short piece of chain between the spring mounting points on the hinges, holds the hood open great!
I'm sure there is a cleaner/nicer way to do it but NO SPRINGS!!

NICE fitting hood. I do NOT use a prop rod at shows. only use it to mount my low tension springs or if I am working on it at home. I generally show my car with the hood closed anyways since the cars should be shown in their natural state. 

[mikeh]

I was fortunate that when I bought my car in 2002 it had been sitting for many years without springs, I sure that made a big difference over one that is already bowed.

[shelbymann1970]

I was fortunate that when I bought my car in 2002 it had been sitting for many years without springs, I sure that made a big difference over one that is already bowed.

I stored my car at a friends house many years ago and had the low tension springs on it. When I visited 4 months later my hood was BOWED. It freaked me out. I removed the springs and my hood settled back straight.

[Bob Gaines]

No springs here either (original hood & fenders)
I use a short piece of chain between the spring mounting points on the hinges, holds the hood open great!
I'm sure there is a cleaner/nicer way to do it but NO SPRINGS!!

I think it was Bob who mentioned using the chains before to me. Great idea. I found though that I could install the light tension springs by hand so I went that route instead of cutting and making a chain setup since I already had the springs. Gary

The problem with the light tension springs on 69/70 is that sometimes (not all of the time) you have a light breeze that is just enough to cause the hood to slam down. That is why I prefer the chain over the light tension springs when displaying the car. The light tension springs are OK for short open times but you have to be careful the hood doesn't slam on someones head when displaying a car at a car show. Not good for the person and not good for the hood. this is as it pertains to 69/70 hoods. 67 all fiberglass hoods are lighter and using two of the light tension springs is not typically a problem although it could be under the right conditions. FYI the heavier 67 hoods with the steel innerstructure used 2 of the regular Mustang springs because those hoods were heavier. 66 used a different looking light tension spring but typically light one on one side and a regular Mustang one on the other.

[SCJSTU]

No springs here either (original hood & fenders)
I use a short piece of chain between the spring mounting points on the hinges, holds the hood open great!
I'm sure there is a cleaner/nicer way to do it but NO SPRINGS!!

Got a picture?

[6s2055]

At SAAC 27 was visiting with a long time (retired) Shelby employee...thing his name was referred to as "tweety". He was a painter I think. We were discussing hood bows on a '67 GT500 I was restoring at the time..#0195. Anyway, he said that was always a problem because of the springs and to remove the bow, remove the springs, place a blanket on the hood and then put sand bags from Home Depot on each edge for 3-5 days. That worked! Sold the car later so don't know if it held up but it was ok for at least two months!

[shelbymann1970]

No springs here either (original hood & fenders)
I use a short piece of chain between the spring mounting points on the hinges, holds the hood open great!
I'm sure there is a cleaner/nicer way to do it but NO SPRINGS!!

I think it was Bob who mentioned using the chains before to me. Great idea. I found though that I could install the light tension springs by hand so I went that route instead of cutting and making a chain setup since I already had the springs. Gary

The problem with the light tension springs on 69/70 is that sometimes (not all of the time) you have a light breeze that is just enough to cause the hood to slam down. That is why I prefer the chain over the light tension springs when displaying the car. The light tension springs are OK for short open times but you have to be careful the hood doesn't slam on someones head when displaying a car at a car show. Not good for the person and not good for the hood. this is as it pertains to 69/70 hoods. 67 all fiberglass hoods are lighter and using two of the light tension springs is not typically a problem although it could be under the right conditions. FYI the heavier 67 hoods with the steel innerstructure used 2 of the regular Mustang springs because those hoods were heavier. 66 used a different looking light tension spring but typically light one on one side and a regular Mustang one on the other.

Thanks Bob .I never ran into that problem luckily and take note so it doesn't happen in the future. I show my car with the hood closed or when the springs are on it is less than half open and if someone want to see the engine better i'll open it up farther. I like the natural look at car shows with the hoods down on cars. Gary

[csheff]

I used the chains on my 67 and works very well. U must remember u have them on before trying to close the hood.

[mikeh]

Pics of my chains. I put piece of heater hose on to keep them from beating everything up so bad.
Like I said, probably a better way to do it but this works great.

fwiw Mike

[SCJSTU]

Good stuff fellas......

BTW.......my 69 hood was badly bowed with stock springs........removed springs........put towels on both sides of hood

Put 2 -40 lb bags of potting soil on top.........left car outside in 95 degree heat all day and now hood is perfectly flat

[2112]

Do you leave the chain hanging on the hinge while driving?

(Second picture prompted the question)

[Rodster-500]

Just for conversations sake imagine, removing your hood from your car, now you will have two hood hinges in the up position with the spring in normal resting position. Now push the hood hinge down (the position it would be in if you had a closed hood) the spring would be stretched, but would stay down on it own, since its designed to rest in this position causing NO LOAD?or Pressure on the hood what so ever! So can you explain to me how the springs put pressure on the hood when its in the closed positions? My thought is that since the hood is fastened at the front by the hood latch and fastened at the rear with the hood hinges, the upward pressure of the air cleaner seal is the only thing pushing up on the hood and with the heat maybe the real issue? plus possibly that pressure of closing the hood too, when the springs are being stretched!

Interesting. I always thought this might be the case since the hood doesn't fly open when you release the latch. It does pop so maybe there is some load or pressure?

What's a good source for the low tension hood spring for a 69?


Also anyone got pictures of how they use a hood prop?

Thanks

I made a nice safe prop rod from PVC pipe.

No springs here either (original hood & fenders)
I use a short piece of chain between the spring mounting points on the hinges, holds the hood open great!
I'm sure there is a cleaner/nicer way to do it but NO SPRINGS!!

This works well too.

[mikeh]

Do you leave the chain hanging on the hinge while driving?

(Second picture prompted the question)

Yes, I leave chains hanging, the heater hoses help keep them from scraping everything up.
The chains were originally going to be temporary until I came up with something nicer (plastic coated cables maybe?), but we all know how that goes!