Hood Spring Installation - 1954 Pontiac
I came across a posting on the Internet a while back that asked the simples question: "How the HE** do you install the hood springs on a 53-54 Chevy?". I thought that it was a strange question as I hadn't installed mine but I kept it in the back of my mind anyways. Well the day came that I put the front end back on the car and tried to install the hood springs. Now I know what that person meant!
First off, it took about 15 minutes before I figured out where and how the hood springs hook up. It was 2 1/2 years ago that the front end came off and the springs weren't attached when I purchased the car. The hood spring is not part of the hinge assembly like modern cars have. The bottom of the coil is attached to the firewall and the top is hooked on to the hinge mechanism.
With the spring in position with the bottom attached to the firewall, it must be stretched about 3 1/2" to hook on to the hinge. I tried a 5 foot steel bar as a lever to stretch the spring and the best that I could get it to move was about 2". These are very strong springs!
I went to National Chevy Association and found that they sell a hood spring installer for US $35 per pair. First off, I don't need a pair cause I'm only installing one at a time. Secondly, $35 is a bit too much to spend just to install a hood spring once. So I thought that I would make one.
The hood spring installer basically holds a stretched spring open. The spring is stretched and the installation tool is placed between the two end coils. The pressure holding the spring is released and it stays stretched. The spring is then hooked to the firewall bracket and the hinge mechanism with the hood wide open. When the hood is wide open, the spring is at its shortest length. The hood is closed a little bit which stretches the spring and the installation tool is removed. Sounds simple enough..
Here's a better tool!
My fellow gearhead Cadillac Mark, suggested a different style hood spring removal tool as my version (see farther down) doesn't work so good with the fenders on. Here's a link to a better design, complete with plans and a video showing how to use the hood spring removal tool. The idea is to use a metal rod down the middle of the spring to hold it open. It works very well but the plans need some changes!
The plans call for the tool to be 14" long - it should be 14 1/2" long and drill the center hole to 1/4" not 3/8".
I made a pair out of 1/2" rebar and they work amazingly well EXCEPT one was 1/4" too short and I couldn't put the spring back on one side. NOTE: Any time you work with powerful springs like the hood springs IT IS SCARY!
Another not so good design!
Here's my homemade hood spring installation tool
I made my hood installation tool out of some 7/16" ready rod and some scrap flatbar. I found that with the hood as wide open as it could be, the spring had to stretch 3 1/2". When the hood was at normal open height, the spring had to stretch 4". I measured the relaxed spring length and added 4" to it. This worked out to a distance of 9" for the length of the installation tool from end coil to end coil.
First prototype being stretched using floor jack
I stretched the spring using a floor jack. I hooked the bottom of the spring to the floor jacks front axle and the top of the spring hooked to the lift portion. The first prototype ran into a problem with the width of the flat bars used. They were too wide and couldn't be positioned properly within the floor jack's front axle. They also jammed the lift portion when I was releasing pressure. Not too mention that I couldn't hook up the bottom of the spring to the firewall bracket. So the ends were trimmed as in the first picture. It looks more like a tool now too!.
Using radiator hose clamps to stop the tool from slipping out between the coils.
NOTE: The tool is installed wrong in these pictures. You can't remove the tool from the spring as shown after hooking it up to the car, it must be rotated to a 90 degree angle to the spring hook.
We were worried that the tool might slip out from between the coils so on the suggestion of my good friend and advisor, Mark Gilbert, we added two radiator hose clamps to hold everything in place. Unfortunately, once installed there was no way to take off the lower hose clamp, so it was removed. Once the stretched spring was free from the floor jack, I took a hammer and tapped the tool in tight to the coils while resting it on the concrete floor. This really seated the tool positively. Did I mention that I hate working with springs!
Spring installed in place and waiting for tool to be removed!
I hooked up the bottom of the stretched spring to the firewall and opened the hood as wide as it would go. This allowed the top spring hook to engage the hinge mechanism. I lowered the hood which stretched the spring and undid the rad clamp. Then I tried to remove the installation tool. No go, it wouldn't budge. So I used a small pry bar and slipped it off. Slip is not the right word as the installation tool bounced down and under the car with a loud bang which scared the bejeebers out of me! (bejeebers - haven't used that word for a long time!) Anyway, the second spring installed in the exact same manner including the loud bang and loss of bejeebers.
The results are that the hood opens and closes smoothly with little effort and I have a tool that I should be able to use to remove the springs when I go to clean up under the hood.