72 Scamp hood hinge repair??

The coil on the hood hinge on the passenger side of my 72 Scamp- dart, Duster probably same... has slipped off the hinge bracket. I hope not to have to remove the fender- esp with the rocker molding to deal with. Haven't been successful yet working through gaps of fender.... Any one able to slip it back on- takes quite a bit of force-
thanks in advance
When I was a skinny kid I could reach my arm down through the hinge gap at the top. just enough to slip it onto the post. I tried various methods to secure it there, none really successful.

pulling the plastic splash gaurd in the wheel well might work instead of the whole fender