Hinges

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DavidW

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I've got a 68 Dart under restoration and the hood hinges make a lot of noise upon opening the hood, and they flex slightly. We shot grease in the springs, but no improvement. Are these toast, or does somebody rebuild? Also are there aftermarket springs available?
 
Hit the pivot points (and the spring ends/anchors as well) with penetrating oil- then work the hinges up and down until they start to loosen. Then go back and give the pivots some grease.
 
David, Go With the professors Idea, Quality penetrating oil.... Tranny fluid and acetone (50-50 of each) is absolute best in the world in a squirt can. its what I use.
 
Thank you for your suggestion. I'll give it a try. I've heard that these early A body cars had poorly designed hinges. It's a common problem.
 
DavidW said:
Thank you for your suggestion. I'll give it a try. I've heard that these early A body cars had poorly designed hinges. It's a common problem.
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Just so you know, "early A body cars" are '66 and earlier. '67 and later (like your '68) had redesigned hinges that eliminated the earlier design's torsion rods. Neither was a bad design. As far as it being a "common problem", it's more of an issue because of these girls being 50-60 years old with a sketchy maintenance history rather than a design flaw. Let's face it, this will probably be the first time in all those years that your hinges have ever been lubricated!
 
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The retainers that hold the hinges to the studs like to work their way out, which makes the hinges very wobbly. When I had my fenders off, I put small worm gear clamps on the studs so that the retainers couldn't do that.
 
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