My car's previous owner unhooked the hood hinge coil springs on both sides and installed a prop rod - I suspect that this former race car used to have a fiberglass hood and not the V24 that is currently on the car. I hooked up the coil springs on both sides and the passenger side hinge operates pretty much straight up and down without bowing outward and contacting the fender at the hood hinge opening. However, my driver's side hood hinge was so loosey goosey at both the rivet and coil spring post that when starting to close the hood, the hinge would bow outward about a 3/8th inch or so and just start to contact the fender. I replaced the flat push nuts that hold the hinge ends to the cowl posts but it didn't help - the hinge rivet and coil spring post were just worn.
I took the hinge to a machine shop to see if the rivet and coil spring post could be tightened using a hydraulic press on the swaged side. The owner checked the looseness and suggested that I get another set of hinges. He did attempt to press the rivet but was reluctant to put a lot of force on it to avoid distorting the hinge. No improvement.
So, I went home, got out my Berzomatic propane torch, heated up the larger swaged head of the rivet till it just barely started to glow, then supported the underside on my bench vise and with a 3 lb. hammer lightly hammered on the rivet head repeatedly until it nearly all the hinge looseness was gone (checking the tightness in between every few hammer taps by working the hinge arms back and forth). As the rivet cooled down, the hinge got a bit too snug so I reheated the rivet a bit and worked the hinge back and forth as it cooled down, and it loosened up a tiny bit and I got the right tightness.
For the coil spring post, I heated up the swage on the back side until just starting to glow, then used a deep 7/8" socket slipped over the coil spring post until it contacted the collar around the bottom of the post, turned the hinge over and lightly hammered on the swage while the underside was supported on my bench vice by the socket on the post collar, until the hinge had just a tiny bit of play that would snug up upon cooling down. I installed the hinge on the car, hooked up the coil spring using a 16" channel lock pliers, and used 3/4" and 1/2" OEM-style push nuts on the coil spring post and hinge posts respectively. The hinge now operates withoug bowing outward.
Heating and hammering the swages might not be the best way to take up the hinge looseness but it worked for my driver car. I'm happy as heck! Dave
I took the hinge to a machine shop to see if the rivet and coil spring post could be tightened using a hydraulic press on the swaged side. The owner checked the looseness and suggested that I get another set of hinges. He did attempt to press the rivet but was reluctant to put a lot of force on it to avoid distorting the hinge. No improvement.
So, I went home, got out my Berzomatic propane torch, heated up the larger swaged head of the rivet till it just barely started to glow, then supported the underside on my bench vise and with a 3 lb. hammer lightly hammered on the rivet head repeatedly until it nearly all the hinge looseness was gone (checking the tightness in between every few hammer taps by working the hinge arms back and forth). As the rivet cooled down, the hinge got a bit too snug so I reheated the rivet a bit and worked the hinge back and forth as it cooled down, and it loosened up a tiny bit and I got the right tightness.
For the coil spring post, I heated up the swage on the back side until just starting to glow, then used a deep 7/8" socket slipped over the coil spring post until it contacted the collar around the bottom of the post, turned the hinge over and lightly hammered on the swage while the underside was supported on my bench vice by the socket on the post collar, until the hinge had just a tiny bit of play that would snug up upon cooling down. I installed the hinge on the car, hooked up the coil spring using a 16" channel lock pliers, and used 3/4" and 1/2" OEM-style push nuts on the coil spring post and hinge posts respectively. The hinge now operates withoug bowing outward.
Heating and hammering the swages might not be the best way to take up the hinge looseness but it worked for my driver car. I'm happy as heck! Dave
