1965 Mustang Hood Problem
Lee Fredrickson
Hello:
I have 1965 Mustang 2+2 with the V-8 289. I have a problem with the
hood rising up at the hinge area when driving at either a high-rate of
speed (80mph+), or when hit by the wall of air coming from a large
truck moving towards me. The hood does not settle back down after
this happens. When I stop the car, I can get out and press on the
corner of the hood, near the hinge, and it sits flush with the body
again. My question is, do I either need to replace the hinge, the
hinge spring, or both? One person suggested I lube all the contact
areas and pivot points on the spring, which I have done, but with no
negligible result other than the hood is now easier to open! : )
Any suggestions would be helpful.
Lee
To respond, delete the dot between lee.fred in my return address.
Keller, Michael
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This is a common problem with 65-73 Mustangs. Your hood hinges are most
likely worn out. Just for kicks before spending the bucks on new parts,
make sure that the hood is adjusted properly and setting square on its
bumpers. (you do have bumpers long the hood edges, the front corners and
possibly at the rear corners at the cowl, right?) If not, get all the
rubber bumpers that are required for the 65-66 cars and adjust the hood
so that the hinges pull the hood down onto the bumpers but not so low
that the hood is tight or below the top edge of the fender. Its always
easier to do panel adjustments with two people. Also be sure to tape the
hood corners so that any damage done by accidently poking the cowl is
minimized.
If the correct bumpers and adjustments do not correct the problem or
the hinges will not adjust far enough to pull the hood down and keep it
down, then your hinges are worn out and need to be replaced. The springs
usually don't wear out. You'll need to reuse the old springs on the new
hinges. I'm pretty sure that these are still available from Ford.
One other area to check are the mounting points for the hood hinges.
These consist of three nuts pressed into the sheet metal in the rear,
inner fender aprons. If the area around the nuts is rusty or if the nuts
are loose or torn from the holes then this can also add to the problems
with hood adjustment. These areas need to be strong and straight before
any other attempts at proper hood alignment can be accomplished. This is
common problem.
Good luck with it. -Mike.