Hood release lever photo

[stuartrubin]

Things never "felt" right with the lever for opening the hood. I would not be surprised if this is a Frankenstein arrangement, knowing the provenance of mine. (And, with some other problems I've had with a slightly bent (?) hood, misalignment, etc., the hood has popped open on me. But that's another problem...)

Can anyone share a photo of this part on their car?

Here's mine:


Thanks!

[focodave]

Here you go:

[stuartrubin]

Thank you, Focodave! This is the confirmation that I need. I assumed it was something like this. It really is basically like an old bicycle shifter or brake.

Clearly on mine, the outer sheath has become separated from the plastic retainer which is mounted to the metal bracket. Previously, I had tried to pull the sheath back in place, but could not. It may be stuck, or who knows...

Is there a trick to getting the cable connected correctly?

Thanks

Stuart

[Odoyle]

I tackled this recently on my 77 and found that the wire sheath for the hood release is the same as the sheaths for the heater control levers. Make sure the slack is taken out of the wire when attaching it to the hood latch for tight release.

[focodave]

Stuart,

The adjustment is going to be made in the engine compartment, at the latch mechanism.
You want to loosen the cable and cable housing at the latch, pull the outer cable housing toward the passenger compartment lever bracket, then re-tighten the cable at the latch side of things in the engine compartment so that the cable has very little slack.
This will help keep the outer cable housing tight against the bracket in the passenger compartment.
You might even put a dab of superglue on the metal cable housing end that slides into the plastic bushing at the lever bracket inside the passenger compartment, to keep that end of the housing attached to the plastic bushing.

Also, make sure you have the factory-installed emergency backup pull cable in place so that if your main cable breaks, you can still get the hood open without destroying anything in the process.

Dave

[stuartrubin]

Dave, thanks for the tips. I think it will save me some time and headache. I'll go through your steps and see what happens.

BTW, I had previously learned "the hard way" about the emergency release cable for the hood. There was none! I have since put one running into the front wheel well...