Suicide Hood Hinge How-To!!

[Nite Dragon]

http://home.comcast.net/~nitedragon/...1/site1019.jpg

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Posted this on another board... thought yall might want it as well...

NOTE: If you have a 4.3 you might need to relocate your washer resevoir and ABS control box

Ok everyones been askin me bout my hood hinge setup and I finally broke out the cam and got some more pics of it...

First off ya need to make a trip to one of your local juck yards and get the hood hinge assembly from a Buick Skylark, not sure the year range, I know '84 Skylarks have the hinge. Anyway, they aren't hard to find, most junk yards have the hoods open on all the cars anyways. While your there, pick up an extra set of hood snubbers.

After you get the hinges home, first thing ya need to do is measure the distance between the fenders. Also measure the width of the new hinge assembly. The new hinge assembly should be about 2 inches wider than your fenders. You'll need to cut a section out of the support bar for the hinge assembly and put a sleeve over the rod which keeps the hood from twisting when you open or close it.

I used a piece of PVC for the time being...

Set your hinge assembly on the water runoff lip of the fender and mark where your gonna mount your hinge. After you get your holes marked and drilled, mount the hinge from the bottom of the lip and attach with bolts.


After both sides are installed. Fold the hinges down into the closed position. Remove the inner fender wells, and jack the truck up to have access to the bottom of the hood. You can remove the fromt wheels if you want to give you more room.

Close the hood (thats still attached to the stock hinges). From the fender wells, position the new hinges so they are in contact with the bottom side of the hood. Mark your holes on the hood with a marker.

Raise the hood and drill your holes. I also drilled a larger hole to the rear of the mount holes and used clip nuts. After your holes are mounted and clip nuts installed, Remove the (4)bolts that mount the hood to the stock hinge and remove the hood.

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Set the hood back down and latch it in its original position. This will make adjusting the hood easier. From the fenderwells, bolt the new hinge to the clip nuts.


Now release the hood latch and pop the hood open, pull forward and fold the hood down in front of the grill to make sure everything operates properly.


Next remove the cowl and remove the stock hinges. Mount the stock hinges back onto the hood. Then close the hood till the stock hinge hits the upper part of the stock hihome.comcast.nethome.attbi.com/~nitedragon/wsb/media/182261/site1020.jpg[/img]

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Once you have proper clearance, you can either weld the hammered down hinge mount to the body or mount it with screws. Once the cowl is reinstalled none of it is visible, so you don't need to make it pretty.

After you finish securing the hinge mount, reinstall the cowl. Now you can mount you extra set of hood snubbers to keep the rear of the hood level with the body and keep it from bouncing going down the road.

Thats it, now your hood flips open to the front. A very easy and inexpensive mod. Here's a few more pics of the finished product...





I know the hood looks bad now... I have to remold the L-82 scoop.

[Nite Dragon]

Set the hood back down and latch it in its original position. This will make adjusting the hood easier. From the fenderwells, bolt the new hinge to the clip nuts.


Now release the hood latch and pop the hood open, pull forward and fold the hood down in front of the grill to make sure everything operates properly.


Next remove the cowl and remove the stock hinges. Mount the stock hinges back onto the hood. Then close the hood till the stock hinge hits the upper part of the stock hinge mount.


Open the hood and remove the stock hinge. Cut the hinge at the mark and reinstall hinge to the hood.


Now cut the lip off the upper hinge mount and hammer the mount flush. This will allow the cut hinge to lock in place when closed. You might need to make a few adjustments to allow proper clearance.

[Nite Dragon]

Once you have proper clearance, you can either weld the hammered down hinge mount to the body or mount it with screws. Once the cowl is reinstalled none of it is visible, so you don't need to make it pretty.

After you finish securing the hinge mount, reinstall the cowl. Now you can mount your extra set of hood snubbers to keep the rear of the hood level with the body and keep it from bouncing going down the road.

Thats it, should only take about 30mins to an hour to complete. and now your hood flips open to the front. A very easy and inexpensive mod. Here's a few more pics of the finished product...





I know the hood looks bad now... I have to remold the L-82 scoop.

[LaynLo]

kickass, will this work on 2ng gen?

[Nite Dragon]

It should... dont see why it wouldn't work on any vehicle, as long as there is the inner lip to mount the hinge to...

[LaynLo]

Quote:

Originally posted by Nite Dragon
It should... dont see why it wouldn't work on any vehicle, as long as there is the inner lip to mount the hinge to...

hmmmm, any way to get around taking the inner fenders out?

[daytonadutch]

Why am I wasting my time surfing the web lookin for answers when it all comes together here? Thanks for the info Night Dragon. Can't wait to see her when she's painted et al..

[Nite Dragon]

LaynLo17... if you can figure out where the upper hinge mount will mount to the hood, you dont have to remove the inner fender wells. however, it will make adjusting everything much harder... will mounting it from the bottom, will put the hinges where they need to be with little adjusting if any...