The hood hinges on the Plymouth were getting a little stiff so I decided to lube them over the weekend. There is no such thing as a simple job on this car Once they got a little oil, I found out the 60 year old hood springs were too weak to hold the hood up.

New springs weren’t available when I built the car, but fortunately they are now.

I suspect several of you already know this one, but for those who don’t; the easiest way I’ve found to install the new springs is to use a brake spring tool to stretch the springs over the tabs.

BT by M Patterson, on Flickr


I started out trying the bottom one, but the little drilled divot kept spitting off the tab so I ended up using the one made of stamped steel.




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