Hood spring question

73Dart340Sport said
This is what I’m trying to describe. The center-post has what appears to be a reverse C clamp or two tabs holding the end of the spring in. I’m wary of bending the hinge if I pry too hard, but this little bugger does not want to come out! I noticed that your spring had the same insert.
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Those stakes could be created with a hammer and chisel. Of course the factory production of the hinges required some sort of machine to create those stakes.
It may be possible to force the spring to force the stakes apart enough to remove the spring. Might be best to use a hammer and chisel to drive the stakes back a bit. The downside... bending steel back and forth repeatedly does make it weaker.
I dont have a clue how much bias pressure is on this spring. It might never walk out of weakened stakes. I do see enough post diameter that a second stake could be added behind the original with a slightly narrower chisel.
I also imagine grinding the end tang of the spring just a little bit thinner on the top side then using a chisel to get into unbent metal to make longer or deeper stakes with same width chisel.
I went through a similar thought process when fingering out how to take wiper pivots apart and put them back together again. I've never had a problem with hood hinges. I'll conquer those if/when, one way or another. A lot of family members say, "If he can't fix it, it aint broke". The hard part for me sometimes is determining my strategy. Regardless how you go about staking that spring in place, it might be some time before we know what works and what doesn't. Good luck