Removing Hood Springs

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-Sledgehammer-

-Sledgehammer-

Mopar Performance
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I have a 71 Dart and cant figure out how to remove the hood springs for the low tension ones... :read2:
 
There should just be two studs that the spring is on with crush washers on them. You have to pry or cut them off and the spring will come right off. The washers are kind of a one time use deal but your local hardware store.
 
That doesnt make any sense to me as the spring has that fold in it that slides into the center....
 
Burnts explanation is for removing the whole hinge which you may have to do anyway.

Once the spring is unhooked from its post, you have to grind away some "staking" on the center post in order to slide the spring off.

Hoodspring.jpg
 
71Duster440 The hinges are off the car and just trying to get the spring itself out...... so you have to grind out where the bend is in the slot to be able to slide the spring up and out.....
 
Wedgie,
Even though the springs are not under full load, there is still quite a bit of tension on them. Once you release the tension, the energy will cause them to unwind QUICKLY. Be careful.
I would clamp the spring down to the hinge with a pair of ViceGrips, and just cut the spring with a cut off wheel where it wraps around the pin, then pry the rest of it out of the swedged area.
Once the spring is off, you will still have the material on the hinge necessary to install and retain the low tension springs.

George
 
Put the hinge in a vice and pop the end off with a pry bar. Yes, it will unwind violently as one would expect but it won't go anywhere. Then, grind the swedge with a cutoff wheel (takes a few seconds) and slide the spring off.

When you install the new spring, two quick zaps with a mig welder where the swedge was (one on each tang) will leave a little blob of metal that will keep the spring from sliding off. Don't weld the spring to the hinge.

The modified springs are low enough in tension that you can hook the end of the spring back on with a pair of channel lock pliers.

(This is what I did. I sent my original springs to Herb Beer for mods).
 
Looks like the top one. Whichever way holds the hinge in the open position. Look at my picture above. It's the driver side with a modded stock spring.
 
Agreed. Like I said, grab the end with a pair of channel lock pliers (hinge in vice or on car).

However, the fact that it appears you are using late model springs may require a slightly different approach.
 
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