Hood Latch Spring Removal

[jonn6464]

I got a nice new hood latch spring, but I forgot to remove the old one before I painted the cross support piece.

So, question is how do I remove the current spring without doing too much (hopefully none) damage to the new paint?

Sorry for the super close pics.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Fgill]

you could remove the rad support and try and slowly press the tab open (from the underside) thru the tab hole with a long punch or flathead, just enough to slip the spring out. warming the area up with hair blow drier 1st may help make the paint more flexable.
closing the tab could be done similarly, with something non-maring.
if the paint is somewhat fresh you maybe able to do it without getting a crack or crease in the paint. thats my best "might work" on this one...

 

[Oldmanmopar]

Pry the tab up a little , Soak the area with Dawn regular dish washing liquid and turn it out while spinning the spring counter clockwise put the new one in the same way. Turning the spring counter clock wise This makes the spring smaller in diameter and will loosen the fit. Remember while turning the coil counter clockwise you have to turn the spring out in the opposite direction depending on the model and in which direction the hill is. You will ruin the paint on the old spring. Put tape on the new one so not to scratch the cadium plating. I have made the same mistake in the past.

 

[jonn6464]

The support is out of the car, so I can attack it from any angle. The dawn dish soapis a good tip. Was thinking about trying to compress the spring a bit to see if I can take some tension off. Maybe make it easier to release.