How often did you get hit in the head...by the hood?

[Witt]

.......by the motor hood because the strut is slipping of its post? Or a gust of wind is catching the hood and slams it down while your back is turned (hopefully!)?
Today I finally had enough and drilled away a bit of the "slope" in the plastic retainer. Now there is a solid place for the strut to rest.
The fact that I have to lift that strut a little bit when closing is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

CHEERS !
WITT !  

[Jonny B]

I have been caught out by the gusty wind, but thankfully not when I had my head poking around the engine bay. Can you post a shot of the modification?

[graphic66]

My hood came slamming down on my wiper arms while I was cleaning the windshield with the hood up and the wipers "up". It  bent one wiper arm just a little. It bent right back into shape OK. The hood has come down unexpectedly enough times now I watch out for it.

[al_lieffring]

The torsion spring will loose tension with age.

[Witt]

My problem was that  the groove in the  the plastic retainer  was to smooth and followed the curve end of the stay-open-strut perfect and allowed it to slip out at the slightest pressure.
All I did is use a large drill bit in my cordless drill and took some of the curve out of the plastic retainer by drilling carefully in a vertical fashion. That way the strut has a place to rest on securely.
The job took just seconds, I advise not to get carried away and take to much material off.
I am going to borrow my brothers digital camera and take pictures to post here.

CHEERS !
WITT !      

[floatinghat]

I have never had it happen.

[J. Huber]

I had a bit of the opposite happen -- when that gust of wind came along, my hood would stretch open much past its intended angle. This can lead to major chips on the paint edge, as well as high blood pressure when it happens. As far as I can tell, the earliest cars did not have a hood-strap to prevent this. I finally decided that there are enough things wrong with my car to keep me out of the concours event -- and I broke with originality and added the strap. A few dollars and a couple small holes later -- no more worry of the hood going vertical on me. I guess I still have to worry about the head banger though...

[Ulf]

3 times - good that it's made from aluminum and not steel. It also happened with my green TR6 and my wife said it looked like got eaten by a giant crocodile with wheels!
How I always place a broomstick as a security when fiddling...

Ulf

[wd]

Had the wind blow it down when I leaned over to get a tool first time working on it. It was coming down as I was coming up.  You should try the 111 type cars.   The hoods up, you can work around the front of the engine and that big old grill is hanging in the middle of the sky.  You get a little preoccupied and boy can that grill do a number on you.  

[hauser]

It hasn't happened to me yet. However I did get scraped by the latch on the side of the hood when I leaned over the fender to have a look at my recently installed 123 distributor.

[al_lieffring]

When my car was in storage I had the lever for the hood spring in its relaxed position, so now it still has most of its tension.  When I bought the car there was no spring on the hood. I purchaced a new replacement and was suprised by how much more torque it had than the other 113s that I had worked on, at that time the cars were only 10 years old. I imagine now that these springs have been under tension for over 40 years that they could have lost most of thier tension.

[bpossel]

New, replacement spring rods can be purchased for ~25 bucks.  I dont know if they can be replaced with the hood on the car? I replaced mine with the hood off of the car.  I laid the hood on the carpet in out family room and had my wife hold it down while I installed the new spring rod.  Turning the spring rod in the hood in order to give it tension is the part that is a bit nerve racking.  But as long as you are careful, the procedure is not all that bad.  Once the spring rod has tension, use an "S" hook and secure it to the side of the hood.  Reinstall the hood.  I use a bit of white lithium grease in the groove of the plastic guide.  It really makes a difference!  With a new tension rod, and the appropriate tension, I have not had any issues on a windy day.
Bob 

[Witt]

The problem I encountered is not the tension, or lack of, off the rod, it's just that the curved "Valley" inside the plastic retainer is to shallow so the curved end of the rod can slip out real easy.
What I thought was self understood in my directions is that you have to support the hood with the old broom stick method, pull the curved end out of the grove , let it rest next to it ( carfull, it's under tension....) proceed to drill out some material inside the groove to make it steeper and therefor provide a better stop for the curved rod end.....are you still with me.? replace the rod end into the modified grove and test it for enough resistance to hold the hood up.

CHEERS !
WITT !   

[abe280SL]

Anyone tried using a broomstick...
abe

[WRe]

.... or this solution http://www.beetle.homepage.t-online.de/haube%20feststellen.htm
...WRe

[Flyair]

another simple solution is to delegate the work and making sure that the person uses some Pagoda hood protection devices such as the one shown on the attached pic

[Ulf]

Happened to me once with my previous green Triumph TR6 and my then girlfriend said it looked like I was getting eaten by a crocodile with wheels...

[Benz Dr.]

Lots......... after 35 years. Mostly sedan bites but the odd SL along the way.