Hoods

[72doug2,2S]

I've have hood issues going on for much of the past ten years.

When I first got the 911 the hood would mysteriously and voluntarily pop up on its own, usually in a turn. I couldn't tell by driving it, but I felt a little awkward every time I parked the car and walked around to the front to see what my hood had decided to do. Usually I had to push it back down again. I tried to change the height of the plunger (loosening the large nut and using a screw driver on the end to raise or lower it), but as a fix it never really lasted long. And when I replace the hood shocks the problem only seemed to get worse.

I then bought a new lower assembly from our host and installed it after I had the car painted. This seemed to fix the problem of the hood from accidentally popping up. But since then I've had issues trying to free the plunger when trying to release it on purpose. The hood shocks finally quit working too...Shrug. But I was determined to fix this not opening issue one way or another.

One day after fighting with the hood and winning, I had my wife pull on the release from the inside so I could observe the action in the lower assembly. It was working perfectly. It cleared the hole fine. So this was not the issue.

I put a small block of wood to force the release open from the drivers seat and began shutting the hood and trying to open it again. I was trying to figure out why the plunger was sticking when it should simply move in and out.

It was then I started noticing all these bolts the thing was fixed by. I quickly loosened them to see it I would move the top assembly and I could. Why hadn't I thought of this before?

I loosened and tightened, tested and did it over and over again until it was perfect. I released the wood block and Hallelujah it worked over and over again.

[72doug2,2S]

Confounded! I spoke too soon. I just popped out for a Chinese takeout and viola the hood has popped up again, all on its own.

I really don't want to drill holes in my hood for adding tie downs, but what else can I do?

[c0metdot]

Try:
Extend the mast a little. Lubricate and check that the latch operates correctly and the release is free. Align upper and lower.
Old rabbit parts.

[manbridge 74]

Not being familiar with long hoods, does your car have rubber hood snubbers that you can screw in and out?

[72doug2,2S]

Originally Posted by manbridge 74

Not being familiar with long hoods, does your car have rubber hood snubbers that you can screw in and out?

The early cars, at least mine, simply has the center mast/plunger that grabs a retractable wedge.

Originally Posted by c0metdot

Try:
Extend the mast a little. Lubricate and check that the latch operates correctly and the release is free. Align upper and lower.
Old rabbit parts.

I'll try extending it. However on the lube thing, I'm wondering if a very dry mast and and dry locking wedge would help keep these more secure and less likely to disengage?

I'll give it a try tomorrow.

[pete3799]

Put a piece of painters tape over the lower latch hole and lower the hood till the plunger makes a dimple in the tape. Adjust till it hits dead center.
Another thing to check is if the plunger is bent (should be 90* to the mounting plate).
Extend the plunger a little so that with a firm push it clicks shut.
Don't be afraid to lube it.

[72doug2,2S]

Originally Posted by pete3799

Extend the plunger a little so that with a firm push it clicks shut.
Don't be afraid to lube it.

I extended the plunger (mast) a full rotation. This does seem to help. I only noticed one pop up on a bumpy road, so I'm heading in the right direction.

[E Sully]

The cable needs to be adjusted at the front latch. The hood release is designed to open if the cable breaks, and there is a mid point where it latches and releases. It is a little bit of a pain to get the set screw on the cable set to the mid point, an extra set of hands helps.