Oh nice, my hood nearly came off

[DanHS]

Ok, while driving home today, I had just come up the hill from this very deep dip in the road (like a 100' deep ravine), when the hood suddenly flew up without warning. Thankfully it waited until I was up the hill, rather than open while I was flying down. I slammed on the brakes and found my way safely off the road. I had to whack the hood hard to unjam it from the cowling, the brackets were all bent, the hood has a slight buckle in it, and the hinges were destroyed, especially after I forced the hood down so I could drive the last couple miles home. After getting home, I found the pass side latch catch (the cone thing the hood latches to) just sitting there, unbolted. Somehow the nut had worked off it, and I guess without the nut securing it in place, the catch did not get engaged properly in the hood latch. How the hood managed to work free of the other latch and the safety catch is beyond me, it's like someone popped the hood while I was driving.

Anyway I think it's pretty much destroyed, everything is badly bent, I'm not sure I can straighten it out. It's dark and about 15* out right now, so working on it isn't exactly easy. I don't want to take the Cherokee's hood because I don't want to risk damaging the rusty metal (if the bolts will even budge), and I don't want to go backwards with the Cherokee rather than forwards. I guess I have to go to the junkyard now and find a good hood. I need to replace that stupid nut too (how in the world could that unthread?) But in the mean time, anyone have any tips or ideas on straightening the brackets, hood, and hinges? I guess if I get it straightened enough I can run a long bolt up through the hood and put a wing nut on it to ensure that it's secured so I can drive it before getting a new hood.

[fulsizjeep]

I guess it could have been worse. Glad you got off the road safely! I have a good pair of hood hinges off a 75 that you can have for the cost of shipping. PM me if you want them.

[bigun]

Try having one come open at 75 MPH on the free way!!!

[RubiconMike]

I'm glad things turned out ok for you. Bummer about the hood and hinges, but they can be replaced.

When I bought my Cherokee, it had the exact same dent in the middle of the crease on the driver's side like in your #2 picture above. I mean *exactly* the same! It also has an angled crease in the chrome trim above the windshield on the drivers side.

I think I now know how they both got there............

[CustomWag]

Yikes! Bet that was scary. Glad you didn't get hurt or wreck the jeep.

[baybilly]

Glad your ok. man i bet that made you pucker up a bit i have some spare hinges too if you need them and hood parts.

[Casey]

I have a clean drivers seat if you one of those.

[bigdaddyGB]

Good news / bad news...

bad news is you need a new hood, hinges, and shorts

Good news is your ok and the windshield isn't broken.

Remember it could have always been worse.

[andy d]

It happened to my new 88 last yr. It was at fairly low speed , but the left hinge was wracked and the spot welds holding the mounts to the hood let go. I re-attached the mounts with machine screws and robbed a hinge from the old 88. Its kinda fugly, but the hood operates fine.

[skeletor]

get some cj style hood latches and go for the m715 look. northern tool has a pair of them for around 7 bucks. seems you have some sort of luck cause that could've been worse. but the story did remind me of the movie tommy boy

[crow223]

Originally Posted by skeletor

get some cj style hood latches and go for the m715 look. northern tool has a pair of them for around 7 bucks. seems you have some sort of luck cause that could've been worse. but the story did remind me of the movie tommy boy

Enlighten me please. Do I just remove my latch bar from under the hood, and use the external latches?

[DanHS]

My pants and my seat are ok, it was a surprise for sure but I think I was too busy making sure I didn't drive into a tree or car to be scared. I was doing about 35 when it happened so I was able to stop quickly. If it had opened 15 seconds earlier it might have been a different story, as I was going downhill at about 55 and going around a curve.

I'm going to try whacking everything back into shape tomorrow and see how it does, I'll probably end up doing the bolt and wing nut thing since everything is so bent. I do like the old school hood hold downs too, maybe if I find a baby Jeep in the junkyard I can grab them. I'll let you guys know about the hinges once I find a hood and see if I can get good hinges and brackets with it. Such a shame as these hinges had hinged very well.

[bushwood44]

Glad you are ok,had the same thing happen on a 54 jeep

[JPSwapMohn]

Originally Posted by bigun

Try having one come open at 75 MPH on the free way!!!

Absolutely! I had that happen to me in my '88 out in Boise in '04. Sped up coming down the on-ramp to I-84, merged into the right lane and about 300 yards later I couldn't see a thing! I was lucky no one was seriously hurt. There was a slight fender-bender between the 2 vehicles behind me. One saw it happen and slowed down. The other idiot saw it happen and changed lanes and sped up! Guess he thought the best move was to speed past me and the other traffic as I was trying to figure out where I was on the road. He did not count on the other car slowing down and grazed the side of it as he sped and swirved..

It took what seemed like a LONG time to get the dang window down so I could stick my head out.. Finding another good hood out there was no big deal..it might be tougher over here on the right coast..

[BIG WILLIE]

Take the hinges off and tack weld the hood on or use rachet straps!!!! LOL That sucks man!! Wish i had a extra set i could send you!!

[Greg Taylor]

Glad to heary you're OK ... been there done that, too, on my '78 Chief @ 45 ... no hood/hinge damage though to mine.

Yours held up extremely well, considering the pics. A friend had her hood come up on an 80's S15 Blazer and it crumpled like tim foil, busted the windshield and dented her roof above the WS.

Definitely get "new" parts, don't try to straighten out the bent-up brackets.

Food for thought ... perhaps the hood on my 78 was thicker gage metal (since it didn't bend at 45 mph). You could get a hood from a 70's FSJ and fit it up. 1979 would have the different headlights (like your GW), I think.

[Greg Taylor]

You might want to contact this eBay JEEP PARTS seller in Rhode Island ... they might have a hood/hinges.

http://motors.shop.ebay.com/merchant/alljeepparts401


You could also go to www.car-part.com and plug in you zip code and hood info to the search engine ... its a nation-wide search engine for Parts Yards inventory. You can sort by how close to your zip code they are. You'd be surprised what will turn up.

[DanHS]

Been meaning to post a follow up since last week, but been too busy. I was luckily able to straighten out the hinges and bolt the latch catch back on, so my hood is now working properly again. opens and closes fine, just not quite as smoothly as before, it's certainly not coming apart. As added insurance though, I put a safety chain on the hood so it can only open 6 inches or so without the chain being unclipped. The chain is far heavier than necessary, but it was the smallest welded chain I could find. Here's a pic, I took out a few more links after because I thought this was still too high.