Hood release cable

[Arifaeth]

In my 69 521, the cable it has for the hood release, doesn't pull tight, and I have to have the hood pushed down just a little and really yank on the realease handle. The cable has probably a foot of extra length, are the cables normally extra long? Or did the PO replace it with a too long of cable?

[yenpit]

Sounds like your latch needs cleaning, greasing & adjusting!  Could be the latch on the hood shut panel OR the adjustable striker on the hood.  Just because a cable is longer, shouldn't cause an issue, unless it is kinked/bent at some point.

[Arifaeth]

4 minutes ago, yenpit said:

Sounds like your latch needs cleaning, greasing & adjusting!  Could be the latch on the hood shut panel OR the adjustable striker on the hood.  Just because a cable is longer, shouldn't cause an issue, unless it is kinked/bent at some point.

I have greased, and cleaned the hell out of it, and the latch works just fine, I can move it with my fingers, real easy. But I'm the cab, I have to pull the handle really far, to the point it feels like I'm about to break it, to get it to unrealease. And that extra foot of length, is just eye ball measuring and not when it's pulled right or anything, it's cooled up right now to keep it out of my engine bay, or else it almost wants to lay down on my exhaust manifold, it's super long, im gonna go over it, and check both ends of the cable, maybe it's loose somewhere or something, I'm thinking it's the fact that the cable is so long it doesn't pull the cable l, instead just makes the line more rigid

 

[Crashtd420]

There is a small clip up near the core support,  possibly behind the radiator.... my cable end slipped out of it and i couldnt get the hood open....

See if something like that is happening....

Edited September 16, 2021 by Crashtd420

[Arifaeth]

2 minutes ago, Crashtd420 said:

There is a small clip up near the core support,  possibly behind the radiator.... my cable end slipped out of it and i couldnt get the hood open....

See if something like that is happening....

I did check that part, and it did not appear to be unclipped, as I can get the hood to unlatch with the handle, I just have to push the hood down like, a 1/4 inch, and then have someone pull the handle really hard, and then it unlatches, which is why I'm thinking it's a cable issue

[Crashtd420]

50 minutes ago, Arifaeth said:

I did check that part, and it did not appear to be unclipped, as I can get the hood to unlatch with the handle, I just have to push the hood down like, a 1/4 inch, and then have someone pull the handle really hard, and then it unlatches, which is why I'm thinking it's a cable issue

Got it, 

How does the hood height look compared to the fenders, is it possible to loosen the spring up, maybe you have too much tension.... 

 

Careful buying replacements some of the ones on ebay are not quite right for the 521... but sounds like yours isnt correct either..

Edited September 16, 2021 by Crashtd420

[Arifaeth]

3 minutes ago, Crashtd420 said:

Got it, 

How does the hood height look compared to the fenders, is it possible to loosen the spring up, maybe you have too much tension.... 

 

Careful buying replacements some of the ones on ebay are not quite right for the 521... but sounds like yours isnt correct either..

The hood sits even with the fenders

[d.p]

Shorten the cable on the handle side see if it makes a difference.  But if you say it’s super long the. I would imagine you would to pull it way out to get it to release.   Maybe just too much slack?
 

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by d.p

[Arifaeth]

Just now, d.p said:

Shorten the cable on the handle side see if it makes a difference.  But if you say it’s super long the. I would imagine you would to pull it way out to get it to release.  
 

 

Yeah, I'm thinking I'm gonna double check both sides, and then see how hard it would be for me to shorten it, vs, finding a cable that is the correct length

[datzenmike]

Hood release should be no where near the exhaust manifold. It should be just under the dash on the far far left. The cable runs up on the left side of the clutch master and along the top edge of the inner fender to the radiator support, then over to the latch. If someone moved it, that might explain the slack. It has to pull from the left across the top of the radiator support.

[Arifaeth]

16 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

Hood release should be no where near the exhaust manifold. It should be just under the dash on the far far left. The cable runs up on the left side of the clutch master and along the top edge of the inner fender to the radiator support, then over to the latch. If someone moved it, that might explain the slack. It has to pull from the left across the top of the radiator support.

That is where it goes, what I had said, was that it is super long, that when it comes out of the firewall, it is long enough to where it could touch the exhaust manifold, before going back to the fender then to the radiator support to the latch. So it's obviously way too long.

[datzenmike]

Yeah definitely.

[Rev510]

I replaced the one on my 71 with one of the 20 dollar ebay ones from Thailand. I know.... I would’ve rather fixed the factory one or found NOS but mine was chopped in half and hanging out front. It was super easy to do, remove the bracket inside

the cab and loosen the rad so you can get to the front part. Swap it over and done. Took me maybe an hour and it’s worked perfect ever since. 
 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/282069942966?hash=item41acadc2b6:g:PU4AAOSwNuxXYpNp