please help, hood stuck!

[pussecat]

ok, i have a 1981 corvette with t-tops and we are moving to jax TOMARROW, the care has been sitting (covered) for 1 year and 4 months. the hood is stuck closed, how do i manually pop the hood? any help in this matter will be MUCH appreciated. thanks!

 

[DWS'03Z]

I had a '78 LeMans that did that......for that car, all I had to do was make a quick downward push in the latch area after trying the standard latch release...

hopefully, someone who is familiar with the '81's can offer better advice......good luck!!

and when you get it open, thoroughly lubricate the latch mechanism with WD 40....

 

[mike weyman]

your frigged !!!! not.

way up under the drivers side dash there is a black plastic cap in the fiberglass,directly behind this is the mechanism you need to access (about 3 inches in ) you need a coathanger with a hook to get it open.
if working in the dark behind something you can't see thru isn't your forte , you can use the same hook with a flashlight up under the car at the same place.
I have actually seen with my eyes ,someone took a grinder and cut two 4 inch square holes in the top of the engine hood.please don't do this as it may be embarrasing afterwards.lol.mike

 

[Blue82]

There are two rubber plugs under the hood in the valley below the windshield. They are in the top part of the firewall along the same piece that the windshield wiper motor is mounted. One plug is in front of the drivers edge and the other in front of the passenger. If you pull these plugs you will have access to the latch mechanism. I suggest you go for the drivers side first because you can reach under the hood once it releases and pull the cable to the passenger side to release it. I believe a flat head screwdriver can be used and the release mechanism needs to be pressed downward to open it.

Good luck

 

[GerryLP]

I am with Mike on this.


If you can feel by hand, then the better. It's hard to see it unless you have access to borescope equipment. What probably happened was that the plastic (yeah...I know...plastic ad ) tab that keeps the cable sheeting from moving has broken off. Sometimes, if one leaves something on the engine compartment that interferes with the hood closing properly (i.e. a rag or a screw driver) this causes the hood to raise and the latch to engage on the hood catch tighly.

Try having someone press down on the latch points (about 2 -3 inches inboard of hood side edge and 4 - 6 inches forward of hood's rear edge) before you pull on the hood release cable. You'll need one person on each side of the car and yourself to pull the handle. If this does not work, then it's likely that your cable is bad (either stretched or broken plastic tabs).

If it does not open the way I suggested, then on the right side "feel" for the cable (it feels like a bicycle hand brake cable), and pull on it towards you. Be carefull. If it lets go completely you'll hit your elbow on something, or you'll catch a sharp edge somewhere. Leather gloves are nice injury-preventing equipment. You'll likely to do the same thing on the left side (aft looking forward).

Good luck!

 

[pussecat]

Thanks Everyone!

we got lucky, we got the car started without needing to get under the hood, today anyway. we got it moved to it's place of storage and we will come back to tow it to jax friday. *shakes head* it's a real shame i had to let my baby sit for so long because she is in BAAAAAAAD shape! it's gonna take one heck of a mechanic to help her i'm sure, but hopefully *crosses fingers* she'll be back up and running by the end of the summer. thanks again for everyone's help, i'll be utilizing these techniques sometime in the VERY near future.