Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

I cannot speak from experience, but the sheet metal section of the service manual on pages 5&6 discuss how the hood (bonnet) is adjusted.

It's pretty sparse instruction, isn't it? I thought you would find the hood adjustments under the Body section, where trunk lid and everything else is... but no. This manual really needs a master table of contents in the front.

Oh well, it did give the one clear directive, to "pull the lock towards the front of the bonnet as far as it will go and tighten the screws." That helps, because although I scribed the original location on the underside of the hood, there are slots and it wasn't pulled all the way forward.

However, not pulling it all the way forward during a past adjustemtn may have resulted in the condition shown in the pic. Note that the hook on the end of the safety catch is broken. Also note that there is no boss around the hole on the bottom plate like there is on the one I received from Packards51. This means the only threads for the big center bolt are tapped into a thin piece of steel. Seems like it would easily start to wobble.

Next pic is of the receiving part of the latch, located on what Packard calls the
"radiator top splasher." I like to just call it a shroud.

Note that it looks as though the top of the square hole, which receives the safety catch as been bent. Maybe this is how they're supposed to be, but it looks to me like someone was trying to make the hook slide out of the way as you close the hood, instead of doing what it does now, hitting square on the metal and requiring you to manually move it forward out of the way with the latch before the hood will close.

Attach file:

---

  (141.94 KB)


  (169.42 KB)

On my car, you do not need to move the lever to get the hood to close. You lower it and let the weight of the hood "slam" the hood down and it is latched closed. Here is a pic of my receiver. The piece that moves is flat, not bent.

Attach file:

---

  (84.63 KB)

Quote:

Thanks for the pic. It really shows a difference between the square receiver hole on yours and the one on mine. (The piece I was referring to that is bent on mine is not the moveable one, but the top of the "square" that receives the safety catch.) Yours is really square except for the radius curve at the top edge, mine has the curve on the top edge, but with another square slot that seems to have been cut or hammered into it. This is the edge that the hook has to push clear of on the way down.

I just got done adjusting it so the main latch catches after I pull the safety latch out of the way. I looked closely with the hood resting on the safety latch, and the bottom of the hook hits the metal part of the square hole directly head-on. It can't push itself out of the way when it's lined up like that.

I loosened the bolts on the top and moved that (male) part of the main latch mechanism (which includes the safety hook) all the way forward like the manual said.

There is a screwdriver slot on the end of the pin that you turn one way or the other to adjust where the ring at the bottom of the spring will be when the hood is closed. (That ring is what goes through the round hole and serves as the main latch, I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong.)

With the hood fully closed, I noticed that the gap between the hood and the grille is uneven and excessive.

The hood itself is adjusted all the way back, with little room between the back edge and the cowl. This may well be why the safety latch is out of position.

It looks like a major hood adjustment is in order before I can let anyone but me close the hood without risking they'll slam it and break the safety catch again,

The instructions in the manual for hood adjustment are meager to the point of useless. I guess it's just going to be "loosen, yank, repeat" until it sits right.

The relationship between the mating surfaces of the receiver won't change with movement of the entire hood, though, so I might not gain anything.

NOTE: As you can see in our pics, there is a screw head on the bottom plate with "X" shaped slots. It sure looks like an adjustment screw, but what it adjusts I have no idea.

That isn't a screw, it's the pin that the latch pivots on. The cross on top is where it was staked in place (like a rivet).

(That ring is what goes through the round hole and serves as the main latch, I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong.)

Don't believe the ring goes thru. Just the round solid plunger. The ring stays on top and is the seat to keep the spring in place while it compresses. The top of solid plunger will move down into the mechanism for the movable bar to capture. The height of the plunger is somewhat important as is the centering.

Check out the 55-6 SM sheet metal section for hood latch adjustment. There are some photos that might give some info. The mechanism is slightly different in the way the safety hook is done but the basic main latch is similar.

Thanks all.

HA52,

There is a screwdriver slot in the end of the pin. That way you can count how many rotations in either direction you have adjusted it. Works slick.

Then, I suppose you're expected to tighten the nut inside the spring. Doesn't look like an easy fit for a wrench. Since the pin seated pretty well with the screwdriver treatment (makes sense--it was adjusted before I got it) I left it there for now.


Quote:

HH56,

I thought it might be, as the spring and plunger have some "wiggle room" before tightening, but they say nothing about this in the '51-'54 manual that I can see. I'll look on the site here for more info on hood adjustment. I suppose the '55s, with the same hood, have the same closing mechanism.

Well, I looked up the hood latch assembly in the '55-'56 Shop Manual (NICE digital reproduction, BTW) but it's completely different from the '54, so not much help on adjusting the latch.

Maybe someone can give me a quick explanation of at least one adjustment:

--I want the hood to latch tighter. Right now, it seems the spring is barely compressed, if at all, when the latch catches the plunger, and the hood rattles.

--Which direction do I turn the threaded plunger to get the hood to latch tighter (lower). Righty-tighty? This info could save me a lot of trial and error.

--Also, I think I will have to get at the locking nut on the plunger, which is conveniently located inside the spring! Is this just a jam-in-an-open-end-wrench-and-hope kind of thing?

The functionality of the two locking mechanisms are the same but physical details are slightly different. 51-4 has a thicker plunger and separate safety hook but adjustment procedure is almost word for word in the two manuals.

In a nutshell, there are a few things that can cause hood looseness or flutter. Missing felt over the reinforcing structure where hinges mount is one. The problem you are asking about is not enough tension on the spring. Before doing anything with spring tension make sure the plunger is entering the hole centered and squarely. Once that is verified or adjusted by shifting the plate in the slots, instructions are to pull the spring down and insert a wrench to loosen the locknut and then move the plunger up or down. I know the spring is strong so perhaps a screwdriver under the nut to lever spring down and get the wrench on top or maybe needle nose vise grips on a turn or two of the spring to compress it slightly. Once you loosen the nut a few turns, tighten the spring tension by screwing the plunger in (shorten the distance of the threaded shaft) slightly and check. I believe the shaft is standard RH threads so righty tighty but you will have to verify which direction shortens. Note that this adjustment can result in too much tension and the latch will be very hard to release -- so do it in increments. Once you have it correct, go back and tighten the locknut..

There is another caution on the 51-4 and that is the rubber bumpers must contact evenly to control flutter. The flange where the bumpers mount can be bent up or down slightly if needed and also there may be interference with the splasher mounting bolts or screws. The instructions for that problem are to enlarge the bolt head clearance area in the flange if needed.

HH56,

Thanks, I've about eliminated the centering of the mechanism by loosening the bolts on the underside of the hood to where there is still some friction, and (with the safety catch retracted), lowering the hood to see where the plunger decides it wants to be. The bolt holes on the plate allow only forward-to-back adjustment, not side to side. The manual says to put it "all the way forward."

When I mentioned righty-tighty I was not referring to the threads on the plunger, they are definitely rh, but to which way to turn it to tighten the hood. None of the bumpers (which were so painfully pushed into the holes) are making contact, but the left side (facing the car) has the biggest gap.

There is definitely some kind of overall hood alignment or sheet metal problem, or the gap would be equal.

You mentioned felt where the springs mount to the hood. Interesting, because one side has it (the side with the biggest gap), and the other doesn't. That would explain a lot, wouldn't it?

Thanks for the "nutshell" adjustment instructions, as I did not find any of that information in either manual. That may just be me, but when they have separate sections for "body" and "sheet metal" with little rhyme or reason what gets put where... I guess I'll just share the blame with the manuals.

I'm going to go out and give the plunger tightening (or loosening--who knows?) a try and after that I'll take it to the two old bodyshop fellows down the street. I'm not loosening the hinges at the back or anything radical like that. I'm doing this solo, and horsing around with straightening an entire hood takes at least two in my book.