Hi everyone...
New Chapter in the hope to get my Bonnie repectable looking. I got a bar to replace to the one that that runs in front of the radiator but now I cannot open my hood. I pulled the Hood handle but my hood will not pop up.!! God this is starting to **** me off.... Anyone have any ideas how i can release the hood latch when the cable, more likely then not, broken.

On a side note: I have found the prefect replacement grille for my car but it is the wrong color... Soooo I am going to paint it black. What is the best way todo this? I figured I would sand it down, put a primer down, three layers of black, two layers of clear, and then sand with a fine grite. Also i would sand between each coat. Does this sound like a good plan? Any and all advice is welcomed.

Timmay

Make sure you wet sand between coats, wet sand the final clear, and then polish it up etc.

Buying new grilles from GM is only like 80 bux though. If you haven't bought the new one, keep that in mind.

Hitting the hood will get it to pop up. You're going to want to try to lubricate the cable that pulls it, and the whole mechanism. Make sure it'* all lined up right too.

I find either the edge of the hood about a fot from the back, or the drivers side front corner are good places for a good konck to open the hood.

That will release the hood latch? does this bother anyone else?

Thanks for the info guys!

If it'* stuck and already popped, yeah, but dont go beating on your hood.... I leave my hood stops a little low so I can wobble my hood when this happens.

Well if the cable is broken, hopefully you can still grab it in the passenger area. Otherwise you'll need to open the hood from under the car. :?

http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...highlight=hood

Good call with that link. I just pressed down on the hood over the latch and tried to pop the hood and it did the trick. Man I love this site! You are all awsome! If you ever need a place to stay in Boston just PM me!

Timmay

Yeah, when I bought my 92 SSEi the stupid hood wouldn't open. What I did was -- okay, I can hear the laughing already -- took some foam pipe insulation, like you put around a water pipe, and stuffed it up into half of the latch hole. Pops open every time, because it puts adequate pressure on the hood from the underside.

Ghetto? Son, I was ghetto before Elvis sang about it!!!!

Seriously, check your spring. There should be a coil spring under the underside of the hood. That is what puts pressure on the heavy hood so that when the mechinism is triggered by pulling the release cable, the hood pops up.

Chances are yours is missing, or very very weak.

Also, check the alignment of the hood mechinism. Could be binding. My wife'* Buick Regal, that was smashed in the front, also had this problem. Took a few tries before I got it.

On the grille paint: I wouldn't bother with basecoat/clearcoat. On such a small item, acryllic enamel (single stage) should give good results. Just visit a parts store that mixes paint, get a 1/4 pint and a small sprayer, some reducer, and go to town!

Good luck with all that. Hope it helps ya!