'41 hood latches

[valk]

Does anyone have a schematic of the hood latch hardware on a '41? I took mine off (all 4)  so I could paint some of my engine bay, put them back on and they work but do not operate smoothly. There is a spring that is supposed to retract the hood lever but it binds. I'm thinking there should be some friction washers around the pin somewhere but mine did not have any. And putting those springs back in place is no pleasure...

[neil morse]

I don't know whether this helps or not, but my car doesn't have the spring you show.  Also, it seems odd that your photo shows that the spring is secured by a wiring clip that is not otherwise serving any purpose.  I'm wondering whether this is stock, or someone modified your car at some point?  Of course, it may be that the spring is stock, and it just disappeared from my car at some point.  At any rate, the hood latch on my car does not "retract," and I never found this to be an issue.  Pull it out to open the hood, push it back in when the hood is shut.

[valk]

Now that you say that, I bet the long spring on the fender wall (lower pic above) is an owner mod. This set up is only one side, probably because there is no place to anchor a spring like that on the opposite side.  Cool idea though and worked well before I took off the bloody latches. My issue is related to the 4 latches themselves, and whether or not there are any washers on the pivot pins on each (4) hood latch.  With no washers, the hinges are resting and turning on the body itself which just doesn't seem right.  Hoping some one may know...

Edited September 30, 2019 by valk (see edit history)