Stuck '39 Ford hood

J

jmara

New member
I went to open the hood on my 39 coupe, pulled the latch handle on the front, and it won't release. Any ideas on what went wrong and how to get it open? Thanks
 
Try pushing down on the front of the hood while operating the latch. It may relieve the pressure on the latch.
 
Not sure what is stuck but perhaps you could slide a flat wooden ruler in between hood and grille to release latch. Let us know what the out come is and what solved it
 
Photo is from my 39 pu to help visualize, not sure if car has same latch. The front piece rotates with the handle, the background piece is spring loaded. Like mentioned before try pushing down, in addition to unloading the latch it will help keep the front piece clocked on the handle shaft so it will unlatch and open. At least that's what I did with same problem. Once open you may want to disassemble blend out the wear marks and adjust shaft nut so latch turns with the handle. Good luck, hope this helps!
 

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The39 DeLuxe latch has a rod that go to each side with a hook that slides behind a tapered bracket and pulls the hood down when latched. You can see them through the last openings in each side the grill. Maybe take a punch and tap them back and up maybe loosen them.

Bubba in Texas
 
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