Often overlooked during many restorations, the process to rebuild and recoat hood hinges is fairly straightforward. Mark Simpson demonstrates how to safely remove hood hinge springs, tighten worn hinges, and phosphate-coat them in the same manner as the factory.
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After watching the video I rebuilt my 1969 Firebird hinges. Wow! What a difference. I have also started using the chemicals to treat other parts. Thank you.
What about cast iron door hinges?
Hello Danny,
Cast iron hood hinges, although rare, can be zinc or manganese phosphate coated in the same manner.
Wrench Safe,
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On restoring a 55 Chev. I replaced the hood hinges. The springs furnished were not strong enough to hold hood up. I ordered new springs, installed and after a few openings they fail to hold hood up. Are stronger springs available?
Tri-Five Chevys (1955-’57) are notorious for this problem, a few of the ones I’ve worked on shared this same issue, I always assumed the aftermarket would one day release stronger springs, but have failed to see any ever come to market. The reproduction springs are built to factory specs and often fail to solve the problem long term. Although I know a few guys that claim new springs fixed their problem and never had issues again.
Common fixes are:
Tightening the rivets on the hinges (as seen in the video)
New Hinges and/or Springs (I guess you’ve tried this one)
Installing a body shim on the lower hood hinge bolt to body mount.
My tri-five friends claim this alters the hinge angle enough to make it work
Shortening the hood spring by cutting off one loop and bending a coil up to create a new attachment loop. (not for the mild of heart… you may want to purchase a set of reproduction $25 springs and make sure someone’s present with a fair amount of fabrication experience).
I understand how the zinc phosphate plating on hinges, requires a nonferrous bucket so as not to waste plating the pot itself; but rather than aluminum, why not a cheap plastic bucket?
for some reason i cannot videos ! some help please !!
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I was hoping someone would say this. So that I could then point out that Lord Ganesha was the only one who was capable of writing it, plus he broke his tusk to write it… Sweat of the brow donritce, perhaps? 😉
Does the mixture have a shelf life to reuse later?
I suppose a number of factors may come into play when determining how long the solution will last… but I can tell you personally I have kept and used mixed solution for over 5-years. In fact it seems to work a little better after it’s been used a couple times. I keep it stored in plastic jugs, at room temperature, and never allow it to freeze. Eventually the zinc is depleted from the solution and it no longer applies a good and consistent coating. When that happens, I simply re-media blast the part and mix-up a fresh batch. Both zinc and manganese solutions are readily available from gun supply stores and web sites. I have used this process for numerous parts during the restoration process, including: Hood Hinges, Door and Trunk Striker Plates and hood latches, etc… Overall it’s relatively easy to do and considering the number of parts that can be coated from a single batch it’s very economical to use.
Wernch Safe, Mark