Removing 55 Super 88 Hood

bradsgarage · May 12th, 2009, 07:31 PM

Hi All,

New to the group - have a 55 Super 88 named Lucy and she's rearing her red head today!

The engine finally gave up, so I've embarked on pulling it to start the rebuild but have been stuck at trying to figure out how to remove the hood.

Unlike the later cars, or Chevy's I own, the hood hinge is integrated into the hood - no bolts to the hood.

What looks like two rivets with caps are at the top two arms of the hinge - the rest of the hinge has solid rivets. It appears that the caps would come off the pins to release the hood.

There is one bolt into the firewall side, and it appears to have two from inside the car through the bottom of the hinge bracket, so I doubt removing the hinge and hood as one unit is what was expected.

I don't want to break anything - and need some advice! Help!

bradsgarage · May 13th, 2009, 09:44 AM

I can't post pictures yet, so I guess all I can do is describe what I have - hopefully someone will help out - please!

The hinge appears to be bolted to the firewall from inside and from under the hood - the arms to the hood that connect to the bracket that I would expect to have bolts holding it to the hood are secured with what looks like rivets that have about 1 inch heads (flattened sides) - and they appear to be pressed into a grommet/ferrule that holds it in place.

They have been painted over, so I've scraped off the paint to see if I can figure it out - I don't see any way to get them off without damaging them or damaging the car.

I can't seem to get a blade between the ferrule and the hinge to pry - and I don't want to use a punch to push out the rivet in fear of bending the hinge.

I really need to get the hood of - please help guys!

bradsgarage · May 13th, 2009, 10:35 AM

The shop manual says that the pins in question are indeed the correct ones:

1) Remove hinge springs
2) While supporting hood, remove two hinge link bolts on each side of hood. See "C" on Fig 15-2

There is no mention of how to remove them as it does not look like the retainers are nuts - it looks more like a ferrule that would slide on. There are no flat sides on anything indicating that it should be turned to remove.

Ideas?

jad717 · August 3rd, 2009, 10:26 PM

Not sure if you figured this out yet, but those bolts do unscrew. They aren't rivets. And the bolts securing the hinge to the cowl are easily accessible from inside the car, under the dash. But then again, I could be wrong.

May 12th, 2009, 07:31 PM	#1 (permalink)
bradsgarage Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8	Removing 55 Super 88 Hood Hi All, New to the group - have a 55 Super 88 named Lucy and she's rearing her red head today! The engine finally gave up, so I've embarked on pulling it to start the rebuild but have been stuck at trying to figure out how to remove the hood. Unlike the later cars, or Chevy's I own, the hood hinge is integrated into the hood - no bolts to the hood. What looks like two rivets with caps are at the top two arms of the hinge - the rest of the hinge has solid rivets. It appears that the caps would come off the pins to release the hood. There is one bolt into the firewall side, and it appears to have two from inside the car through the bottom of the hinge bracket, so I doubt removing the hinge and hood as one unit is what was expected. I don't want to break anything - and need some advice! Help!

May 13th, 2009, 09:44 AM	#2 (permalink)
bradsgarage Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8	More investigation on the hinge I can't post pictures yet, so I guess all I can do is describe what I have - hopefully someone will help out - please! The hinge appears to be bolted to the firewall from inside and from under the hood - the arms to the hood that connect to the bracket that I would expect to have bolts holding it to the hood are secured with what looks like rivets that have about 1 inch heads (flattened sides) - and they appear to be pressed into a grommet/ferrule that holds it in place. They have been painted over, so I've scraped off the paint to see if I can figure it out - I don't see any way to get them off without damaging them or damaging the car. I can't seem to get a blade between the ferrule and the hinge to pry - and I don't want to use a punch to push out the rivet in fear of bending the hinge. I really need to get the hood of - please help guys!

May 13th, 2009, 10:35 AM	#3 (permalink)
bradsgarage Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8	Shop Manual The shop manual says that the pins in question are indeed the correct ones: 1) Remove hinge springs 2) While supporting hood, remove two hinge link bolts on each side of hood. See "C" on Fig 15-2 There is no mention of how to remove them as it does not look like the retainers are nuts - it looks more like a ferrule that would slide on. There are no flat sides on anything indicating that it should be turned to remove. Ideas?

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August 3rd, 2009, 10:26 PM	#4 (permalink)
jad717 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Franklin, WI Posts: 8	Not sure if you figured this out yet, but those bolts do unscrew. They aren't rivets. And the bolts securing the hinge to the cowl are easily accessible from inside the car, under the dash. But then again, I could be wrong.