My T44 hood lock is inoperative (fortunately in the 'unlock' position). I assume it is a broken/detached cable (just 'flops' back and forth). I know they make repros but it looks like it would be a real nightmare to replace. Anybody have experience with that?

 

Not too bad to replace an existing. Attach a stiff wire to the end of the old one, pull it through into the car, attach the new one securely to the wire, and pull it back under the hood. The grommet at the firewall may need to be popped out though first.
Adding a repro to a car without it is more of a PITA though...
Find out where the cable is broke - at the latch or the handle. maybe you can find a way to repair it.

 

It's been a while since I messed with one of these, but if I remember right the cable is just a single thin stiff wire. It's pretty common for them to break. John

 

70 used a one piece wire/cable. Pretty sure they went to the 2 piece wire in 71. 72 was definitely a 2 piece. On those, there is a plastic junction about half way. The junction lays on the wheel well near the horn relay. The junction, if you have a 2 piece cable, just has two ends inside it. The cable from the lever pushes the other cable. They aren't hooked on to each other. So, I don't think much could go wrong in there.
I'd say that it is most likely broken at one of the ends.
The end at the latch itself is a pain to see and get to so I'd start at the lever on the dash. It's just 2 quarter inch hex screws to drop the lever housing. There's a plastic piece in there that can break as well as the plasitc lever itself. Broken levers are pretty common.
If those are ok, then you'll need to pull the latch. That's not bad as there are only 3 bolts. Well, one bolt, one nut and one hood bumper. The problem is that the cable, if installed correctly, is strapped to the core support so you may need to remove those cable retainers to allow the cable to move and provide enough slack to pull the latch out of the core support to look at the cable end itself. There should also be a small cover covering the cable connection at the latch. It is just held on by one screw. It's there to keep someone from tampering with or circumventing the lock by disconnecting the cable at the latch.

 

Thanks for the info. When removing the hood latch is it easier to pull a grill out to access it from underneath?

 

My '71 has the 2 pc. cable.

 

Here's a few pics I took of the lock assembly.


First Pic: The "pointer' is pointed at the post on the "slider plate" that the cable end attaches to. It's possible the cable also slipped off of here if the retainer fell off.

Second Pic: Same as first but different angle

Third Pic: Shows the metal dust cover and you can see a round retainer laying to the R of the hood lock. Not sure if this is the original style retaiiner or not as this latch assembly had been removed from a car, painted, put back, on and now removed again.

 

I have my lock wired "open", more than one of these locks has jammed in the locked position.

 

It's funny you mention that because I just spent an hour trying to 'unlock' my latch assy so I could open the hood! The previous owner warned me that it will occasionally 'jiggle' to the 'lock' position after driving and/or slamming the hood a few times. Fortunately, the dust cover is gone and I was just barely able to reach up and move the lever. The cable is completely detached from the latch assy and the detached end does not move with the control lever so I have multiple problems. I just assume not mess with it but I would like to somehow lock wire mine open as you have done. How do get to the latch to do this. I thought I could pull the grilles to gain access but it looks like the bumper has to come off to remove the grilles!! If I unbolt the latch assy will it 'fall' into the support area?

 

Something else to consider:

The mechanism is designed to automatically lock when you shut the hood. Personally, I would find this annoying. I'd rather lock it manually and intentionally from inside the car, so I can leave it unlocked if I want. Fortunately, mine has never worked the way the factory intended (for as long as I have owned the car, anyway). If you stare at the mechanism long enough, you can probably figure out how to disable the auto-lock feature. I'm not sure, but I bet it's one of those springs.

 

You may opt to replace with a cheap, used regular latch until you get your locking one repaired.

 

Here is how I fixed my Hood Lock.

The cable is in two pieces (1971), with the joint located over the drivers plastic fender. The connector broke which prevented the cable / lever from moving the control cable in and out.
One day the vibration of driven caused the Lock to enable, preventing me from popping the hood open.

Here is my solution.

I used a pair of good wire cutters and reached inside from the front bumper and pulled as much cable towards me as possible. Then I cut the cable so I would have plenty of slack to pass the cable through the grill.

I had about 6 inched out the grill, then used a finer pair of wire cutters to remove the outer black plastic cover and stiffing wires. This left a white plastic sleeve over the center cable. Then I trimmed off the out plastic cover, leaving the center wire intact.
Pulling on the center wire by hand released the Lock and I was able to open the hood.

To prevent it from happening again, I folded back the center wire and taped it down and pushed it back through the grill.

 

The lock will only lock automatically if the switch is in the lock position.
I'll trade standard hood latches for your hood lock latches if you guys want to get rid of them.

 

I would like to replace the cable and fix it the way it is supposed to be but nobody makes the 2-piece cable that I am aware of (only the earlier 1-piece cable).

 

Interesting. I have always left my lever in the unlock position. Once or twice in the past 10 years, I have gone to open the hood and found that it was locked. I figured I had just knocked the lever to the locked position by accident. Oh well, if mine is malfuntioning, I like it that way.

By the way, I have at least 1/2 of the two piece 71/72 cable. Let me know if you're interested and I'll dig it out of my "spares" box and see exactly what I have. Email me at w70442@hotmail.com if you're interested and would like some pics.
Randy

 

Thanks Randy. My cable is broken at the latch end AND the dash lever end so I would need both pieces. I'm still working on some other little detail items and haven't really looked too hard for the right cable yet (and I'm not looking foward to replacing it as it looks like it will be a '****').

 

If I remember correctly, the automatic lock feature of the 1970 T44 is caused by a small spring in the lock mechanism. Remove the spring and it will become manual-lock only -- which is how mine works (or doesn't work, depending on your point of view).

 

mmurphy77,
Here's a couple pics of what I have. I'm going to post the pics in two different replies to reduce confusion.
This first one is basically for the sheathing for the half towards the inside of the car. The barrel is still on the latch end but that end is missing the plastic clip that screws to the latch. The crimped on ring terminal for the inside lever is broken off of the other end. A bicycle repair shop may be able to put a new cable in it. As I said, this one is probably only good for half of the outer sheathing and the center (white/yellow) barrel. $15 + shipping??
T44hoodlockcable007.jpg
T44hoodlockcable005.jpg
T44hoodlockcable004.jpg
T44hoodlockcable002.jpg

 

Here's another cable. This one is complete with the lever housing and all of the ends of the cable are intact. the chrome on the lever housing is very nice though the lever itself is broken. Someone was reproducing the levers a while back. I think his name was Scott but that's all I remember. He may be here on the board. I made a lever from a piece of aluminum and put a heater **** on it. No one's ever questioned it and it will never break. The plastic at one end of the barrel is kind of cracked/cut but seems physically solid. Please check the pics for the condition. $65 + ship.





T44hoodlockcable008.jpg

 

I'll take the 2nd setup, if not spoken for already. Please PM me.
Thanks

 

Thanks Randy. My lever and box are mint so I wonder if I can use my box/lever with your cable. I'll have to pull it off and see how it is attached and I'd be interested in the second one. The first one is what I have already.

 

Wow, I guess I should have typed faster!!!

 

Mike,
You mentioned that your cable is not connected at the latch end. I'm curious why it's not connected. Is the black plastic thing with the oval slot in it missing or broken? I have one of those things kicking around here somewhere. Prob can't find it now that I might need to.....Or is there something else wrong.
Also, yes, if you remove the bolts and nut from the latch, it will fall down into the area in front of the radiator. Since the cable isn't attached, you should be able to reach in and grab it through a hole in the bumper or from under the car reaching above the bumper. ALWAYS use jack stands.

By the way, I have a hood lock latch assembly that has had the auto locking mechanism broken off(the pivoting pin) if anyone wants to "disable" theirs. It can be bought outright or we can trade latches.