Hood hinge spring on my 53' Merc
 

Recently I had a hood hinge wear out and so I replaced it. I noticed that the coil spring on the replacement hood hinge was larger than the ones on the hinges when I got the car. After looking into it further, I discovered the coil spring on the replacement hood hinge was the same size as on all other 52-54' Merc's that I had pictures of. Both springs appear to be the same design and the smaller springs have been used without incident over the last 6 years, holding the hood open. Any ideas as to where the smaller springs would have come from? Does anyone know if there was a change during the production? These are the same ones used on Fords and the trucks.

Re: Hood hinge spring on my 53' Merc
 

The (BF-16812-A) Mercury clock spring is listed in the parts book as 2-3/16" free dia.
Most likely all Ford and Mercury replacement springs at some point in time were made to the bigger dia. to eliminate the need to make two different sizes.

Re: Hood hinge spring on my 53' Merc
 

51 MERC-CT: I am wondering if Fords, Mercury's or the Trucks ever came with the 2 3/4 " springs from the factory, and at a later date were changed to 3 3/16? I am trying to figure where these came from. Were they used on any Ford vehicle?