Hood latch pin problem

[dan]

My daily driver--a '31 coupe--has a problem with one of the hood latches. When I open the hood, if I don't turn the handle of the latch to the side before laying it down, the little retaining pin that holds the spring will slide out into the channel, preventing the latch from turning. On one or two occasions, the pin has actually fallen completely out. Fortunately so far that's only happened in my garage where the pin can't go very far and is easy enough to locate. I suspect that if I lose it in a parking lot, it may be gone for good.

I hope that's a clear enough explanation--here's a picture (though that's not my latch) of the pin I'm talking about:



I suspect that this is because the latches are very worn. Alternately, it could be that these were taken apart at some time in the car's life and reassembled wrong. So two questions: how can I tell if it's put together correctly, and if it is but I'm still having trouble, is there a fix for this other than replacing the whole latch assembly?

[Tom Wesenberg]

Sound like the pin is too worn, or the holes are worn too large. Either way it should be an easy fix. You may have to replace the pins or weld the holes and redrill them.

[Ken Ehrenhofer]

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There was a great article written by Ron Ehrenhofer and Larry Rust on rebuilding the hood latches in the Model A News NOV/DEC 2006 issue expalining exactly how to rebuild them,
I hope this helps,
Ken