Advice please: Door dented on the end and not hitting dome light switch

[hoyfkd]

I got my grandfather's old 72' Chevy pickup and it has a ton of issues. He used it for everything from logging to hauling crap off the mountain. It was rarely used, but kept running, for decades. Lots of rust issues, and tons of body damage everywhere... but it runs.

I am trying to figure out two issues right now, and how best to deal with them.

1) The dome light switch in the door jam was bad, so I got it working again. Unfortunately, I discovered that the reason he never bothered is because the door is smashed in at the front end (only on the jam-side, you can't see it from the outside) and so it never makes contact with the switch. I have double sided taped a chunk of wood to the door as a stop-gap, but I would like a more permanent solution. How big a task is banging out the end of a door? Is it feasible?

2) The hood is HARD to get opened. All of the parts of the latch are there, the springs are there as well. It releases just fine, but it doesn't pop up. I have to throw all my weight into it and work my finger in to get it started. Once it is started, it opens easy as pie. Is it supposed to pop up a bit?

Thanks!

[Curtb1971]

Hey there, welcome the the site. First thing first, upload some pics of your truck when you get a chance. As far as the hood you might try oiling every pivot point on your hinges, grease the moving parts on the latch and where the striker/pin goes into the latch. The pin may need some adjustment the line up better after the bump's and bruises you described this rig may have. While you have the oil out you might what to lube your door hinges too. Hope this helps

[Andy4639]

On the door problem take the inside door panel off roll the window all the way up and cut a 2x4 to go inside the door that you can either hit with a hammer are barrow a friends hydrolic power pac and push it out.