how to restore hood latch assembly?

[bowhunter65]

how to restore hood latch assembly? can I take the bolt out that runs through the center. I see the end is flared out to hold it in place. What was the factory finish on all the parts?

[Tom Vogel]

bump

[Baker819]

I am taking that center pin out and disassembling it and making a new pin at work and reinstalling all the pieces after being painted. Had it blasted as a single unit and it turned out way better than I thought it would. Doesn't seem to difficult, just more involved than some will want to get.

If you aren't in a hurry I can take pictures as I take mine apart, paint and reassemble... I will have it done before the end of this coming weekend.

[bowhunter65]

Originally Posted by Baker819

I am taking that center pin out and disassembling it and making a new pin at work and reinstalling all the pieces after being painted. Had it blasted as a single unit and it turned out way better than I thought it would. Doesn't seem to difficult, just more involved than some will want to get.

If you aren't in a hurry I can take pictures as I take mine apart, paint and reassemble... I will have it done before the end of this coming weekend.

the center pin is what has me worried. taking it out is no problem but what do I replace it with? I thought about a cotter pin but that pin is pretty small in diameter.

[bowhunter65]

Originally Posted by Baker819

I am taking that center pin out and disassembling it and making a new pin at work and reinstalling all the pieces after being painted. Had it blasted as a single unit and it turned out way better than I thought it would. Doesn't seem to difficult, just more involved than some will want to get.

If you aren't in a hurry I can take pictures as I take mine apart, paint and reassemble... I will have it done before the end of this coming weekend.

what/s the chances of you making 2 pins and selling 1 to me? I ground the mushroomed end off the pin and drove it out and took everything apart no problem. but I/m not sure what to replace it with. according to my drill bit index its 19/64 in diameter. the mushroomed end looks like it slips inside the shaft of the pin.

[Baker819]

Originally Posted by bowhunter65

what/s the chances of you making 2 pins and selling 1 to me? I ground the mushroomed end off the pin and drove it out and took everything apart no problem. but I/m not sure what to replace it with. according to my drill bit index its 19/64 in diameter. the mushroomed end looks like it slips inside the shaft of the pin.

Well now I am going to search for some one to plate my parts. I never thought of that... I spent a bunch of time on my hood hinges and they look okay, but I really wanted a little more quality. If I make one I could for sure make you one too. I just don't know if I will take mine apart now. A good machine shop in your area could easily make you one. Drop off the old pin and what it fits into and a picture of what it used to look like. Which I can help you out there if needed.

I will let you know soon if I found a plater or not.

[bowhunter65]

Originally Posted by Baker819

Well now I am going to search for some one to plate my parts. I never thought of that... I spent a bunch of time on my hood hinges and they look okay, but I really wanted a little more quality. If I make one I could for sure make you one too. I just don't know if I will take mine apart now. A good machine shop in your area could easily make you one. Drop off the old pin and what it fits into and a picture of what it used to look like. Which I can help you out there if needed.

I will let you know soon if I found a plater or not.

The one I took apart was a spare off a parts truck. so I think I will look into the phosphate coating for mine as well. Thanks for the input. I would like to see a pic of end product if anybody has one. Thank,s, Scott

[67ctener]

I would be interested in assembly pics

[DeadheadNM]

I had that for my K20 Parkerized (phosphate coated) by a local plater. Looks NOS now. I highly recommend this for the hood latch parts, hood hinges, door striker plates, and all the bolts you can spare. It's what GM did.

[bowhunter65]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

I had that for my K20 Parkerized (phosphate coated) by a local plater. Looks NOS now. I highly recommend this for the hood latch parts, hood hinges, door striker plates, and all the bolts you can spare. It's what GM did.

how do you prep parts for this coating? is sand blasting okay. what about return spring? maybe I could replace it.

[DeadheadNM]

Originally Posted by bowhunter65

how do you prep parts for this coating? is sand blasting okay. what about return spring? maybe I could replace it.

One of the beauties is you don't do anything for prep. Spring stays in place. The vinyl block on the striker plates? No problem. I literally dropped off a box of dirty, greasy parts and got back what look like new pieces. I have pics of one or two examples buried in my K20 build linked in my signature below. Some plating cos charge by weight. In my case, the co had a minimum order of $100, which did a hood latch, strikers, hood hinges, a mound of bolts/screws and a metal upper radiator pipe for a 4wd application. IMO it's much better than powdercoating and the hood latch on my K5 is powdercoated.

[BlacklandCamper]

I would like to see the finished product.

[rx78nt1alex]

I got bored and thought, what the heck, and took my latch assembly apart. bowhunter65 said that according to his index bit set, the rod was 19/64ths. I thought about it and realized that is almost 20/64, which reduces down to 5/16. You could ream out the holes with a drill bit to fit 5/16ths. They sell rod in that diameter, and if you are patient with a dremel/grinder, you could narrow down the end to the same diameter as the mushroomed end plus some extra length, about a 1/4" should do.

Next take a grinder/dremel and cut a cross into the end of the narrow end about to the same depth as the original cross cut on the original pin. Weld on an equivalent rounded off piece of plate steel to make the head of the pin.

Put the whole thing back together, and remember the cross we cut into the narrow end? Using a chisel or wedge of some sort, put it into the cross and gently tap it to mushroom out the pieces. Now you can either leave it alone, or grind it down to give it that factory look.

Now I don't have any pictures, as I just thought of this, but it's an option for those not knowing any local machine shops or operating on a budget. I will let you know how it works out.

Or if you find a 5/16ths bolt, some washers, and a nylock nut, you should be good to go.

[davischevy]

Here's who I use for the industrial plating and anodizing, They too charge by the lot, they told me once that a barrel cost the same as a coffee can.

Hill Plating Inc
1547 E Florida Street
Springfield, MO 65803 - View Map

Phone: (417) 862-8830

[bowhunter65]

Originally Posted by rx78nt1alex

I got bored and thought, what the heck, and took my latch assembly apart. bowhunter65 said that according to his index bit set, the rod was 19/64ths. I thought about it and realized that is almost 20/64, which reduces down to 5/16. You could ream out the holes with a drill bit to fit 5/16ths. They sell rod in that diameter, and if you are patient with a dremel/grinder, you could narrow down the end to the same diameter as the mushroomed end plus some extra length, about a 1/4" should do.

Next take a grinder/dremel and cut a cross into the end of the narrow end about to the same depth as the original cross cut on the original pin. Weld on an equivalent rounded off piece of plate steel to make the head of the pin.

Put the whole thing back together, and remember the cross we cut into the narrow end? Using a chisel or wedge of some sort, put it into the cross and gently tap it to mushroom out the pieces. Now you can either leave it alone, or grind it down to give it that factory look.

Now I don't have any pictures, as I just thought of this, but it's an option for those not knowing any local machine shops or operating on a budget. I will let you know how it works out.

Or if you find a 5/16ths bolt, some washers, and a nylock nut, you should be good to go.

thanks for the advice. I didn't think about drilling it a 64th bigger. I believe you solved my problem.
I think I will use a 5\16 bolt long enough with out threads to do as you suggested with dremel. that way it has a head on it then cut an x in it and mushroom it out. Thanks again.

[rx78nt1alex]

Let me know how it works. I am stuck working at my job to support my Chevy habit until I can try it out on the weekend.

[Baker819]

That sounds like a pretty easy fix. I would just add that before you drill you measure the diameter of the bolts shank (the part that has no threads). And try the bolt out on the other parts that will fit over it, which shouldn't be a problem but who knows. Just a double check, maybe it's just me making extra work out of it, but I am picky.

[rx78nt1alex]

So this is what I tried instead of drilling it out to 5/16ths. I got the welder and welded on another inch a little bit at a time, then taking it to the grinder to round it out. Then I went back to the idea I came up with of using a dremel to drill a cross into the end.

This is what it looks like, but I have to put it back to together and mushroom it back out.

[Baker819]

Right on, take another picture when you are done

[bowhunter65]

Heres what I have so far. drilled all holes to 5/16 hardly removed any material at all. used a dremel to cut ring around the bolt then slowly ground down the end to fit the original washer. cut a slot with dremel. putt everything back together. fits real nice. now I have the pin ready. its time to disassemble and decide how to finish the parts. when I reassemble I plan on flaring out the bolt to hold everything in place, cut off excess and fill groove with jb weld. If anybody has pictures of the parkerised phosphate coating that deadheadnm referred to I would love to see some pics. any body try the tin zinc plating that eastwood sells.

[rx78nt1alex]

So I finally finished the latch and added Putter's inside cab release while I was at it.

I put the whole thing back together then using a chisel, spreading out the 4 pieces, then mushrooming them out further using a hammer, then dremeling the ears off and painting it all. Bowhunter's method is equally good, and will be probably be the method I use when I take care of my wife's 68. I went this way because I lost my 5/16ths bit.

[bowhunter65]

I decided to have mine powder coated. got it back today and assembled with the new pin I made. spread it out with a big screwdriver and put jb weld in the flare. I coated the small return spring with a black metallic wax.

[Baker819]

That looks nice. Is the spring bare? Can't tell if it's just the light.

[19Chevy67C10]

I buy this stuff, blast my parts in a bead blaster and blow them off with clean compressed air and wear nitrate gloves and dip the parts. This would be a factory finished part... Hope this helps...You will need a stainless pot, one from the wife without her knowing works well and a temp gauge that reads to 190-200 degrees and your in bizz..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Parkerizing-...0cca6f&vxp=mtr

God Bless,

Kev...