‘89 FJ62 newb question regarding g good latch (1 Viewer)

[belouder]

Hello!!
Finally getting around to working on my newly acquired ‘89 FJ62!!!
First thing-hood latch mechanism-it all works but after a few closings it gets hard to final latch to the point where I’m denting the hood trying to push it into “lock” position. If I grab the bottom of the latch and bend it outward, thus raising the mechanism a bit, it will lock properly.
If I adjust the rubber stoppers on each side downward until I don’t have to do the above fix, it locks but the hood rattles-I’m assuming there’s supposed to be done tension in the closed position between the hold down and the stoppers to prevent rattling.
If I adjust the stoppers to stop the rattling, eventually it won’t lock after a few openings.
One thing I noticed is there is a threaded hole on the bottom most forward portion of the latching mechanism-is there some sort of strut that is supposed to attach to this and go down (or across) somewhere to support the front if the latch and prevent it from bending down? Attached is a pic.
Thoughts?
Thx
Bri

 

[Saucerman]

WD40 the hell out of everything on there. Look at a FSM, download from here somewhere. Use the search function. The latch looks like mine. What part is bending on impact?

 

[EscapeWagon62]

There is a strut that attached which holds the center part of the grill in place.
My bet, whatever front impact that damaged the strut also knocked your latch out of alignment
You can see damage around your latch as well.
Photo of the strut included.
My bet, WD40 plus bending it back into position will be your best bet.
PS - the hood bumper adjustments should be done in small increments. Too high and the latch wont catch, too loose and it rattles. Took me a few tries.

 

[belouder]

There is a strut that attached which holds the center part of the grill in place.
My bet, whatever front impact that damaged the strut also knocked your latch out of alignment
You can see damage around your latch as well.
Photo of the strut included.
My bet, WD40 plus bending it back into position will be your best bet.
PS - the hood bumper adjustments should be done in small increments. Too high and the latch wont catch, too loose and it rattles. Took me a few tries.

View attachment 2695667

View attachment 2695668

Thanks for the photo of your '62-Mine definitely doesn't have that strut-which also answer a question I had about the bottom valance or body trim piece that goes across the front- it is bent quite a bit and has a mounting hole in the middle with nothing attached. It looks like where the bottom of your strut is attached.

And I'll look more closely at the area you highlighted on my pic-looks like the front might have been indeed hit.

Are you able to take a pic of the bottom side of the strut? Does it only attache to the latch mechanism. front grill and bottom sheet metal or does it continue down to the frome crossmember?

BK

Having the strut in place would definitely solve my problem as it would greatly stiffen the latch mechanism-the act of closing I'm sure causes it to want to rotate forward if there is no support.

 

[EscapeWagon62]

Here is the photo of the lower part of the strut.
It attached to the valence just below the grill and had a bump out that rests against the lower part of the radiator.
I doubt the strut will fix this, I think it’s a mis alignment due to a previous bonk.
I shot some measurement photos so you can see how far away from the upper radiator support the lock mechanism should be.
if the latch and upper radiator support have been pushed back relative to the latch hook on the hood, you could simply add a couple pf washers behind the hood latch to push it forward a bit.
As for the rattle you experience when adjusting the hood bumpers to the point where it can latch...lthere is supposed to be a small rubber bump pad on the underside of the hood next to the hood hook. I didnt have one so I installed an extra brake pedal bump pad I had in the parts bin and put in on the upper radiator support. Rattle gone.

 

[georgebj60]

Here are some more strut photos. This is out of my '84 FJ60, so I'm not sure if there are any differences between the 60 and the 62. If you can't find one locally, you're welcome to buy this one for $25 plus shipping.

 

[belouder]

Just wanted to say a big "Thanks" to IH8Mud and all those willing to help.

georgebj60​

sent me the front strut shown above and it works great and now the hood latch secures every time I close it and no more rattles!!

BK