Well, I got the bloody thing open, and, after some to do, fixed. Since the
latch pin was never touched from the time the hood was taken off until the
time it was put back on, I'm pretty sure I must have botched up the latch
itself somehow when taking the motor/transmission out or putting it back in.
Probably rested it on the cross piece that holds the latch and possibly even
bent it a tiny bit.
Anyhow, the cone part of the latch pin was hanging up just *above* the
latch mechanism, and was misaligned somewhat to the rear of the hole. I
wound up removing the oil cooler, which sits directly below the latch
assembly, and, with a flashlight through one oil line hole and a
quarter-inch steel rod through the other, and a mallet judiciously applied
to the latter, I managed to bang the pin loose. After that, I removed the
grill so I could get to the thing in case my first adjustments didn't fix
it. Which they didn't.
And two folks sent me copies or word of the item in the May/June MGA!
which describes a hood-latch tool. (It wouldn't have worked for my
particular problem, but the timing was interesting. Turns out the issue was
lying--as yet unread--on top of a stack of other unread magazines in my
bedroom.
Too many words about such a rotten little problem. But all problems are
nice after they're solved!
Thanks for the advice and encouragement from all who wrote. The list is
a nice place to turn when frustrations mount.
Richard Parker
Cal. State Univ., Chico
1962 MGA roadster. (Now it says "Ahhh" agan)
///
/// mgs@autox.team.net mailing list
/// (If they are dupes, this trailer may also catch them.)
|