Took hood hinge out of bushing - cant get it back

[JHZR2]

Hi,

Tonight I took my hood hinge out of the bushing that is on the inner pocket wall (the one that usually breaks if not lubed often). Perfect shape. Lubed, clean, etc.

I did my work in the hinge pocket, sealing and doing the rust prevention thing.
Then, I went to reinstall the hood, by putting the pin through the bushing... the pin was libed and looked fine, but no luck...

multiple events, multiple failures. eventually the wife gave a hand, and we tried to pull the whole hood up, to reduce the weight bearing on the hinge, etc. No dice. We get it to the point where the face of the pin is nearly at the exit of the hole in the bushing, but we cant get it past there - certainly not out far enough to get the clip on. And we can only get it to that point by really rocking the whole hood to try to weasel it in.

Presing on it via a lever doesnt help either.

So, all in all, I cannot for the life of me get the hinge pin back into its bushing in the inner wall of the hinge pocket.

Now I have a well re-sealed, rust free hinge pocket, and no way to properly hinge my hood... since I cant get it in.

The hole in the bushing is perfectly clear and free of obstruction.

Any hints or suggestions???? Otherwise Im stuck with only one hinge...

Thanks,

JMH

[kerry]

Just relax, don't become unhinged over it. I'm sure someone here will be able to pin down the solution as soon as it springs to their mind.

[Brian Carlton]

Look carefully at the bushing. On the W126, it can only be inserted one way. There's a small notch that engages a notch in the hood. If you don't pay attention, the bushing won't go in far enough and the pin won't clear the bushing on the far side.

Also, take a look at the head of the pin and see if it also has a feature that locates it to the bushing.........

One of them is likely on the W123.

[JHZR2]

the pin is just a smooth cylinder with a groove cut around its top to put the slide-on piece which keeps it from backing out. Perfectly smooth.

No luck thus far...

JMH

[lonewolftek]

I had to stare long and hard at the other side of my hood to figure out that I'd gotten one of the arms in a weird position when I took my hinge out on the passenger side.

[JimmyL]

Originally Posted by JHZR2

Hi,

Tonight I took my hood hinge out of the bushing that is on the inner pocket wall (the one that usually breaks if not lubed often).

JMH

Now how on earth have I missed this detail? Anybody have a pic of a bad one, or of the area? I haven't heard of this before, but have 6 hinges sitting out in the driveway......

[barry123400]

The problem is probably because the pin and bushing are out of alignment. Try unbolting the hinge from the hood, install the pin into the bushing and rebolt the hinge to the hood. The hinge with age and use can get a little distorted. That will tend to twist the pin or bushing a little.

[barry123400]

Jim, the pin is notorious for seizing in the bushing and tearing the surrounding sheet metal and bushing out of the inner fender especially in the rustbelt.
A person can prevent this senario by just lubricating the pin/bushing points once a year or so.
They can be a little miserable to repair if it happens to you. If you ever have to fix one there after you will never forget to lubricate them periodically. One reason they are not lubricated is that their location is hard to see. Out of sight out of mind perhaps.

[lonewolftek]

barry is entirely correct - I realized after breaking a hinge bushing on the '84 (bought in MD, it's got some rust in places), that I wasn't lubing the right place on the '83 (which is a Southwest car and has no rust). It takes a flashlight in one hand and a can of lubricant with a long tube on it in the other.

[StaggerLee]

I've had some hinge issues on my 1981 300TD and found that the pin and bushing are easier to line up with the hood all the way up in the "pull the engine" position. On mine, it takes the weight off that part of the hinge so it can easily be manipulated.
Good luck!