Broken hood outer hinge

Bmachine

Bmachine

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For some strange reason the hinge/ bracket that holds the hood up broke off the bar that runs accross the front of the hood. I wonder what would cause this. I plan on having this welded back but I'd like to know what caused this in the first place so I can fix the source of the problem.

Has anyone had this before?

Thanks

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Mine is broken too. My guess would be 4/10 owners have this fail/crack...there should be a poll....

As for cause, it could be frequent open close procedures, vibration/weight of hood, general low quality steel used for a part where better metallurgy should have been used.

I personally think it's not worth welding and removed mine...good luck with your project...(I think you can also buy brand new)

MF
 
Mine did that. Looked like metal fatigue. When I pop the hood, I try to grab the hood from the middle, as it looked like opening the hood by grabbing it above the hood vent torqued the hood, and put uneven stress on those bars.
 
easy fix

Although I respect the people who say it's not worth it to fix the torsion bar I strongly disagree. The fix is a bit of a pain, I think more than 4/10 people have this problem and I think the problem is simply metal fatigue as there is allot of stress on that little part of the bar. You can take it apart, have it welded even with the other side and then see DeQ's thread on how to re spring them. (no additional parts needed), the hood stays up nicely when done correctly and it is one of the best indicators of weather the car is repaired correctly in other areas (my opinion only). Some people never had the opportunity as their coupes came without the bar, but I think that if you have it, it should be used. You can re-paint it with "duplicolor" from an auto parts store as long as it is close. You might also have the other side reinforced as well.
 
Also

If you are really having trouble with the re-springing after it's welded you could send it to me and I'll do it and wire it up and send it back no charge except shipping-
 
Thank you for all these great replies. It's good to hear (well, sort of) that I am not alone and that there are three options available:
- Don't do anything
- Re weld it
- Buy the part new for $130

I had done a search but couldn't find the right search words. With Peter's mention of deQ's fix I was able to search for "hood" in threads started by "deQuincey" and sure enough, I found this very enlightening one:

http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12775&page=3&highlight=hood

Super helpful!

Thank you!
 
Fortunately I got to mine before it cracked open:

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And then spray painted per Peter's mention.
 
Mine started to crack. I ground out the original weld, and welded it back together. It had worked fine for 30 years.
 
Most of us have had this happen and I guess we all have our preferred fix.

In my opinion, replacing the whole torsion spring - lever arm assembly is the only way to go. The torsion springs lose their tension over time so even if you extend the life of your tube-arm part by welding up the fracture, the hood will eventually fail to stay open as the torsion springs die. This process is probably accelerated when you anneal them from the heat of welding the tube.

Yea, you could weld the tube-arm and install new torsion springs, but the cost of two springs approximates that of the complete assembly.
 
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