Cheap and easy hood lock

[lukecp]

I converted my current hood latch on my '72 to the style that must be opened from inside the truck. This is very easy to do, and proably won't cost more than $10 for the parts.

First, you must remove the hood latch from the truck. If you look at the handle on the latch, you will see that by operating the handle, it releases 2 catches. One is in the middle, and the other sticks out of the latch on the driver's side. You must grind the handle so that when the handle is operated, it will not cause the driver's side catch to release the hood. Then, re-install the latch.

Drill a hole on the driver's side catch about 1/2 way up it. This is where the cable will hook on to it. I used a old cable i had for a manual choke conversion kit. Now, find a place under the dash for the end of the cable to mount. Mount the cable, then thread it through the firewall to the hood latch. Attach the cable securely at about 4 places along the way to prevent it from flexing. Then, attach the cable to the hood catch, and you are done.

Now, trying to pop the hood from the outside of the truck will only cause it to rise about 1/2 an inch, and prevent most theives from messing with your engine. A determined thief could still get in if they messed around for a little bit, but it will stop the vast majority. Here are the pics of the install, which took me about an hour:

[lukecp]

Cable routing:

[lukecp]

Underdash Mounting:

[lukecp]

Thanks for the coments!

casey, Nope, the tension on the cable keeps the catch released, so all you have to do is pull the cable from the cab of the truck, then walk outside and pop the hood and it comes right open. Then, before you shut the hood, push the catch back and shut the hood, and it is locked.

70c10, The tach modification is actually pretty easy, although it looks kinda complicated. I found that a 3-3/8" Sunpro tach fits perfectly in the stock tach hole. I used the Sunpro simply because it was cheap (only $40). Just take out the dash, and start taking it apart. Cut the insturment lens where the tach hole is, then cut the black painted metal piece behind that, and the tach should slide right in. I cut everything with a dremel. Just take the dash apart, and it is really easy to figure out what to cut where.

Also, here is the closeup of how the cable is attached to the hood catch another member requested. I was out playing with the adjustment today, and lost the screw that the cable was tied to, so i got lazy and used a zip-tie. Just start the screw in the hole, wrap the cable around it, and tighten it down.