On my 68 GS350 the rear of the hood tends to ride up higher than the fender height, maybe 1/2"-3/4" or so. I haven't tried adjusting the hinges yet, but I did pick up a pair of the springs for the hinges from an old wrecked 68 GS. Anyone know a good way to remove all the surface rusting from these old hinges? Are they available from someone like TAPerformance or Year One?

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David Gramlow
1968 GS350

I would just find someone with a blast cabinet and ask them to do it. If you go to the "shop" at this site, you will find a discriptive article.

vinegar and water, dark works better than white. mix 1:1 and put the springs in there, leave them until they turn black and all the rust is gone. A small wire brush will knock off the black residue and they will be gray. very easy, very cheap. Been using vinegar for years to remove rust, also muriatic acid and phosphoric but vinegar is much safer...not as quick but safe

Thanks for the tip Ironhunter...I've got lots of time so I'll try the vinegar treatment.

I forgot to mention, it works faster when heated. Stinks to high heaven and the wife will threaten you within an inch of your life, but if you put it on the stove and simmer it works much faster

Hey Ironhunter,
I have tried your vinigar solution on some small pieces and IT WORKS!!
Thanks for the tip man this will help enormously in cleaning all those thiny and impossible to clean pieces

Hey IRONHUNTER thanks for the tip!
I used your vinigar method on some small hard to clean pieces and this really works!!

My hood springs still need considerable wire brushing, etc after several days/2 treatments with the vinegar. Haven't worked on them yet, since taking them out of the vinegar. They did have 20+ years of exposure though. Maybe I'll brush them down, then treat them again.

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David Gramlow
1968 GS350
GSCA 861

Oh, I forgot to tell you, if there is grease or oil on the parts it wont penetrate that very good. If it didnt work very good and they were clean, try more heat. There is always the chance that the vinegar you got is weak. Some are not as good as others, so once you find one that works good stick with it. I use Heinz but others work just as good.. If that dont work, go to the paint store and get some metal conditioner (phosphoric acid).

I'll give the heat a try...didn't use any the first time, just let them soak for several days, changing the mix for fresh stuff once. I used new vinegar right from the store, so it shouldn't have been weak. The springs didn't have any grease or oil on them, just heavy rusting.

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David Gramlow
1968 GS350
GSCA 861

This might be a little late for you but I have used vinegar to clean rusty parts from my 36 chevy truck and my 64 Skylark. I found that it works very well but takes sometimes 2 or 3 weeks of soaking for heavy rust.I don't know if you can damage parts by leaving them too long so I check them every few days.

Getting back to the original problem of the hood riding high at the back. This problem is usually caused by the hinges being down too low. A quick fix can be to raise the hood and slacken off the bolts attaching the hinges to the body. Have an assistant maintain just enough strain on the hood to cause the hinges to move up and tilt upwards as far as they can. Then tighten the bolts. The reajustment should now allow the hinge spring to move over centre and pull the hood down rather than try to push it up if it hadn't moved over centre on the hinge mechanism.

Good luck