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I had an orange '72 Swinger that was in much worse shape back in highschool, and I loved it despite how often it stranded me or all the mechanical bodges I did to keep it running. I'd get another in a heartbeat, but that piece of poo poo I bought for $600 in 1999 is apparently a several thousand dollar car around here, so I don't know if I'll get another chance. The wheel wells on these tend to look like yours. Check under the carpet as well to make sure you're not Fred Flinstoneing around, and if you are, the good old fashioned fix was welding an old street sign there. I'm sure there are actual, legitimate fixes as well for people who are not poor highschool students.
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May 26, 2021 17:59
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I just used hood pins but I don't think anyone would accuse me of doing anything right with that car
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May 29, 2021 11:29
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It's been 20+ years, but generically: are there any other springs in the mechanism that could be failing to counter the main one? This feels like an issue where the latch is meant to lock in once the hood is down, but the latch doesn't rotate to the point where whatever is meant to keep it in place is able to. Can you get a similar diameter bar (a pencil or pen maybe?) and try to actuate the mechanism with the hood open to see where things get held up?
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Jun 3, 2021 18:31
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Could you lengthen the spring artificially? Hook a paperclip in one of the coils or something to see if that fixes it? Alternatively: can the latch itself be cleaned a bit with a wire brush and given a spritz of oil? It doesn't look bad at all, but I wonder if something is causing more friction than it should be.
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Jun 3, 2021 21:19
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I had a similar issue on my '72 back in highschool and the expedited and cheap fix was to fit the manual choke cable from a lawnmower and mount it under the dash. I'd let it idle for a few minutes with the choke pulled, then push it in to drive off. You could also do it the correct way, but a choke cable is like $12. EDIT: for context, I was 17 and barely had money to fill the tank after working for the weekend, so most fixes were along similar lines. I miss that giant shitbox despite it being objectively the worst, least reliable car I've owned (I paid $600 for it after test driving it around the seller's back yard since it didn't have plates).
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Feb 20, 2024 17:50
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