Hood latch help

Maintenance advice to keep your Spider in shape.
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Barjavel
Posts: 33
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2021 12:43 pm
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat 2000

Hood latch help

Post by Barjavel »

I got my 1982 Fiat Spider 2000 back from a year in the paint shop. The car was taken apart for a proper paint job, and the painter reinstalled everything himself. The hood was latched when I picked up the car. I opened the hood at home to diagnose a non-working radiator fan, but now the hood won't close. The latch pin bangs against the latch assembly, but I can't quite see where. I assume that the assembly needs to be adjusted? Do I adjust the pin or the assembly? Here is a photo of the assembly, after I pulled the release cable. Does it look like an "open" latch should look? Thanks for any thoughts...

I can't figure out how to post the image, but it's here:

https://ibb.co/L84zXGW
18Fiatsandcounting
Posts: 3791
Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:23 pm
Your car is a: 1969 and 1971 124 spiders
Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Re: Hood latch help

Post by 18Fiatsandcounting »

The latch assembly is the part you would adjust, and in the picture, yours is in the unlatched state. To adjust, you loosen those two 10mm nuts on either side, move the assembly left or right, up or down, as required and then retighten the nuts.

I would start by seeing if you can raise the assembly by 1/8" or so. Some hoods are harder to close than others, but the later model cars should latch if you drop the rear of the hood from a height of about a foot and a half.

-Bryan
mocabill
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2023 11:34 am
Your car is a: 1981 fiat 2000 spider

Re: Hood latch help

Post by mocabill »

Having the same issue,cable release is working,but the hood doesn't lock down,no matter if I drop it or press down. The hood was shut earlier,nothing was changed,all lubed.
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