Well its subzero temps in the Midwest and I finally ran across the hood latch problem. After a quick hardware store run, got the hood jimmied open.
It looks like my particular latches have seen quite a few lubricants. Its so bad, the passenger side can barely be moved by hand, let alone using the cable pull. Now, there have been many threads on what lubricants are best, but nobody ever seems to talk about how to clean these.
I find this particularly interesting as the hood latches are not only riveted to the body of the car, making the removal for cleaning cumbersome, but the passenger side is also fully enclosed in sheet metal. From one perspective its great that it will not get dirty as fast, seeing how its at the front of the car, but it makes cleaning a real pain.
So the real question is, how do you like to degrease these and get them ready for another round of lube? Just keep caking on more penetrating lubricant, followed by grease? I am thinking of using a powerful steam cleaner, which should provide adequate pressure to penetrate through the latches from the top, degrease the mechanisms well, and importantly, not ruin the single stage paint using an aggressive solvent.
-M
The Lovely e28 Hood Latches
Re: The Lovely e28 Hood Latches
Paint thinner with some sort of bristle brush should work ok.
Re: The Lovely e28 Hood Latches
Brake cleaner or whatever solvent of your choice, apply liberally to de-gunk. For lube I used a product from Maxima called Chain Wax. It penetrates and dries on, leaving a wax like lubricating film. I did this on my 88 a few years ago and it's been great ever since.
As it turns out that lube is suitable for stalk switches too. It's designed to be o-ring safe and it doesn't attack the plastic innards of the switches either.
As it turns out that lube is suitable for stalk switches too. It's designed to be o-ring safe and it doesn't attack the plastic innards of the switches either.