2 types of hood hinges - info ?

[71 Bee Man]

Hi guys.

I recently bought some eBay hood hinges for my 71 Charger. The ones I wa see placing had broken teeth, but when I received the "new" used ones they didn't have any meshing teeth, but we're actually smooth in their mechanism.
Can anyone tell me whether particular models came out with teeth/smooth ?
The smooth ones actually have trouble holding the hood up. Wondering why they have two types.
Thanks,
Peter

 

[moparmarks]

Probably 73-4 hinges.

 

[71 Bee Man]

You could be right, but I think I've figured out why the hood doesn't stay up.

I took the springs off the old hinges - definitely look to have thicker springs, more metal. I replaced one of the springs on the car, and voila.......hood stays up.
Side by side though, the original ones on my car are thicker.

 

[Photon440]

I don't know about your years. But for my 1970, there were two different springs used on the same hinge - more coils for regular hoods and fewer coils resulting in more tension for heavier hoods with air grabbers. Places like AMD don't seem to offer a choice for new replacements.

 

[71 Bee Man]

I don't know about your years. But for my 1970, there were two different springs used on the same hinge - more coils for regular hoods and fewer coils resulting in more tension for heavier hoods with air grabbers. Places like AMD don't seem to offer a choice for new replacements.

I reckon you've hit the nail on the head. The hood was fine till I installed the Superbee hood insert, then "whoosh", down she came. When I put the original springs on the new hinges it stayed up, and like I said....they're visibly chunkier.

 

[WileE]

It's the tension of the springs. I recall a few times way back, when the hoods would not stay up due to poor spring tension. Few dents on my head are proof. I used a broken antenna for a prop whenever needed.

 

[ODZKing]

Not too much difference between 71-2 and 73-4 hinges. I was told that 73-4 were beefier.

 

[71 Bee Man]

I took some pictures tonight of the actual springs themselves.
When I post the pics , you'll see that the actual 71 springs off my original hinges, are in fact tensioned a bit more and thicker.
So......the hinges I hot off eBay are actually used 73-74 hinges, and I've had to use my old springs to hold the hood up. I had a broken hinge originally....that's the whole reason I put others on.
Thanks for the comments guys.