Rhino Conversion - hood latch question

[bredlo]

Hey all,

So I've removed my 1970 grill and bulky corner turn signals, carefully removed the mounting tabs, and I'm test fitting the rhino grill in it's new home.

The hood release latch is sitting in a tricky little place, above a steel plate that runs the full width of the engine bay (shown in blue). It has the mounting hole for the top center of the rhino, but once it's on I can't open the hood any longer because the (blue) plate is now blocking the latch!

Suggestions? Will I be switching to a different style bar and latch, or cutting away part of that (blue) plate? Even after all this, I'm guessing I'll have to use a long thin screwdriver or something to open the hood. I'm kinda stalling out here - maybe if you guys have a photo of your conversions it would help.

[mathman]

The hood latch for the Rhino grill has a long tab sticking almost straight down. This enters a matching hole in your blue plate area so the tab is sticking down behind the grill. To open, you just stick your hand through the slots in the rhino grill and pull on the tab. The hood latch on the left is for the Rhino setup - the one on the right was on my '78 from when someone put the '79 grill in:



And this is a bent rhino latch still on the hood:



Don't have a picture of the plate on the truck.

[Bill Moore]

there are two other routes, you can get the internal opener with the cable inside the truck to open, or you can look for the 79 or 80 model latch that has the hand bar off to the right side, these are the easiest to install as most trucks have the slot already cut. Mathman has the 79 there in his photo
Bill

[Poley]

I remover the latch bar altoghter and went with hood pins, I like them alot better then the PITA latch system. just my $.02

[Brad W.]

I agree Poley, I can't count on one hand how many times that friggin latch has wounded my noggin while making a repair or just checking fluids.

[mathman]

Mathman has the 79 there in his photo
Bill

Wasn't sure that one was actually a '79 latch - glad to know it is for when it comes time to sell it off.

[bredlo]

All good suggestions, thanks guys. The cable release sounds above my skill level, and the pins isn't really up my alley (right now I'm in the mode of patching holes... not drilling new ones).

So I guess I'll look into finding or fabricating a rhino hood latch. If anybody wants to get rid of one, I'm buyin!

[KaiserMan]

Just cut (or bend) the hand tab on your latch and weld it back into the correct spot (basically pointing down). You will have to cut a hole in the center of the radiator support (blue item in your pic) so the tab can sit behind the grille. No getting around that.

[bredlo]

Cool, Kaiserman. I can handle that.

Rather, I can't handle that but am already having several small holes and 2 big ones (where the turn signals were on the front 1/4 panels) filled, smoothed and painted... so why not this little important matter as well, I guess.

This will be one of the pricier rhino conversions out there I think, partly due to where I live - but should look good when finished.

Thanks for all the suggestions everybody.