Oldsmobile

Toronado

Broken Hood Release T-handle

My 1968 Toronado, you see, frequently comes down with problems under the hood.

So I often have to open the hood, which I cannot do without first grabbing my heavy pliers and giving the broken T-handle a good pull.  Wouldn't it be grand if I could replace that annoying broken T-handle?

I'm not the only one who thinks so . . .

In September 2006, T-net member Kane H. wrote:

I bet that common sticking hood problem is the reason lots of '66's have the handle broken half off the hood open cable.

T-net member Mobilmover offered his unique solution in July 2007:

I didn't have a proper handle for the under the front bumper hood latch thingy.......soooooooooooo, I used a little bit of Oklahoma engineering......

I found a "T" shaped knob on an old window air conditioner.......I cut the stem,  placed it in a vise....

then used a 1/16 drill bit to drill out the dead center of the bottom of the "T".

then used a tap and die set to create some threads in the newly drilled hole, using the old stem threads as a general guide.

took a tube of J B Weld, and mixed a little and filled the hole up, then screwed it onto the end of the stem.

I cleaned up the excess with a shop towel dipped in gasoline....

let dry overnight

and in the morning......I could now open my hood by pulling gently on the new hood latch "T".

the neat thing is.....it looks so original......you'd never notice unless you knew it wasn't

Oops.........well, now you all know.....................heh heh heh

 

And of course the wonderful Fusick Automotive Products Co. offers a nearly identical replacement^*:

Unfortunately this didn't fit.  It was about two inches too short.  I sold it on eBay, luckily at a net loss of only several dollars.

Not being mechanically inclined like Mobilmover, I had another idea . . . 

^*I actually purchased this on eBay and when it turned out to not fit, I auctioned it off not long afterwards.

Fusick offers two of these products. The image below was copied from page 12 of their downloadable Olds Cutlass catalog.  I do not know if the one I purchased and then resold was one of these Fusick products, or if it was an original part removed from somebody's Oldsmobile.

Fusick's Toronado catalog does not have this item.