Just bought a 1988 LSC Coupe and 1988 Convertible and cannot open hood on either car (added photos)

[wdaly]

At the risk of sounding, well, weird - as a last ditch effort (starting now) try this for the '88 hood.  Pull on the hood release while at the Same Time someone else attempts to pull-up on one of the corners of the hood (start with drivers side).  You may want to consider a plastic pry tool like for interior trim removal (may want to tape the tool so as not to scratch anything).  Couldn't hurt!

[studegary]

57 minutes ago, wdaly said:

At the risk of sounding, well, weird - as a last ditch effort (starting now) try this for the '88 hood.  Pull on the hood release while at the Same Time someone else attempts to pull-up on one of the corners of the hood (start with drivers side).  You may want to consider a plastic pry tool like for interior trim removal (may want to tape the tool so as not to scratch anything).  Couldn't hurt!

Back on Nov. 6 the OP stated that the cable does not move.

[wdaly]

Or, maybe it does.  My suggestions come from 29 yrs personal experience with an '88 coupe (including removing the entire dash to replace a heater core, replacing a rusted A-pillar and putting in a new windshield).  My first experience (of many) with a non-functioning hood was in Winter or colder periods.  The hood would not open at first - maybe the spring had problems, BUT the cable never failed!

[JensenHealey]

2 hours ago, studegary said:

Could you see the two latches?  If not, since your 1988 was one of the last handful of 1988 models, perhaps it has the single latch 1989 system.

I took pictures up in the holes of the 1988 Convert and I thought you had identified the sight of the rusty latches.

I'm fairly certain the 1988 convert has the twin latches at the corners of the hood.

BTW, I did not get a chance to look at the car further today because it has been raining and very windy here.

So since the car is sitting outside covered by a tarp, I decided to try to work on it another day.

Edited November 15, 2020 by JensenHealey

[JensenHealey]

I worked on this again today with some help from a friend and while we did not make any progress on getting the latches to actually pop, I do understand more about how the latches actually work.

My friend knows someone else who actually owns another car and we went over there to look closer at that car. It too is a 1988 Convertible but it must be a slightly later one since it has the single latch system. The owner of the car let us remove the two bolts that hold the latch assembly down to the firewall so we could flip the latch over to understand what the underside of the latch actually looks like. This really helped me understand how the latch parts work.

[studegary]

2 hours ago, JensenHealey said:

I worked on this again today with some help from a friend and while we did not make any progress on getting the latches to actually pop, I do understand more about how the latches actually work.

My friend knows someone else who actually owns another car and we went over there to look closer at that car. It too is a 1988 Convertible but it must be a slightly later one since it has the single latch system. The owner of the car let us remove the two bolts that hold the latch assembly down to the firewall so we could flip the latch over to understand what the underside of the latch actually looks like. This really helped me understand how the latch parts work.

I wonder what Serial Number the other 1988 is.  You list yours as ---374.  Most listings show ---379 as the last 1988.  I believe that they go to at least ---396.  Does the other '88 lie in that range?  

Edited November 22, 2020 by studegary

[JensenHealey]

I looked at the titles for the various cars and the convertible with the single latch is 486 and I was mistaken since that title that says it is a 1989 car.

The long chassis coupe with the stuck hood and driver's door is listed as a 1988 and the last three digits of that car is 374

The 1988 convertible with the stuck hood is 286

So maybe the long chassis 1988 coupe also has the twin latches. I won't know until I pull that car out of storage.

[studegary]

11 hours ago, JensenHealey said:

I looked at the titles for the various cars and the convertible with the single latch is 486 and I was mistaken since that title that says it is a 1989 car.

The long chassis coupe with the stuck hood and driver's door is listed as a 1988 and the last three digits of that car is 374

The 1988 convertible with the stuck hood is 286

So maybe the long chassis 1988 coupe also has the twin latches. I won't know until I pull that car out of storage.

The 288 and 374 are both 1988s.  The 374 is near the end of 1988s, so it MAY have the change in latches.  The 486 is mid-way through the 1989s.  

[JensenHealey]

On 11/22/2020 at 11:15 AM, studegary said:

The 288 and 374 are both 1988s.  The 374 is near the end of 1988s, so it MAY have the change in latches.  The 486 is mid-way through the 1989s.  

BTW, I am looking at an online for sale ad for another 1989 Convertible with a VIN # 12AAV222XK1000420 and it still has the twin hood latch arrangement. Here is an underhood photo of that car/