Vehicle hood support and secondary latch

Abstract

A wrap around type hood for a vehicle engine compartment has integral fenders giving a rear edge which is curved and does not lie in a plane. A roller hinge mechanism guides the rear edge of the hood from a closed position upwardly and forwardly to an intermediate open position from where it can be rotated to a fully open position without binding the rear edge. The combined guiding support and secondary latch of the invention guides the front of the hood during this movement. A forwardly sloped open slot in a guide bracket mounted to the front of the engine compartment guides a pin on the front of the hood to guide the hood to the intermediate open position. A spring biased keeper lever pivoted to the guide bracket stays with the pin as it moves to keep it secondarily latched to the vehicle. When the keeper lever is pushed back, the hood is released to be rotated to the fully open position. When the hood is moved back to the intermediate open position the pin re-engages the keeper lever to be secondarily latched again, from which point it may be pushed back to a fully closed position.