Auto Restoration 101

Removing and installing a hood is really a two man job, one person on each side of the hood. Sometimes you need three if you
have a car with huge, heavy hood or a hood that is hard to install such as some of the earlier cars. One person on each side of the hood to install the hood bolts and one to hold the front of the hood to help hold the weight.
So if you are on the drivers side you will hold the back of the hood with your right hand and rest the weight on your right shoulder. That leaves your left hand free to remove or install the bolts. It’s just the opposite for the other side.
You probably might not think that it also helps to know which hood bolt to remove first or install install first.
If you have a hood hinge like the one pictured where the hood sits on top of the hinge then you can remove the top two or the front two bolts first without needing help or worrying about the hood falling. Then to get the hood off all you need help with is removing the two bottom or rear bolts.
This also works when installing a hood, install the lower bolts first because the hood will then sit on the hinge without falling forward. This works great when you are installing really heavy hood. I have seen guys struggle with installing heavy hoods before. They have all of this weight on their shoulders and instead of installing the rear bolt first they install the front bolts. They still have to hold the weight of the hood because it will want to tilt forward until the rear bolts are in. If the hood falls forward with just the front two bolts in it can cause a lot of damage to the hood and possibly the front fenders.