just wondering if this is normal or mine is messed up, but when I close the hood I have to hold in the safety latch on the hood for it to close. If I just try to close the hood without holding the latch back it will miss the hole and hit the frame. so when I take it places i.e. emissions testing I always have to tell them to hold it and they forget and slam it shut I tried taking it off the hood and checked the spring and made sure the metal bracket was straight so is it just the way it is or is mine still messed up some how? thanks in advance

It should just close like normal. I would assume something on your hood it bent causing the safety latch to closer to the windshield or the front end than it should be.

yeah I did hit someone and it bent in my front end and hood a bit. I've replaced the front end and bent the hood back it wasn't too bad. thing is if I leave the spring unhooked it acts normal, closes without holding but the spring puts it into a position that hits the plate towards the windshield side. guess i'll just leave the spring off until i get a new hood