Hi. Part of the hinge for the driver's side of the hood on my 1982 240 DL sedan is broken, and while I try to find a replacement hinge assembly for the hood, I find I can't open the hood.

Because of the partly broken hinge, the hood does not sit flush with the rest of the car but sticks up about two inches in the corner near the driver's side of the windshield; it's tilted down a little more than usual in the front, so it's closer to the grille.

When I pull the hood release inside the car, the front of the hood pops up a little as per normal. But when I reach under the front of the lid and try to push the lever up a bit more so I can open the hood, the lever will move but the hood won't go up. I don't know where it's stuck or how much force to use. I don't want to break something.

The last time I opened the hood, it opened fine, though I needed help closing it because the broken hinge meant that the springs pushed the hood over to the passenger side of the car. The time before that, it didn't want to open; some other people got it open, but I don't know how they did it.

I need to check my fluids, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!