Remember, new guys are really dumb, you need to really go back to basics. I found out today that I didn't need my cute little coil springs to pop the engine cover lid, there's a spring in the latch assembly to do that. When I bought the car almost a month ago now, I was told that the cover was a 2 person deal. I thought, how dumb and proceeded to work out my little coil spring wonderment. I also gave the latch assembly a shot of WD-40 and don't you know it's now perfectly operational on it's own. Point is I didn't know there was a spring there, I had read postings of several other (peculiar) methods of doing the cover by yourself so I naturally thought it was just something strange about the car. Anyway, thanks and keep up the good work! Les