Hood pop up spring replacement

[WCC]

Is there an easy way to get the old hood pop up spring out? Any tips?

[Floyd]

It should just twist out.  I can't recall if clockwise or counter.

[750-h2]

Just lift the securing tab with a small screwdriver and pull out the spring.

[WCC]

Well it is an easy twist out provided you do it clockwise - I intuitively tried anti-clockwise which contracts the spring as I thought it would then easily lift out but this was not the case.

[anlauto]

Just lift the securing tab with a small screwdriver and pull out the spring.

just slightly, not breaking the tab off

[JH27N0B]

I had a case of the opposite situation recently.  Last weekend I was at a local cruise, and when I went to leave, something didn't feel/sound right when I shut the hood to leave.
So after fumbling with the latch and hood briefly, I got the hood to open, and found my hood popup spring had come loose and was lying on it's side.  I twisted it back in place, but was wondering if there is something I can do to prevent it from coming loose again.

[anlauto]

I had a case of the opposite situation recently.  Last weekend I was at a local cruise, and when I went to leave, something didn't feel/sound right when I shut the hood to leave.
So after fumbling with the latch and hood briefly, I got the hood to open, and found my hood popup spring had come loose and was lying on it's side.  I twisted it back in place, but was wondering if there is something I can do to prevent it from coming loose again.

Bend the tab down tighter

[JH27N0B]

I thought about that, but am concerned with chipping or cracking the paint when trying to tweak the tab.

[RUNCHARGER]

Maybe that tab is broken off if the spring is loose, they're only good for a couple of pryouts.

[JH27N0B]

I've taken it off a few times over the 20+ years I've had the car.  I can't recall it ever being hard to remove.  I may have even replaced it at one point, as when I bought the car it was painted body color, which is a pet peeve resto Fubar to me.  Or maybe I removed it and painted it Eastwood phosphate gray to look close to original,  I don't recall.  At any rate, this is the first time this has happened.  I'll head out to the garage and take a closer look when I get a chance.