Hi guys,

When I bought the car there was hood dampers installed. Lately the wind lifted up the hood. The car was parked and I put something on the engine to let the hood rest on it to help cool down the car. The wind took off the hood and the dampers absorbed the hit. Since then I had to apply some force to close the hood. I didn't like that so I decided to remove the hood dampers.

After removing the dampers, I notice that the hood doesn't sit flush with the fenders. It's fine on the bumper side but on the firewall side it sits lower than the fenders. It looks like there should be a spacer between the hinges and the hood.

I tried to adjust the hood by moving the hood from side to side and by pulling/pushing toward the bumper. It closes correctly and the space between hood and bumper is OK as well as the space between the hood and fenders. But I still can't make the hood sit flush to the fenders.

I could put some washers between the hinges and hood but this just doesn't feel right to me.
Is there an adjustment I'm missing?

BTW I have a stock hood.

Thanks,

Alex

 

It's possible the wind warped the hinges I'd take off the hood then check the hindges for paint cracks it's a tell tell sign there screwed is it both sides are lower then fenders?

 

I inspected the hinges briefly yesterday and they seems fine. Both sides are lower then the fenders. The gap is about the same on both side.

One thing I noticed is that the studs from the hood are loose. I can move the two studs together, they seem to be fixed together. I don't know if this is normal?

 

Maybe the hood it's self is a little warped

 

You could try to shut the hood with a 2x4 piece of wood to unwarp the hood since the hindges seem ok

 

I don't get where to put the 2x4? Between the fenders and the hood?

 

Here's some pics of the hood fitment.

 

If you lift up the hood a little, will both side line up perfectly with the fender or will it line up partially? If it line up perfectly with the hood lifted a little then you might have to adjust the hood latch, if it only line up partially then your hood is bent.

 

It is possible the hood dampers pushed the back of the hood up from tension (a common problem) so the previous owner spaced the back of the fenders up (with washers) to take away the gap.

Check to see if there are washers between the unibody and the fender.

A thin washer makes a surprising difference on hood to fender gaps.

 

I would say, the hood being aluminum, the wind has yanked it out of shape. Not very hard or by very much, but just enough to cause that gap in the photos.

Sometimes if this is the case, you may be very lucky and simply get a thick towel, (terry towel, bathroom or beach towel, what do you call them in the USA?) and double it up thick.

Lay the towel across the fender, over where the hood is shutting low. Close the hood on the towel. It may be enough thickness to bring the hood shape back up to shape.

I prefer using a towel because its soft and will not damage the paint during this exercise.

 

Loosen the bolts on your fenders and push them in toward your hood.

 

can i ask how you fixed this, i have the same issue with one side of my bonnet not being flush with the fenders - it shuts lower than them - the other side is completely flush

 

It's not fixed yet. I'll be looking into that very soon. This was not the highest point on my priority list.

I plan to do as ZE Power MX6 said. Check if the hood fits flush with the fenders when it's unbolt from the hinges. If the hood is not bent, I'll check the other options people suggested.

 

The bolt holes on the fender and the hood both have a good amount of play/tolerance you can use to align these components. Just loosen them and see if you can get them all lined up. It looks like the hood is lot quite level with the fender and maybe it is warped due to the wind. Perhaps some shims between the hood and the hinges could help?

 

Finally been able to compare with a known good hood. I put my hood on my friend's car and my hood didn't fit right. Fitment was similar to my hood on my car. I put his hood on my car and the fitment was much better. However it sat a little bit lower at the back.

Then we compared both hood side by side. They lined up correctly from the front to the back until we reached the upper mounting stud where mine was going higher. Corners at the back are higher on mine.

We found out that my hood was deformed around the upper mounting studs. With a straight edge put beside the two studs there was a gap while it's perfectly straight on my friend's hood. The upper mounting stud seems to have stretched the hood's upper mounting points probably due to the wind and the fact that the hood damper was retaining it at this point.

I'll try to take some pictures.

Any tips are welcomed to save my hood. I would prefer to not replace the hood cause I'm affraid of how the cym paint match will come out

 

I'm having a similar issue. I can't seem to get it to sit flush. It looks lifted on the edges.

 

Much as ricers raise the back of their hood with washers at the hinge mounts, you can add some thin washers to raise the rear of your hood.

CYM is a tough match. A metal guy might be able to straighten it out or build up the mounting surface for you. But you're in a bit of a tough spot. GL.

 

Added washers and it's still not flush. Could it be because my hood is warpped?

 

It's possibly, if not likely.

 

Hygoog it looks like you are dealing with different body fitment issues.

We can't tell from 100% from your picture but it appears the hood is higher than the fenders and headlight lids at the area indicated by the red arrows.

Check that the rubber bumper attached to the unibody at that location isn't too tall and holding the hood up.

It looks like these bumpers need to adjusted down.

 

I took out the air box and it seems to sit a little lower now. Not perfect but a little better. Could it be because my car is a NA and the turbo hood is meant only for the turbo model?