Hi. Thanks for taking the time to make the video and share the tip. If you're okay with the hood being raised up on the drivers side, then along the same lines as shimming the hood at the hinge, probably also raising the rubber bump stop on the front drivers side would also help to force the passenger front side down. Initially raising the passenger side bump stop would only increase the headlight gap, but I understand the original thought process. I found this video while searching for how to straighten a car hood, but I was looking for some examples on how to straighten the side edge of a hood that had been "kinked" just in front of the hinge area, slightly from a light front impact. Again, thanks for sharing and showing others how to think "outside" the box.
Putting washers under just the front screws actually lowers the hood because it allows the hood hinge to rotate more. Putting washers under just the back screws raises it up. Not sure how to affects your situation but if I'm trying to line the back up that's what I do.
*"Having your hood flop around at 70 mph is a little unsettling."* Sometimes you just have to live dangerously. It'll mostly wind up comedic, like in Tommy Boy.
Oh, it took five minutes to remove my Milan hood, and the new one ten to put on, then an hour aligning it all because the hinges were slightly bent even though you couldn’t see it, and/or the mount locations were moved a bit. But paint match, no straightening a creased hood, which will never be straight, and no dent repair. Often these cars come in with front or rear damage only. Some come in looking 100% straight all the way around and you’ve gotta wonder why it’s in the junkyard. Don’t pass on an incredible resource. I saved about $500+ on my back door, and about $300 on my bumper cover. And on and on.
I never had to deal with hood gap like you had but front fender gap on the right front fender of my 87 GTI 16V. I had to loosen some fender bolts to make the gap between the hood and right front fender uniform from a small fender bender since the body shop didn't notice or care to make it perfect looking!
Some panel gaps get missed by even decent body shops, or deemed "close enough and too difficult to make perfect" but that is frustrating when it's your car. The body damage on this Montego was somewhat unusual; I am not sure How it could have happened, but my best guess is something heavy pushed down on the hood and that hood adjuster was too high when it happened.
My hood flew up while only going about 40 mph on wife’s 2016 Kia Sportage . Still can close after rubber hammer to edge of fender next to hood. Broke wind shield. I had new windshield put on but haven’t tried to straighten the spots on both sides that hood pulled up. How do I straighten those spots out. They hang the hood slightly and I’m not paying $500 deductible for a major repair
did you ever figure out how to repair the hood? also why did that happen for you in the first place? same thing also happened to me, and trying to fix it.
Same problem here. Same car too! 2012 Kia Sportage. How did you end up fixing it? I don't even have comprehensive on this car bc it has like 210k miles and is just a second car I use periodically for work when I need to travel.
1996 Toyota's don't have this option. My hood was slightly crimped on both sides in the middle when someone backed into me. But to replace it would cost more than $1000 dollars. Can a hood be straightened by a body shop or do they even bother with this type of repair? Thanks.
Some body shops will do that, but it may end up costing that much, too. Depends on how complicated the damage was. If only the hood was damaged, the least expensive option would probably be replacing it with a hood from another matching car from an auto scrap yard.
...it kinda looked like you just had to raise the adjustable rubber on the driver side to lower the passenger side. I'm not sure if you tried that first.
Oh, yeah, I had tried that first, and with the rubber stopper raised all the way up, it just made sure air always got under the corner of the hood. I tried it at a bunch of different heights before going this route.
I accidentally bent my hood after trying to put extra side mirror on the left and right hood. Did not realise it was hitting something under, it can close but it was curving up and now it causing a slight bump up. How to fix it? Thanks 😊 it was my stupid mistake.
How much do you think a Bodyshop will charge to fix the good? An suv reversed into my Alfa Romeo and now both corners of the hood are about 1cm above the wings
Cars Simplified oh it’s what we call the front quarter panels in England haha. Alfa’s are a bit more common here than over there though. I’m trying to sell it and I’m not sure if the hood misalignment is worth fixing or not
First off, always look for a replacement hood, in the same color as yours, at LKQ. You can go to their website and register to receive emails letting you know when certain cars show up. Between my wife, myself, my daughter, and brother, we have a Dodge Magnum, a Mercury Milan, a Suburban, and a Dodge Ram 1500. So you put in the various models with interchangeability, for example a Ford Fusion has most of the same parts as a Milan, or for the Magnum, add in the 300 and the Charger. For the Suburban, add the Yukon, Tahoe, Silverado, etc. The Ram is a Ram. So my driver’s side back door got creased where I could t easily work it straight. I needed black. There is only one color of black for the LX cars. I waited and found a 300 with a perfect black driver’s side rear door. It took me less than ten minutes to remove it, it cost $62.45, five minutes to put it on my Magnum, and I gave it a quick polish before putting it on my car. Then swapped the interior door panel. Bam. So easy I felt guilt. It would cost between $200-$400 for a replacement, even before paint, which would be around $100-$200, and probably never match the factory Brilliant Black Pearl, but this door already had it. Same with rear bumper cover, $42.69, five minutes off old car and five onto mine. Now the Mercury has like a trillion different shades of white, so for me getting a White Suede might not be so easy, but it can be a Fusion, so that opens up the possibilities. In the emails notifications, there are usually about three pictures included, a front quarter shot, rear quarter shot, and interior from driver’s window. When a good driver’s seat shows up I’ll get one for the Magnum. My niece got rear brakes fixed on Suburban while driving across country, and the shop didn’t tighten the lugs properly, and they all got very loose, destroying the studs and the wheel in one shot. They couldn’t come up with the correct Z71 wheel, so they ordered her a replacement, non-matching, spare tire type wheel, at $300! There are a zillion of those wheels out there, and I’m about to get the correct one from LKQ for $35.62! And I don’t even have to go out there and scour the yard looking. Every GM full sized which comes through I get an email. I look at the pics for the trim level, and if you can see what you need from the pics, they include the VIN , and you can decode from there. There are like 6 trucks there right now with the correct wheels. The Milan has stained front passenger carpet. Got a set out of a Fusion, $8.79, and it was pristine. A bucket seat is $28.20. All day long.
Those are actually quite good prices! It's been quite a while since I was last at an LKQ. I remember buying a friend a turbo from a Volvo for about $50 at one in Florida. Good to know they still have good prices!
Vibration will solve that gap. The air will rip that hood right off that Ford. A danger to the driver, the passengers and anyone else along the car's path.
Would i be able to do this on my car? I had front end damages, when i slid on ice, into another car, my hood was slightly bent on the passenger side where it isn't even, the drivers side is fine, its just the passenger side that is slightly bent where its uneven, the hood shuts without a problem, but the passenger side is uneven.
You would have to take a look at what you can do with the hinge-to-hood mount, and figure out how to attach it in a safe manner. Every car and damage combo is unique, so it's a case by case thing.
Hi. Thanks for taking the time to make the video and share the tip. If you're okay with the hood being raised up on the drivers side, then along the same lines as shimming the hood at the hinge, probably also raising the rubber bump stop on the front drivers side would also help to force the passenger front side down. Initially raising the passenger side bump stop would only increase the headlight gap, but I understand the original thought process. I found this video while searching for how to straighten a car hood, but I was looking for some examples on how to straighten the side edge of a hood that had been "kinked" just in front of the hinge area, slightly from a light front impact. Again, thanks for sharing and showing others how to think "outside" the box.
This is a life saver
Putting washers under just the front screws actually lowers the hood because it allows the hood hinge to rotate more. Putting washers under just the back screws raises it up. Not sure how to affects your situation but if I'm trying to line the back up that's what I do.
*"Having your hood flop around at 70 mph is a little unsettling."*
Sometimes you just have to live dangerously. It'll mostly wind up comedic, like in Tommy Boy.
&
&
J
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have you ever just wished you could know what happened or went through a persons mind like this individual up here? ^
Good tips brother
Oh, it took five minutes to remove my Milan hood, and the new one ten to put on, then an hour aligning it all because the hinges were slightly bent even though you couldn’t see it, and/or the mount locations were moved a bit. But paint match, no straightening a creased hood, which will never be straight, and no dent repair. Often these cars come in with front or rear damage only. Some come in looking 100% straight all the way around and you’ve gotta wonder why it’s in the junkyard. Don’t pass on an incredible resource. I saved about $500+ on my back door, and about $300 on my bumper cover. And on and on.
I never had to deal with hood gap like you had but front fender gap on the right front fender of my 87 GTI 16V. I had to loosen some fender bolts to make the gap between the hood and right front fender uniform from a small fender bender since the body shop didn't notice or care to make it perfect looking!
Some panel gaps get missed by even decent body shops, or deemed "close enough and too difficult to make perfect" but that is frustrating when it's your car.
The body damage on this Montego was somewhat unusual; I am not sure How it could have happened, but my best guess is something heavy pushed down on the hood and that hood adjuster was too high when it happened.
My car went in a ditch once and since then the hood was very fucked but thanks to you i found a solution
Just make sure the hood will stay put at speed. If the hood is damaged enough, it could catch enough air to pull itself off.
Best video to explain this complicated ass problem!!! Thank you! Especially if you're by yourself!
I actually have this problem on my maxima. I think im gonna give it a try!
Let me know how it goes! I hope it does the trick for you!
My hood flew up while only going about 40 mph on wife’s 2016 Kia Sportage . Still can close after rubber hammer to edge of fender next to hood. Broke wind shield. I had new windshield put on but haven’t tried to straighten the spots on both sides that hood pulled up. How do I straighten those spots out. They hang the hood slightly and I’m not paying $500 deductible for a major repair
Same exact problem!
did you ever figure out how to repair the hood? also why did that happen for you in the first place? same thing also happened to me, and trying to fix it.
Same problem here. Same car too! 2012 Kia Sportage. How did you end up fixing it? I don't even have comprehensive on this car bc it has like 210k miles and is just a second car I use periodically for work when I need to travel.
Smart idea.
Nice tip with the magnet 🧲 👍
Thanks! I use them all the time for that sort of thing. Oil drain plugs especially!
1996 Toyota's don't have this option. My hood was slightly crimped on both sides in the middle when someone backed into me. But to replace it would cost more than $1000 dollars. Can a hood be straightened by a body shop or do they even bother with this type of repair? Thanks.
Some body shops will do that, but it may end up costing that much, too. Depends on how complicated the damage was.
If only the hood was damaged, the least expensive option would probably be replacing it with a hood from another matching car from an auto scrap yard.
thats a pretty cool trick
Can you do another video like this but for trucks?
Really nice job
Thanks!
...it kinda looked like you just had to raise the adjustable rubber on the driver side to lower the passenger side. I'm not sure if you tried that first.
Oh, yeah, I had tried that first, and with the rubber stopper raised all the way up, it just made sure air always got under the corner of the hood. I tried it at a bunch of different heights before going this route.
@@CarsSimplified Cool. Just making sure. The videos you have are awesome. Thanks for the reply.
Any advice for a hood that has a gap in the entire front evenly? Can it be “stretched out”. Or just replace hinges?
Sometimes you can adjust the latch as well as it's what holds down the front
Nice job
What size bolt washer ?
I accidentally bent my hood after trying to put extra side mirror on the left and right hood. Did not realise it was hitting something under, it can close but it was curving up and now it causing a slight bump up. How to fix it? Thanks 😊 it was my stupid mistake.
How much do you think a Bodyshop will charge to fix the good? An suv reversed into my Alfa Romeo and now both corners of the hood are about 1cm above the wings
Ouch! I don't know typical body shop pricing, but I imagine an Alfa may be slightly above the usual cost. What part are you referring to as wings?
Cars Simplified oh it’s what we call the front quarter panels in England haha. Alfa’s are a bit more common here than over there though. I’m trying to sell it and I’m not sure if the hood misalignment is worth fixing or not
First off, always look for a replacement hood, in the same color as yours, at LKQ. You can go to their website and register to receive emails letting you know when certain cars show up. Between my wife, myself, my daughter, and brother, we have a Dodge Magnum, a Mercury Milan, a Suburban, and a Dodge Ram 1500. So you put in the various models with interchangeability, for example a Ford Fusion has most of the same parts as a Milan, or for the Magnum, add in the 300 and the Charger. For the Suburban, add the Yukon, Tahoe, Silverado, etc. The Ram is a Ram. So my driver’s side back door got creased where I could t easily work it straight. I needed black. There is only one color of black for the LX cars. I waited and found a 300 with a perfect black driver’s side rear door. It took me less than ten minutes to remove it, it cost $62.45, five minutes to put it on my Magnum, and I gave it a quick polish before putting it on my car. Then swapped the interior door panel. Bam. So easy I felt guilt. It would cost between $200-$400 for a replacement, even before paint, which would be around $100-$200, and probably never match the factory Brilliant Black Pearl, but this door already had it. Same with rear bumper cover, $42.69, five minutes off old car and five onto mine. Now the Mercury has like a trillion different shades of white, so for me getting a White Suede might not be so easy, but it can be a Fusion, so that opens up the possibilities. In the emails notifications, there are usually about three pictures included, a front quarter shot, rear quarter shot, and interior from driver’s window. When a good driver’s seat shows up I’ll get one for the Magnum. My niece got rear brakes fixed on Suburban while driving across country, and the shop didn’t tighten the lugs properly, and they all got very loose, destroying the studs and the wheel in one shot. They couldn’t come up with the correct Z71 wheel, so they ordered her a replacement, non-matching, spare tire type wheel, at $300! There are a zillion of those wheels out there, and I’m about to get the correct one from LKQ for $35.62! And I don’t even have to go out there and scour the yard looking. Every GM full sized which comes through I get an email. I look at the pics for the trim level, and if you can see what you need from the pics, they include the VIN , and you can decode from there. There are like 6 trucks there right now with the correct wheels. The Milan has stained front passenger carpet. Got a set out of a Fusion, $8.79, and it was pristine. A bucket seat is $28.20. All day long.
Those are actually quite good prices! It's been quite a while since I was last at an LKQ. I remember buying a friend a turbo from a Volvo for about $50 at one in Florida. Good to know they still have good prices!
My hood isn’t shaking or anything it just looks like shit and I don’t know how to fix it
Vibration will solve that gap. The air will rip that hood right off that Ford. A danger to the driver, the passengers and anyone else along the car's path.
Would i be able to do this on my car? I had front end damages, when i slid on ice, into another car, my hood was slightly bent on the passenger side where it isn't even, the drivers side is fine, its just the passenger side that is slightly bent where its uneven, the hood shuts without a problem, but the passenger side is uneven.
You would have to take a look at what you can do with the hinge-to-hood mount, and figure out how to attach it in a safe manner. Every car and damage combo is unique, so it's a case by case thing.
Why not just bend the bracket up ?😅
He just traded one gap for two.