[Matt.]

Today I skipped out the last hour or so of school and by my luck I got in a minor accident. I was going about 30 when the redneck in front of me stopped in an intersection. I slammed on my breaks and barley hit him, but enough to hurt my car =[.

My light poped out a little but its okay, everything works and the only harm done was cosmetic. The tip of my hood is cracked a little , its a tin line about 5 inches long and no more then 1/2 inch thick. Can i fix this easily myself or should i have a shop do it? how much would a shop cost? Im looking for a decent repair but do not need it to be 100% back to normal, just look good.


note* repost from v6 cuase i found this might be better fit

[vita]

bummer about the ride.


the end of the hood is going to be hard to fix... I thought our hoods were aluminium. Guess I was wrong!

how it broke it looks kinda like fiberglass. It will take a little work, but you could fix it yourself. wont look 100% (as you said) and then your going to have to have it repainted.... its basic fiberglassing. have you ever tried messing with a project like this in the past?

[travis_afx]

You could fix it if you had the patience to do it, as for easily, that would depend on if you have any experience doing something like this. It can be fixed with some grinding, sanding, use of smc repair material, and time.


If you dont have any experience with working with composites, you might want to consider the shop route. It wouldnt be a big deal to someone that knew exactly how to fix it.

I cant speak for the shops in your area, but i would say with out seeing a pic of the underside of the hood to see how bad its cracked under there that it be around 3-4 hr repair time and 2 hr paint time.

Body time:
3-4 X 45.00 an hour = 135-180

Paint time:
2 x 45.00 = 90.00
Paint material 2 x 20 = 40

Total= 265.00 - 300.00

So depending on what your shops charge an hour and how many repair hours they charge it should be around there.

[travis_afx]

Its actually SMC (sheet molded compound), its basicly like fiberglass, but the repair methods are different.

[Matt.]

its fireglass but its not reinforced till the first like 2 inches of the hood, so it gets owned. if the fix is gonna be like 300 bucks i might shit a brick =[ im looking for red hoods online but havent found any. worst case is i need to buy a new hood and get it painted. I would much rather spend like 250-500 bucks on something else then fixing old shit

[R3dFyre02]

um.... again, its NOT Fiberglass. see above. its a material called SMC.

[mcqueen]

Originally Posted by Matt Stang its fireglass but its not reinforced till the first like 2 inches of the hood, so it gets owned. if the fix is gonna be like 300 bucks i might shit a brick =[ im looking for red hoods online but havent found any. worst case is i need to buy a new hood and get it painted. I would much rather spend like 250-500 bucks on something else then fixing old shit

If you're going to replace, then upgrade. The Cobra hoods are pretty sick

[vita]

SMC eh? Reps... I learn something new every day!

[RJVetter831]

for the price they'd cahrge to fix it, like ^^^^^^^^ said, just repalce the hood. Body shops are a rip off, I had a tiny little scratch in the front of my car front hitting some moron who slammed on his breaks (goong about 2 mph), and i got a quote for 700 bucks to fix a 3 inch scratch on the bumper......and the bumper tehye sai was mis aligned, but no-one could notice it, not even me

[Matt.]

for the winter im going to fix the smc and touch it up with some paint and in the spring ill probly figure out what im going to do, maybe a cobra hood is instore. im just so sad and pissed

[Matt.]

what your opinions on carbon fiber hoods? im looking at cobra and gt carbonfiber hood styles off craigslist. They look kind of ricer, but idk

[travis_afx]

Originally Posted by RJVetter831 for the price they'd cahrge to fix it, like ^^^^^^^^ said, just repalce the hood. Body shops are a rip off, I had a tiny little scratch in the front of my car front hitting some moron who slammed on his breaks (goong about 2 mph), and i got a quote for 700 bucks to fix a 3 inch scratch on the bumper......and the bumper tehye sai was mis aligned, but no-one could notice it, not even me

this really isn't directed towards you personally, so don't take it like tha.


Im just tired of the genral consensus that people think all body shops are rip off artist. lets take that bumber for example, the scratch was it dug into the urethane on the bumper? if so than that's gonna increase the price of getting it fixeðbecause now yu have to repair the urethane on the bumper. that means using bumper rpair material, and if you don't know how to do it right, then it will inevitably fail and the repair will separate from the bumper and then that wil make the paint film fail and come off with the bd repair. so you have to keep in mind your also paying for the skills of that technician being able to fix a bumper correctly. Also that entire bumper has to be repainted now, because with todays uerethane clearcoats, gone are the days of spotting in clear coat, its impossible to do a quality repair job when clear is blended inside a panel.

I agree that 700 dollars is a little high for a 3 inch scratch in a bumber, a three inch gouge in a bumper not so far off depending on how badthe damage is. that's why ins companies have started going with rplacing bumpers instead of fixing them, cause its starting to be cheaper to do that.


again that wasn't a personal attack at you bro, it just strikes a nerve in me when I hear people genralize body shops as rip off artists.

/rant

[mcqueen]

Originally Posted by Matt Stang what your opinions on carbon fiber hoods? im looking at cobra and gt carbonfiber hood styles off craigslist. They look kind of ricer, but idk

Ricer is kind of my opinion on them unless you're really looking to drop some weigh for racing. If I ever bought a carbon fiber hood, it would get painted to match the car. I used to love carbon fiber body parts, but for some time now I just can't stand them (unless they're painted). I see far too many high school kids running around with carbon fiber hoods on their imports acting like their car is amazing.

[96sickstang]

u should of kicked his a$$

[An82Mustang]

That hood should not be fixed at all... there is no way to do it properly. that hood is designed to do just what it did... crack and break off... there is no way to make it as sound as before... (SMC is a lot different than fiberglass... and harder and more expensive to repair...) Jsut my .02 though.. you can do whatever you like...

[An82Mustang]

Originally Posted by travis_afx You could fix it if you had the patience to do it, as for easily, that would depend on if you have any experience doing something like this. It can be fixed with some grinding, sanding, use of smc repair material, and time. If you dont have any experience with working with composites, you might want to consider the shop route. It wouldnt be a big deal to someone that knew exactly how to fix it. I cant speak for the shops in your area, but i would say with out seeing a pic of the underside of the hood to see how bad its cracked under there that it be around 3-4 hr repair time and 2 hr paint time. Body time: 3-4 X 45.00 an hour = 135-180 Paint time: 2 x 45.00 = 90.00 Paint material 2 x 20 = 40 Total= 265.00 - 300.00 So depending on what your shops charge an hour and how many repair hours they charge it should be around there.

and as far as the repair time don't forget about the underside.... R&I time also... (Can't tell ya hoe many times our writers forget the small stuff... )

[Matt.]

TOUCH UP PAINT IS GOD!!!!
so i tryed to repair my hood and its still cracked, its imposible to fix 100% so painted over that and all over my car touching up with paint from ford, omg touch up paint rocks!!! so im going to replace the hood with probly a cobra looking hood in the spring, but if u have any rock marks, scratches ect get touch up paint , its so good omg

[mcqueen]

Eck, I hate touch up paint. The kid who owned my stang before me apparently thought touch up paint fixed everything but I'm so anal about it that's what I always see when I look at my bumpers.

[E_TeL]

Originally Posted by An82Mustang That hood should not be fixed at all... there is no way to do it properly. that hood is designed to do just what it did... crack and break off... there is no way to make it as sound as before... (SMC is a lot different than fiberglass... and harder and more expensive to repair...) Jsut my .02 though.. you can do whatever you like...

so your saying he should leave it looking like that?

[Matt.]

I chipped it down and sanded it. Put numerous layers of paint ontop and then rubbing compounded it smooth. It looks alot better then before but still not perfect. I think in the spring when I get the money ill get a new hood.