HELP! 2003 Cobra: Hood trouble...body shop horror

[03SonicVert]

Can you determine what and where the hood is hitting underneath to see exactly what is causing the hood not to seat properly?

It has to be contacting something to keep it from dropping further down and aligning properly. Take a piece of cardboard like what is on the back of a note pad or even a manila envelope and try to drag it through the front perimeter of the hood/body and find out where it is hitting.

Are there any witness marks on the underside of the hood indicating what might be holding it too high? Aftermarket reservoirs, etc? While pushing on each corner above the headlights does it seem to rock in the center or is one side higher?

Now they're going to have to repair the hood pin holes in the hood and radiator support..... It's a shame your car isn't silver. It would be easier to repair and hide. A friend with an 87 grand national installed a standard Buick/Oldsmobile front grille shell/surround which had a hood ornament while the GN was shaved off. Even after the body work you could still see the outline of where the hood ornament trim mechanism was filled in after it shrunk I guess.

SV

 

[snakeraper11b]

You can see it's flush with the fenders, so how could it possibly be held up by something? The hood is not going to simply bend due to an obstruction, it's just an awfully made hood, end of story.

 

[Comp281]

I might have asked sonicsaleen if he had an oem hood. There's a good chance he would have one in decent shape to sell. It definitely looks like the hood is not positioned correctly and that there is a problem with the alignment and/or latching mechanism. Easiest thing to do would be to look at it along side a properly set up cobra and see what is going on. If the hood is physically the same then there is something else going on. You would have to measure to know for sure.

 

[TerminatedGT]

So did not look at any pic except the first and this may have been already said. OK so your head light most likely don't fit either. The head light /bumper mount panel is low. Pull your head lights you know what pm me to lazy to type it out. I am a body guy I hate it when other body guys are lazy and f... things up

 

[CobraBob]

You're handling this a lot better than I would have. That body shop totally messed up your repair. I cannot believe they resorted to hood pins because they couldn't get the hood to shut correctly. And the quality of the hood is highly questionable. Glad CJPP is working with you because that hood is just not right IMO.

 

[Booky]

Why not just buy a used OEM hood and repaint?:shrug:

There are several on eBay:
2003-2004 ford mustang cobra OEM hood | eBay

 

[csgoalie30]

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[csgoalie30]

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[csgoalie30]

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[1badlx]

Agreed. I would rather not publicly bash a body shop online. It was a ford dealer and it might have been only one body guy who screwed it up and I wouldn't want to tarnish their rep because of one idiot.

Car is going back to the shop tomorrow... Did I mention that the paint is now cracking around the hood pins...must be buckling under pressure. Good lord :bash::bash::bash::bash:

Well since me and you are local I hope I never have to use them!

 

[csgoalie30]

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[csgoalie30]

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[CobraBob]

While I respect your decision to not name the Ford dealer, you have described a horrible repair job, apparently approved by the body shop manager. SOMEBODY had to approve this work. What you have described is way beyond mediocre work. It is horrible work. And now the paint is cracking around those silly hood pins they installed because they couldn't properly fit the hood. I know if I was in your area that I would most certainly want to know the name of the dealer if I was in need of body work on my Ford product. This dealer should be absolutely embarrassed and should do whatever they need to do to make things 100% right for you and to live up to what they advertise to their customers. Makes you wonder if there are others out there who have had sub-par repair work done there. This is absolute nonsense on the part of this dealer. :nonono:

 

[FromGTtoSVT]

just pointing this out, right from CJ's website

"*Will fit all 1999-2004 V6 and GT Mustang front bumpers, as well as 1999 and 2001 Cobra front bumpers, but will have a small gap at the top of the grille opening between the headlights"

You sure that's an OEM front bumper and not some aftermarket crap? My guess is the bumper and hood are both aftermarket replacements and the fit and finish issues are magnified with both pieces replaced

Any good body shop should have no problem fixing their work.

 

[csgoalie30]

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[akeohan]

You took this way better than I would have, I would have refused to take delivery.

 

[cj428mach]

Is it just me or does it look like the bump stops are just too high. I'd adjust them down to get it even with the fenders and then see how bad it looks.

 

[csgoalie30]

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[Riddick]

Is it just me or does it look like the bump stops are just too high. I'd adjust them down to get it even with the fenders and then see how bad it looks.

His hood will not even latch all the way. It sits on the safety latch. Go outside and push down on your hood and have someone take pics like that. Im hoping it lines up then, or are you saying your hood is bottomed out as it sits (will not go down anymore)? I still think you just need to mod your latch so it will latch properly.

 

[cj428mach]

His hood will not even latch all the way. It sits on the safety latch. Go outside and push down on your hood and have someone take pics like that. Im hoping it lines up then, or are you saying your hood is bottomed out as it sits (will not go down anymore)? I still think you just need to mod your latch so it will latch properly.

ahh I see that now. I thought they had put some sort of weird metal bump stops on but that's the hood latches. The shop should be ashamed the fitment of the panels should have been checked before it was painted.

My 69 Mach was a basket case and when the body man was working on it he test fitted the entire car. Aligned every gap, shimmed every panel until he was happy with it. Then pulled it apart to paint it, I'd think this would be even more important on a wrecked car.