Hood Creases?

[pishta]

I just got my 91 LS400 back from the body shop, they replaced the hood and repainted the front end after a minor hood buckling impact. My "new" hood (its not, its obviously from a recycler) has 2 1 inch creases outboard of each hood strut (see pics) I dont know if they are factory or if they are actually creased from out of spec hood supports. Can anyone look under their OEM hood and see if it is perfectly smooth outboard of the hood supports or is there a small crease there? My hood sits a little high (1-2mm) see pic on driver side compared to good pass side, on one side but is lined up at the corners, like it is bowed a little. I can only tell because the other side sits perfectly flush with the fender lines. I dont want to push down on it as I think it is the body shops duty to get this correct after >$3000 of work. Thanks.

[lex4me]

My 91LS does NOT have those creases. I'd ask them to fix it for you.

[aarman4]

Pishta, I hate to say it, but you have been ripped off here for $3000 by my guesstimate.

I just checked my 91, and I have NOTHING like that at all. in one of your pictures there is a factory indent toward the grill by about 6 inches from the strut shoulder, and thats it, smooth the rest of the way... My hood also fits perfectly flush after 17 years of use.... I know with a collision they may never be able to get it perfectly straight again, but they need to at least attempt with an undamaged hood.

My guess is that the hood was damaged during transport to them, the dents look to be in spots where they may have leaned the hood on a bar or side of a truck while transporting.

Best of luck, hopefully they fix it a second time, and make sure you go over it before it leaves their building, don;t let them "just leave it out back for you" in the off hours.

[dcfish]

I just got my 91 LS400 back from the body shop, they replaced the hood and repainted the front end after a minor hood buckling impact. My "new" hood (its not, its obviously from a recycler) has 2 1 inch creases outboard of each hood strut (see pics) I dont know if they are factory or if they are actually creased from out of spec hood supports. Can anyone look under their OEM hood and see if it is perfectly smooth outboard of the hood supports or is there a small crease there? My hood sits a little high (1-2mm) see pic on driver side compared to good pass side, on one side but is lined up at the corners, like it is bowed a little. I can only tell because the other side sits perfectly flush with the fender lines. I dont want to push down on it as I think it is the body shops duty to get this correct after >$3000 of work. Thanks.

Did they give a 30-60 day warranty? Bring it back and have them replace the hood AGAIN at there expense.........

[pishta]

Pishta, I hate to say it, but you have been ripped off here for $3000 by my guesstimate.

I just checked my 91, and I have NOTHING like that at all. in one of your pictures there is a factory indent toward the grill by about 6 inches from the strut shoulder, and thats it, smooth the rest of the way... My hood also fits perfectly flush after 17 years of use.... I know with a collision they may never be able to get it perfectly straight again, but they need to at least attempt with an undamaged hood.

My guess is that the hood was damaged during transport to them, the dents look to be in spots where they may have leaned the hood on a bar or side of a truck while transporting.

Best of luck, hopefully they fix it a second time, and make sure you go over it before it leaves their building, don;t let them "just leave it out back for you" in the off hours.

Well, it was their insurance that was billed so I am not out any money, just time away from the car. ill get them to look at it today.

[pishta]

Pishta, I hate to say it, but you have been ripped off here for $3000 by my guesstimate.

I just checked my 91, and I have NOTHING like that at all. in one of your pictures there is a factory indent toward the grill by about 6 inches from the strut shoulder, and thats it, smooth the rest of the way... My hood also fits perfectly flush after 17 years of use.... I know with a collision they may never be able to get it perfectly straight again, but they need to at least attempt with an undamaged hood.

My guess is that the hood was damaged during transport to them, the dents look to be in spots where they may have leaned the hood on a bar or side of a truck while transporting.

Best of luck, hopefully they fix it a second time, and make sure you go over it before it leaves their building, don;t let them "just leave it out back for you" in the off hours.

Well, it was their insurance that was billed so I am not out any money, just time away from the car. ill get them to look at it today.

Well, they warrant their work, and the parts they use for life, so that is good news. The manager there worked at Toyota until 94 so he knows these cars well. He admitted that the hood did have the creases but he also said that they were not stress caused. They would show up in other areas as well. I told him that I was concerned about the strength of the hood with the hood supports, and he noted that the hood supports on there were not stock (I put them on, unknown to him) and they were way too stiff for that hood. He backed his warranty and said if the hood ever starts to buckle, just bring it back and they would make good on the warranty. They also blocked the hood to make it flush with the fender. Im OK with their work so Ill "let it ride" for now. I am going to go with his recommendation and disconnect my adapted hood supports for now, as they were made for a 200 lb hatchback anyway and I have heard of a hood start to buckle from using them on another site. Ill put them back on when I sell it if I ever do, but for now, ill just use a prop stick. FYI, these lifts were pretty stiff. You could pull the hood down about an inch before you would start compressing the cylinders, that was the amount of hood flex on the original hood.

[eatingupblacktop]

That's what it looks like from your pics. When I starting reading this thread, I originally thought that maybe your new hood was a "close but no cigar" repair from a similar incident that happen to you and they just didn't straighten it out enough to get it flush. From your pics the gaps seem ok. How does the rest of it (like at the front) line up?

[pishta]

That's what it looks like from your pics. When I starting reading this thread, I originally thought that maybe your new hood was a "close but no cigar" repair from a similar incident that happen to you and they just didn't straighten it out enough to get it flush. From your pics the gaps seem ok. How does the rest of it (like at the front) line up?

Looks great up front, it was just a little "warped" from shipping or something. They guys were very cool about the return visit, I believe they will take care of me if needed in the future, I actually walked away with a pretty good feeling about the whole thing.