8 replies to this topic

[austin944]

I was looking at a car, and the seller says the hood was replaced due to hail damage. There was no underhood insulation.

The edge of the hood near the rear sticks up above the fender line on both sides of the car. I can easily take a credit card and slip it under the hood while the card is laying parallel to the ground. It's not particularly noticeable unless you're looking at it. Near the front it's OK.

Do you think the hood is out of alignment? I know the 944 body panel gaps aren't great, but this seemed worse than usual.

Also if there was hail damage, why would they replace just the hood? Is it particularly susceptible to damage being somewhat thin?

[Greimann]

Stock 968's don't have underhood insulation. There is a certain amount of adjustment in the hinges. I would think a few minutes and you could have that solved.

Doing bodywork on a thin piece of sheetmetal like a hood or roof can be next to impossible to get right for the reason you site. Especially from hail damage where there could be a hundred dents. The metal is too thin to stand up to block sanding and thus you will never get the high spots to lay down. They did the right thing, but need to spend more time with the body gaps.

[flash]

the body gaps are very large on this car - in the neighborhood of 7-9mm

i just did a realignment of one of the guys that popped down for a fuzzy dice holder installation - hood was very noticably out of whack - 10 minutes, and he was good to go

make sure you have a friend to help - somebody will need to hold the hood up as you loosen and tighten things

there is quite a bit of adjustment in the hood, between the bolts in the rear, and the latches up front, and the bumers up front

rear vertical change is made by altering the relationship of the front bolt to the rear, thereby pivoting the rearward point

fore/aft location adjustment is at the same place

small front vertical change is made with the rubber bumpers

left to right rear change is made by giving it a shove, at the hinges (yup, no kidding - be careful how much though - it moves easily - use small "bouncy" movements until you get it where you want it - boink boink boink - there - got it)

front left to right change is made by adjusting the latch mechanisms

be very carefull as you do this - do it in small steps - watch carefully for interference with things like the windshield wipers - be patient - you'll be opening and closing the hood a good 20 times before you get it right

hope that helps - let me know if there is anything i can do to help

[austin944]

Thanks for the info, but I haven't bought the car yet.
Still trying to decide.

There are a few things that bother me about the car:
* Hood misaligned.
* Power steering leak near reservoir, even though the car had a 60K service
recently.
* Owner says recent 8K paint job, but didn't know if it was a partial or full repaint.
Combined with hood replacement -- possible accident?
* Car has been driven only 3000 miles in the last 3 years
* Battery died recently -- non-use?
* Seller stumbled on the reason for the sale

The owner can't seem to spend the time with me to go over the
history of the car and the service records. He didn't meet with me,
but told me to look in the glove compartment for the service records.
There were some, but I didn't see receipts for the 8K paint job.

It's a great-looking car, it runs and drives well but I still feel hesitant.

[Harvey]

One side (rear near battery) of my hood sticks up too far too. This is helpful. Also, notice that one of the tail light gaps is not evenly gapped. Not sure how to fix that but I'll figure something out.

Harvey

[flash]

go with your gut - if it feels weird, it probably is

tail lights can be "realigned" by going to the hardware store, buying some stick-on rubber feet, and sticking them to the bottom of the lens - it lifts it up where it belongs (song cue)

[RPM]

An 8k paint job could only be a full body redo unless there was body work in addition to paint. I would want to see the paperwork.

[Brian]

how about a cab trunk lid adjustment?
any suggestions?
all i can see is the heavy seal and a latch, but i'm not the brightest bulb in the lamp.

[flash]

yup - i can help you with that one too - give me a buzz