| Author |
Message |
Kurt Kjelgaard (Kurtk328)
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2001 - 4:20 am: | |
Clarification to my previous post: the support frame was not only bent, it was also cracked.
brgds Kurt |
Kurt Kjelgaard (Kurtk328)
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2001 - 4:18 am: | |
My 328 hood have had damage to the front hood around the strut support point. BTW done in the showroom after I bought it by somebody trying to close it without unlatching the strut (thinking it was a gas strut, I suppose).
The support frame was bent. This was repaired very nicely by straightening it and making a reinforcement around the steelframe, extending about 5 cm up and down each side of the support point. It was fixed with blind rivets and painted matt black as the rest of the frame. As I said, very nice and inconspicous.
No welding involved.
Then the whole hood was painted.
brgds Kurt |
'75 308 GT4 (Peter)
| | Posted on Saturday, March 24, 2001 - 7:41 pm: | |
Yes, be careful with that stuff, it won't harm the aluminum, but anything else... |
'82 308gtsi (Mark)
| | Posted on Saturday, March 24, 2001 - 1:43 pm: | |
Before you pay for a new hood try stripping it with aircraft stripper. Try to keep the stripper from running over to the back side and damaging the fiberglass. The damage you might find is more in the paint than in the structure. This comes from experience. What appears on the outside is not always what is on the inside. Good luck! |
Warren E. Smith (Magoo)
| | Posted on Saturday, March 24, 2001 - 11:03 am: | |
HEY GUYS, just a point of interest. My 79 308 GTS hood is aluminum welded to a steel frame. Thin sheet of aluminum. No fiberglass panels on this one. Maybe later models. Magoo |
BretM (Bretm)
| | Posted on Friday, March 23, 2001 - 2:41 pm: | |
They are over a steel frame, but the lid is actually two layers, the skin that is painted all pretty and red and then there is an underbody (that is usually a silky black paint on it) that is either fiberglass or aluminum depending on cars (I'm not sure about the 328). Having two layers makes it very hard to straighten (most of the body on the 308 is this two layer deal which makes getting dents taken out into quite the process because you can't just bang them out with a hammer and a shaping tool). True that nothing is unweldable, but it becomes a point of how long will it take and will it ever really come out nice. I don't know what the extent of the damage is so it is hard to say what he should do. For the most part though, unfortunately it'll probably fall into the category of replacement. |
'75 308 GT4 (Peter)
| | Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2001 - 10:41 pm: | |
Fiberglass? I thought they formed it over a steel frame?
Nothing is unweldable, the trick is to get the right guy holding the torch! |
BretM (Bretm)
| | Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2001 - 10:29 pm: | |
Unfortunately the front hood is a pretty delicate item. Most of the front end can be repaired because it is just sheet metal, but the hood is aluminum so it is pretty much unrepairable unless it is not damaged much at all. You can't weld the hood because that thin aluminum will just burn up, if it's not bent bad you might be able to have a good shop bang it straight again, but with the lines to it and all it would be no easy feat. For an example, a used hood (in perfect condition, just needs to be repainted) cost me $800 for my '85 308GTSqv. Call the dealer near you and ask them if they ever fix hoods (usually they say they wont fix any part of the car, only replace it, because then they make a lot more money off of you, but try anyway). Most likely it happened because the guy either tried to close it and the latch was stuck or he tried to open it and the latch was stuck. I just remembered also, the hood is an aluminum skin over a fiberglass sheet which makes it impossible for them to bang it out without taking it apart. You're gonna need a new hood. |
'75 308 GT4 (Peter)
| | Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2001 - 7:51 pm: | |
See this Tech Q&A page under "Engine Bonnet Supports '82 GTSi" for why this happens in the first place.
Bret has a damaged front hood on his QV (he posts here), he could tell you how he repaired his. |
Leonardo Soccolich (Lens)
| | Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2001 - 6:35 pm: | |
Ready to move on an 86 328 GTS w/ 15,500k miles. The only thing holding me back is the damaged front decklid. The understructure is fractured, and the paint on the hood has three stress cracks. The hood also has a slight bend. Can this be repaired correctly, or should the entire hood be replaced? |
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