How do you fix a bent front lid? (Maryland 308)

I went to see that 85 308QV this weekend, as planned. Of course the first thing I noticed walking up to the car was a bent front hood. It is bent like 356 Porsches, from unknowing people who don't know that the catch has to be released first.

That alone is not enough to be a deal-killer for me, but coupled with the absolute lack of records, tools, three different colors of red on the body, and mysterious mileage history, it is enough to take me out.

However, are those front lids repairable when they've been bent at the support strut? I can see how it could be a common problem, but hard to fix correctly. Here is a photo, but I can assure you it looks worse in person. There is a definite sharp kink in the surface where the hood was bent at the support rod. The reflection of the white sign makes it look better than it is.
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one body shop trick is to place "carefully" a 2x4 near the rear of the lid and slowly push in an up and down manner using little pressure until it's close to orig.
just one thing I learned yrs. ago
just be real carefull

 

Don't let the lack of records detract from the car; let it detract from the price!

 

My car has the same problem to a degree, bought it anyway.

Unfortunately, it takes a body shop to correct properly. Nothing $1K won't fix.

It really doen't bother me.

 

Now that is beautifully said, and makes perfect sense.

 

what I have done on several cars



There is a square tubing frame under the hood skin, this bends as well when the hood is closed without releasing the prop shock. What I have done is I cut the facing side of that square tube off , approximately 3 inches on both sides of the bend. I then insert a same sized solid metal tube and weld it in place. I then reweld the face of that square tubing back together. Do some grinding and painting and you would never know it was ever done. If the bend it not too bad can usually mask the damage done to the skin with some fine sanding and polishing. I have done this on several cars and the end result is the prop point is much stronger than the original and in a couple of cases prevents from this happening again because of the added rigidity.


Wade
www.sportclassiccomp.com
www.308qvregister.com

 

As Wade says, a proper repair will address the box frame of the hood itself.

Then you repair and redo the skin......

I labeled my underhood with a huge WARNING sign, but it's too late for that, here....

 

Ah, I get it now....some 308s don't have a rod, but must have had the rod removed from the lid to avoid it happening (again?). I might do the same.