Hood Bend -- Who is good at fixing it?

It's a common problem, I see it often. But what you asked is who is good at fixing it.

Not me.

 

My hood was bent many years ago so I got the “U” shape steel bar and cut out a small piece for hood strut then riveted it to the hood then painted it black, now the hood is stronger and always straight?

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Here's what I would do,,,,,

I had a TON of work done on my car. by a local Hot Rod fabricator.
Now ask with your hat in your hand, as they HATE "foreign cars"!!

But as Wade did, FIRST you fix the iron tube framing system, then you repair the (on my car) aluminum hood skin, if needed.

It's just going to take some "dive in there" work, and my fabricator could build anything, but he did no paint.
So, the second step would be refinishing.

My hoods never bent as I put a HUGE Warning sign there, our early hoods had a hard ball detent.
Quick damage if you f&^%*&^% ed it up..

 

Welders have tons of tricks on heat transfer, and keeping the welding stresses local.
May still have to paint though..

 

You could do what Porsche guys do with their 911s...get rid of the gas strut and just use a broom handle when you need it.

 

I agree with the technique of putting a brace inside the factory tube. Anything on the outside looks like a patch. So WHY are there three holes in the hood tubing right by the hood support? This hood is designed to COLLAPSE in an accident rather than go through the front of the car. Notice the braces at the back of the hood that engage holes in the body.. They support the back of the hood in an accident, and the hood conveniently creases right where the HOLES are drilled in the tube- right where the hood unfortunately bends. WHY do I bring this up? I was going to machine a bar and slide it up into the tube, when I realized that by doing that, I'm making the hood WAY stronger, and defeating the purpose of what the engineers at Ferrari were trying to accomplish. I'm STILL going to do it, but just keep in mind in our litigious society, if you sell your car and someone gets in a front end collision, you may be held liable if anyone gets decapitated. LOTS' of ifs- but still something to consider.

I have three 328's AND I bought a brand new factory hood. ONE 328 only has one hole in the side tube, well in front of the hood support. The other two cars and the new hood have a series of three holes on each side. OBVIOUSLY a crush zone. My 86 328 just has a gas filled hood support, and at 85,000 miles, an undamaged hood. My 11,000 mile 328 GTB had a bent hood when I bought the car. It and another 87 GTS both have the stupid BUTTON in the hood support- a dumb design.

 

Classic Coach in Elizabeth NJ repaired mine, probably better than new, and much more reasonable than I would have imagined for their level of work. Factory Authorized.

 

Yep I also have the same problem with my hood.... at some point I'll have a local body shop fix it.

 

I have two spare hoods...

But really ya'll are over thinking it...cut the old tubing out, weld the new tubing in grinding the splices smooth enough to be unnoticeable..

Drive on..

 

The hood may be bent from rod


1988 Ferrari 328 GTS
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1988-ferrari-328-gts-63/

 

And replace the Gas lifter without the stupid button I have an 88/328 that came without the button from the factory

 

I always kinda liked the button the older cars… it’s like you need to know the secret (even there is a sticker with an arrow). But then I don’t have a bent hood… if I did, I’m sure I’d feel differently.

 

Pre 88.5 or post 88.5?

Looking at the Ferrari parts diagrams for the pre and post 88.5 cars, it appears that the pre-88.5 cars had the hood strut with the locking button, that was previously used in the 308 GTB/GTS series, and is well known for causing the front lid to kink, due to people forgetting/not knowing to press the locking button in, before attempting to close the lid.

The post 88.5 cars on the other hand, came with an updated hood strut that no longer had the locking button.

This raises a question: Are post 88.5 cars less prone to front lids bending than pre 88.5 cars?

 

The only reason the where bending was the button on my 88 1/2 (no button )I just lower it half way and let I drop and if it doesn’t lock properly then ONLY push in the location above the latches not the front of the hood

 

I have an '89 328 GTS and the gas strut it came with (no button) was shot - It couldn't hold the lid up at all, so I immediately ordered a new strut (no button)

When it turned up, I tried to compress it by hand (as you do ) and failed miserably! (damn those struts are stiff! )

That instantly had me concerned about the front lid bending due to resistance against the strut, but the leverage of the lid appeared to overcome the strut without issue.

I didn't let the lid drop, in case the weight of the lid suddenly coming against the resistance of the strut caused the lid to bend, but I held the weight of the lid and lowered it gently until the lid was resting against the latches, then I gently pushed down above the latches (the same as you do )

Had I met any serious resistance to the lid lowering, I would have aborted lowering the lid, and would have had to have a rethink about the gas strut - As it turned out, all was okay.

And that's the way I've continued to lower the lid: Hold the weight as it lowers onto the latches, and then gently press the corners of the front lid down until the latches lock

 

Off topic but ... : Who the hell has been sitting in that driver's seat?

The listing states it "shows 52K miles", but the driver's seat is split open, and the seat pattern is completely worn away!

My '89 328 GTS has over 94K miles on the clock, and the driver's seat, whilst not perfect, is not split, and the seat pattern is completely unaffected.

 

Either a overly large person or the speedo sensors been very simply ( and untraceable btw ) unplugged between services , or both .Take your pick .