Closing the front hood

I just purchased a 1988 Ferrari 328GTS. The car is in excellent condition and has flawless original paint. I have been told to be very careful opening and closing the hoods especially the front to avoid damaging these delicate parts. Can anyone tell me the correct way to do this and what do I have to be careful of not doing
Thanks
Art

 

Some 3x8 models have a "pin" or "button" in the front hood strut. My '84 has this. I press the pin or button with my left hand and just carefully lower it with my right. You don't drop it to close. And obviously, you first make sure there are no obstructions in the way - the most common being the wind screen washer fluid bottle or spare tire hold down bolt.

Once the hood is flat, and press each side separately (one side at a time) with the palm of my hand to engage the lock.

For the rear, I just lower by hand, again making sure nothing is in the way. Once flat, I press each side separately (one side at a time) with the palm of my hand to engage the lock.

I wouldn't call the hoods delicate, it's just not a "station car" (where you slam the door or trunk into place without much thought). I treat my DD more or less the same, as it's just a PIA (and costly) to have to deal with problems that could be avoided in the first place by being attentive.

Some advice - if you ever show your car, especially at a local type of meet, and you leave your lids open, make sure NO ONE touches them or tries to close them. One guy on here awhile back had some stranger come up to his car at a show, and push the front lid closed, without knowing that the lid strut was a locking type, and bent the hood. The culprit disappeared into the crowd before the guy could find him.

Good luck,
Phil

 

I do what PhilB says with the following additions: on the front bonnet I make sure I press down on the two locking pins, IE: approximately 3" in from the side and rear edges of the hood. If you press down more toward the edge of the rear corners, over time you will bend them down and they won't be flush with the fenders when closed. For the rear bonnet I press down on raised shoulders on each side just ahead of the little raised spoiler. With continued pressing down on the back edge/rear spolier area, eventually small spyder cracks will develop in the paint as the metal is bent out of shape. After a while it just becomes second nature. Good luck and enjoy the drive.

 

Bent front lids are quite common, my 89 328 thankfully does not have the button but opens with a swoosh.
The rear I actually do slam shut carefully to avoid bending or denting the spoiler. Pushing on the shoulders sounds like a good idea though.

 

On the front hood, if you don't have the button to press on the gas strut, you can let the hood down about half way and the weight of it will close it. Thats what we were instructed to do when the car was new, never had a problem.

As for the rear, do not press down where the cam tail spoiler meets the rear deck, thats how people put dimples and dents in the rear deck. We were told either to press on the edge of the rear spoiler (which is supposedly one of the strongest parts of the rear deck), although over time that can cause cracks in the paint, or slam it shut carefully from about the halfway point of the rear deck lid's travel.

 

If your 88 is like mine .. Feb 88 build date .. it should have the gas strut on the passengers side holding up the front trunk lid. That will relieve you of the bent lid syndrome of those cars with the mechanical strut on the drivers side. After that, use the recommendations mentioned above .. press above the latches one at a time once clear. I have to gently slam my rear lid from maybe 1 foot elevation, pressing on the crease line of the spoiler.

 

Some owners remove the pin