hood got pushed back too far

[BenzTurbo]

so i was working on my car with the hood up in my garage... it was backed in and i opened the garage door with my hood in the vertical position and the garage door pushed my hood back towards my windshield. we just moved in here so i didn't realize the lower clearance. i don't think it touched the windshield at all because it would have cracked it i'm guessing. but the corners dented the outer sides of the cowling badly and now the hood is pushed back quite a bit so if i try to close it, the corners of the hood touch the cowl sides (i'm sure i'm calling it the wrong thing). I don't know what to do or what could have bent because i don't see anything that looks damaged in the hinges. and can the part of the body that has the dents replaceable at all or will it have to be professionally repaired? ughhh, i'm so upset with myself right now!!!!

[Rogviler]

Had the same thing happen when the wife drove off, not realizing that that hood wasn't latched (or that the block heater was plugged in, for that matter). Up it went when she got going fast enough. I got it to close fairly well by loosening the nuts on the hinge and moving it around. But it still rubs at the cowling area and I haven't figured out why. I suspect the hinge(s) got tweaked just enough. I'm hoping a new hinge or two will fix it, though I'm not terribly enthusiastic about the job.

-Rog

[BenzTurbo]

Thanks for the reply. I'm just upset about the damage to the non bolt on parts. My car is my baby. Which bolts did you loosen to adjust the hood a bit?

[whunter]

The dimples are best done with body filler.
Consult local body shops for cost, before any decision..

Usually the rear hood hinge arm becomes tweaked, good used parts are your best answer.

.

[Stretch]

Nightmare - the underside of that panel is difficult to reach but not impossible. Paintless dent removal people might be better at repairing the damage than a normal body shop. In my experience accident repair body shops seem to be caught up in the millions and zillions of dollars / euros / pounds insurance racket; meaning they are used to getting over paid by insurance companies and expect it from Joe public too. Several body shops round here just won't work on old cars - they tell you it isn't worth the money spent; if you insist on an idea of the likely cost they then quote silly money...

[Rogviler]

Originally Posted by BenzTurbo

Which bolts did you loosen to adjust the hood a bit?

It's the nuts that hold the hinges to the hood. I ended up pulling the hood as far toward the front of the car as it would go. Might let you open and close it without damaging things more at least. -Rog

[97 SL320]

For the cowl damage, a stud gun can be used. This spot welds on nails that are used to pull the dent. However, the dents are small in diameter and deep therefor the metal will be stretched making dent removal difficult.

Heat can be used to get the metal glowing red so it will shrink while the dent is pulled but this requires the area to be cleared of meltable items and the steel needs recoated on the back to prevent rust.

The most direct route to repair is body filler as it will be the least invasive procedure.

Be sure to get new / used hinges, working with slightly bent ones is difficult. Also expect the hood and body hood hinge brackets to need some tweaking as well.

[BenzTurbo]

Thank you everyone for the helpful replys! I loosened the 4 bolts on the hood so I could close it. I was comparing my hood hinges to my friend's and I can see the rear small hinge is bent on both sides. I'm going to get some hinges of a car at the pick n pull tomorrow and will deal with the body damage later because there is really nothing I can do about it.

[cfh]

Pulling hood hinges is a bit of a PITA - take along a stubby ratcheting 13mm and fasten a piece of wire to it; that will make it easier to manipulate the wrench in the tight quarters - the little pocket at the top of the fender where the nut is. Another wrench - a 13mm box end with a good offset - is also helpful to break the nut loose. Others may know of some newfangled wrench for this job - and I'll be all ears.

[MBeige]

Ouch! Sorry to see that

I was afraid of this kind of thing to happen to me, so when I work in the garage while backed-in I disable the garage door (new mechanism/switch installed when we moved in).

If I don't want the garage door to close I block off the sensors at the bottom with a piece of wood.

We have a ledge in the garage for additional storage above, one of the important things to me when inspecting the house before moving in was to make sure I can put the hood up vertically under this ledge, and I can, only if the car is all the way in and the hood will clear the main support beam going horizontally.

[BenzTurbo]

at my other house the door would clear the hood when all the way open. apparently not the case here. at least it didn't appear to bend any of the locations on the car where the hinges mount or shatter the windshield. i hate the thought of body filler being used on my car though. It has a few dents but all could have been repaired without filler and no rust at all anywhere. i do have access to the underside of the dents but i don't want to make it worse. ughh. and right after this happened, i just about permanently disabled that pos

[eatont9999]

A PO did something to my 300SD and bent the corners of the hood up by the hinges. I'm guessing the hood was opened too much.

[winmutt]

I had a friend that totaled his 123 at 35mph when the latch let go (hood wasnt fully secured).

[BenzTurbo]

Sorry for not updating everyone sooner but I picked up some new hinges at the PNP. closes perfectly now so I didn't bend the metal on the car where the hinges mount. That was my main concern. The new hinges are blue so I should easily pick up a few more hp there