HUGE CRACK in my HOOD!!! ***??

[jmillsUT28]

So, yesterday I got my car detailed from a local business in the area that does great work. I picked up the car after work and it looked amazing!! Drove it around a little and parked it for the night. Before turning the lights off I took a few minutes to go over the car. Found where there were scratches before and now they were gone. So, I was very happy with that! Anyways, I woke up this morning and saw the car looking the same as it did the night before. It's going to be a nice day today so I drove the car to work. Once I get to work and park my car in the garage I see this HUGE CRACK!! It starts at the top of the hood in the center and goes about 3 feet down the hood!!

My Friday has not started off well at all!

What could have cased this crack? I will take pictures and post them today.

 

[All Blue ACR]

So you know it wasn't there after the polishing and it showed up after the drive? Or you didn't notice it when you picked it up from the detailer?

 

[yogibayer]

Ouch . My condolences, I have no idea what could have caused that

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

If you are certain there was no crack prior to the detail job then the detailer must've done it. Probably by opening and closing the hood incorrectly when they looked at the motor. Checking out the motor seems to be a requirement by anyone in possession of a Viper no matter how brief or what reason they have the car.

 

[prevnine11ownr]

Thats strange... Heat from the buffer/cold air? Still that would be a long shot !!

 

[dave6666]

If you are certain there was no crack prior to the detail job then the detailer must've done it. Probably by opening and closing the hood incorrectly when they looked at the motor. Checking out the motor seems to be a requirement by anyone in possession of a Viper no matter how brief or what reason they have the car.

What Chuck said.

Although I do all my own mechanic work, my one question to qualify a Viper Tech should I ever need one would be, "Know how to close the hood?"

 

[jmillsUT28]

Yes, the crack was not there last night. I think I might have found the reason for this. I will take a picture of it. I saw right after I bought this car about a month ago that the hood was rubbing a little on the black peace near the wipers. The crack is right next to this spot. I kept putting off adjusting the hood. I am not thinking this is the cause. You live and learn! Stupid mistake.

I'll take a few pictures here in a little while.

 

[jmillsUT28]

Ok here are some pcitures. Let me know what you think. I think the reason it cracked was b/c the hood was laying on the black peace. Might be wrong though. Here are the pcitures.

 

[FATHERFORD]

Oh now that *****......

 

[PDCjonny]

Is it possible the hood was removed off the car when it was detailed?
There are only a few bolts to do so, very easy to do.
That seems like a highly unusual spot for a stress crack.
Could it have been removed and set down improperly?

 

[All Blue ACR]

I feel for ya man. crap.

 

[ViperTony]

That's the windshield cowl but that's a flexible piece of fiberglass...I don't believe that in itself could've cause the crack. The cowl gives very easily. It's difficult to tell from the pictures but how much clearance do you have between the cowl and the top of the engine block? I'm wondering if your hood sat too low...low enough to come into contact with the top of the engine block. If so, I can see how the vibration/rocking of the engine against the cowl/hood would cause the crack. Judging my the mark left on your cowl I think this may be the case. It looks like a pretty big gouge on the cowl as if it was being pushed down really hard. The other possibility is that the detailer was putting way too much pressure on the buffer while working on the hood. Heat + Pressure removes swirls but too much pressure can damage the paint. I'm sorry to hear about this.

 

[kwkshift]

Is that a crack in the hood or in the paint?

 

[jmillsUT28]

I told the detailer not to open the hood. I don't think he did b/c there are dirty spots which would have been cleaned if he opened the hood.

I just got off the phone with the dealer. He said when he was washing the hood he saw that long "scratch" he calls it. He thought I knew about it. I told him that he should have called me about it. Anyways, not sure if I should believe this guy or not. He does work with very expensive cars everyday and I have never had a problem with him.

I will go out and take a look at the cowl again to see if it is hitting the engine.

I needed to have the hood painted anyways b/c of the famous Gen 1 paint problems on the hood. Just did not want to do it this soon. . . ha Sh*t happens and live is good!

 

[agentf1]

I do a lot of detailing and do not see how the detailer could have done this especially if he did not open the hood. I have seen cracks like this in Gen I hoods before but usually cars that have been really neglected. Im wonder if it was there and is just highlighted now by the polish in the crack. Or possibly aggravated by the change in temp from buffing and cold outside Stuff like that always become more apparent when you shine the area up.

 

[jmillsUT28]

That could be true. I don't think this guy did it either. I checked the cowl and it is not hitting the engine at all. This crack is about 4 inchs from the cowl support on the drivers side that does not give much. Maybe this is the cause. The hood even rubbed into the cowl. It has a nice deep warn spot.

Well, time to take it to a shop and get a quote. I'll let you guys now what kind of quotes I get.

 

[TAXIMAN1]

I told the detailer not to open the hood. I don't think he did b/c there are dirty spots which would have been cleaned if he opened the hood.

I just got off the phone with the dealer. He said when he was washing the hood he saw that long "scratch" he calls it. He thought I knew about it. I told him that he should have called me about it. Anyways, not sure if I should believe this guy or not. He does work with very expensive cars everyday and I have never had a problem with him.

I will go out and take a look at the cowl again to see if it is hitting the engine.

I needed to have the hood painted anyways b/c of the famous Gen 1 paint problems on the hood. Just did not want to do it this soon. . . ha Sh*t happens and live is good!

talk to a good body shop guy... They can do some pretty amazing things these days.... From the pics, it DOES look like a scratch... At the VERY worst case scenario, you could buy a hood, from the VCA classifieds.. Probably be $5k or so, plus painting/prep costs.. But you dont want to know what a new one is..

Did your insurance company do a "photo inspection" when you bought the car. If so, was this there at the time?. If you have comp. coverge. You may be able to get it covered, under that.. But I would shoot for a "repair" first.. And just eat the costs. Rather than submit a claim. good luck

 

[ViperTony]

That could be true. I don't think this guy did it either. I checked the cowl and it is not hitting the engine at all. This crack is about 4 inchs from the cowl support on the drivers side that does not give much. Maybe this is the cause. The hood even rubbed into the cowl. It has a nice deep warn spot.

Well, time to take it to a shop and get a quote. I'll let you guys now what kind of quotes I get.

Come to think of it there is a support bracket under the cowl right by the driver's side wiper which makes that area of the cowl fairly rigid. You may be right. Hopefully you get this repaired and can enjoy the car again.

 

[Bravo]

Broken motor mount? Could the engine move that much to push the hood?

 

[bth1]

Does the hood looks good from underneath? If you mentioned the Gen 1 hood finish problems is it possible the hood was repainted allready? If so there is the good chance they used filler and the filler cracked with the temperature change. I have seen this in cars that have been repainted.

 

[dave6666]

Broken motor mount? Could the engine move that much to push the hood?

Good point. Should be tell-tale signs on the inside though like scrapes or abrasion.

 

[EllowViper]

Here is my perspective after watching a couple of monkeys try to open the hood of my Snake one day. I take the proper technique for granted I suppose. If you don't know what you are doing when you try to lift the clamshell from the windshield, cracking it in this manner is very easy. You need to lift from as far towards the center of the windshield as you can vice the tendency for the amature to simply grab from the corner and wrench it up. Not so bad if two people are doing it at the same time in unison; but one guy grabing the corner and lifting WILL crack the hood if they really torque on it. The opposite side may actually get hung-up on the mount as the hood twists...and then instinctively you know what happens...more force, etc. This also tweaks the actual hinge mechanism in the front leading to poor fitment over time and the rubbing you may be experiencing on that corner.
Try gently lifting the hood in this manner and see what sort of flexing you have. My guess is that you will see movement where the crack is....

 

[dave6666]

Here is my perspective after watching a couple of monkeys try to open the hood of my Snake one day. I take the proper technique for granted I suppose. If you don't know what you are doing when you try to lift the clamshell from the windshield, cracking it in this manner is very easy. You need to lift from as far towards the center of the windshield as you can vice the tendency for the amature to simply grab from the corner and wrench it up. Not so bad if two people are doing it at the same time in unison; but one guy grabing the corner and lifting WILL crack the hood if they really torque on it. The opposite side may actually get hung-up on the mount as the hood twists...and then instinctively you know what happens...more force, etc. This also tweaks the actual hinge mechanism in the front leading to poor fitment over time and the rubbing you may be experiencing on that corner.
Try gently lifting the hood in this manner and see what sort of flexing you have. My guess is that you will see movement where the crack is....

Another good point. My tall lanky self I grab the center AND the driver's side corner for a 2 point lift. Just grabbing the corner and lifting like you said is rampant for disaster.

 

[jmillsUT28]

I will check the motor mounts this weekend. I got back from a body shop guy that I used to custom paint my 1942 Chevy truck. While I'm at it I might as well paint the side sills and get my grove box painted. My glove box has this american flag and viper painted on it so that needs to go to just red. So for the hood, side sills, and glove box sanded and painted he said right around $1200. I think that's a great price for the kind of work he does!

By the way I'll be adding a loud ass exhaust so I can reduce the heat on the side sills. And for that reason only. . . ha

He also said that he thought it looked like someone keyed it. I hope that is not the case.

 

[Bravo]

He also said that he thought it looked like someone keyed it. I hope that is not the case.

HOPE IT WAS KEYED!

If it is a crack, it'd be much harder to fix where it is to keep it from cracking again. A key scratch would be the best that you could hope for.

 

[v10kingsnake]

You may wish to show up to the detailers shop again with a base ball bat by your side. Someone once told me that there is no better lie detector then a man asking questions while holding a bat by his side. (I am kidding) Very sorry to see this happen. I can't believe you didnt notice this though. The detailer said they did which means it was there. I bet they did it and unfortunatley there is nothing you can do to make them come clean on it. If it was a dealer/detail shop they probably know what that hood costs. Your best chance at them confessing was noticing it when you picked up the car and going nuts on the management. If it is any consolation, the paint looks shiny. Sorry...

 

[Performance Junkie]

You can try placing smalls dabs of clay or play-doh on suspected areas that may be coming in contact with underside of the hood and see if when the hood closes it got compressed. I had to do this to squeeze a hi rise intake on one of my builds and have enough clearance.

 

[DJ'sviper]

Hi! Sorry about the hood. I have a Gen I and the passenger side had almost the identical marks. I adjusted the hood. Now I'm really glad I did it. I filled in the rub with paint and you can't tell that it was even scratched unless you look close and know were the scrap is. However, I'm an artist and know how to match paint. I think I mixed cans of flat and gloss spray paint and applied it with a sponge brush. Sounds terrible but the technique works great for small touch ups on my other classics as well. This is for the black part only. You have to be very careful.
Silver lining is that you get all the other parts nice and new again. Great price on the paint.

 

[sirhc76]

Paint crack from the hood getting torqued during your drive? On a side note this may be of some interest depending on the damage to the hood.

ViperClub Classifieds - Gen. I Hood - Powered by PhotoPost Classifieds

 

[kcobean]

Based on the cowl damage and the crack running longitudinally, I'd say make sure you ask the detailer for copies of the pictures of the babe he had sitting on your hood.