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Don’t get all the debate on this. Clearly something’s f’d up so just take it back to the shop that “fixed it” and have them “fix it right”. How’s that not the obvious solution?
Because when I text the shop they brushed it off and said its not a problem "unless Im going 240mph" Im sick of dealing with those idiots and worry they will make it even worse
Because when I text the shop they brushed it off and said its not a problem "unless Im going 240mph" Im sick of dealing with those idiots and worry they will make it even worse
OK, then I see the point of the discussion. Document what's missing (as noted here in this post and through research online - but the diagram Mistuh Sparco posted is a good source), go back to them and complain. If that does no good, then BBB or better, California Bureau of Automotive Repair ( https://www.bar.ca.gov/ ) to complain about them. And, if you've had to go that far, also do the Yelp thing on them. Lots of people use Yelp when making a decision on anything. Doesn't mean that Yelp is a good source of recommendations but if it stops one person from getting ripped off, that's $$$ out of that shop's pocket.
I've never had to resort to that thankfully but I will post to Yelp about GOOD service (or food or products or....). The few local automotive shops I use for varying things appreciate the reviews and remember me each time I use 'em.
OK, then I see the point of the discussion. Document what's missing (as noted here in this post and through research online - but the diagram Mistuh Sparco posted is a good source), go back to them and complain. If that does no good, then BBB or better, California Bureau of Automotive Repair ( https://www.bar.ca.gov/ ) to complain about them. And, if you've had to go that far, also do the Yelp thing on them. Lots of people use Yelp when making a decision on anything. Doesn't mean that Yelp is a good source of recommendations but if it stops one person from getting ripped off, that's $$$ out of that shop's pocket.
I've never had to resort to that thankfully but I will post to Yelp about GOOD service (or food or products or....). The few local automotive shops I use for varying things appreciate the reviews and remember me each time I use 'em.
Thanks man, I just emailed them with detailed pics (attached). I am beyond pissed. Besides the misalighed hood, the diagram Mistuh posted showed me I am missing the rubber seals under the hood. This is beyond sloppy work.
What freakin work did they do in the first place????
In my accident, the bumper, hood, radiator, radiator housing, AC condensor, headlights, and air filter box where totalled.
The mechanic next door to these idiots did a great job: he got me the radiator housing, ac condensor, and purchased and had delivered the radiator, bumber, hood, bumper hinges, and various misc screws, plugs, etc.
After mechanic was done, the idiots next door took it to install the bumber and hood and lights and because i got some money from insurance since they delcared it "salvage", I decided to repaint the entire car since I had a lot of oxidation on the paint before. I paid the mecahnic next door $1600 and the repair shop $2700, (keep in mind aside from the hood latch, I BOUGHT AND HAD DELIVERED ALL THE PARTS NEEDED)
I thought $2700 for bumber/hood repair as well as ENTIRE car repaint was a steal. Now I wish I would have spent $1000 more and not had to deal with this ****
Last edited by Evenflow80; 05-07-2019 at 01:42 PM.
I thought $2700 for bumber/hood repair as well as ENTIRE car repaint was a steal. Now I wish I would have spent $1000 more and not had to deal with this ****
Well, aside from the minor hood misalignment (should be easy for someone to realign the hood unless the problem is the rad support itself being misaligned when replaced), that price for a decent full re-spray is a good price. My body guys want $5k for a full respray (and I trust them with all of my cars including the classics they've worked on); but at > half the value of my 33, uhh, well, I'll live with the silver "patina" (clearly visible on roof, hatch and door finisher in pic).
In any event, if the shop won't fix your car, I'd just cut losses - if you could call it that - and do (or learn to) the realignment yourself along with installing the hood sealing gasket for your peace of mind. I wouldn't be overly concerned with hydrolock as it would take a drive INTO water to ingest enough H20 through the popcharger to do any damage. Rain may wet the filter but so little as it's just a bit of moisture coming into the system, not the volume required to hydrolock.
As mentioned earlier, a slightly more worrisome situation is pressure build up under the hood but even that's an unlikely scenario as air flowing through that gap won't "pool"; it will just pass through and under the car.
Well, aside from the minor hood misalignment (should be easy for someone to realign the hood unless the problem is the rad support itself being misaligned when replaced), that price for a decent full re-spray is a good price. My body guys want $5k for a full respray (and I trust them with all of my cars including the classics they've worked on); but at > half the value of my 33, uhh, well, I'll live with the silver "patina" (clearly visible on roof, hatch and door finisher in pic).
In any event, if the shop won't fix your car, I'd just cut losses - if you could call it that - and do (or learn to) the realignment yourself along with installing the hood sealing gasket for your peace of mind. I wouldn't be overly concerned with hydrolock as it would take a drive INTO water to ingest enough H20 through the popcharger to do any damage. Rain may wet the filter but so little as it's just a bit of moisture coming into the system, not the volume required to hydrolock.
As mentioned earlier, a slightly more worrisome situation is pressure build up under the hood but even that's an unlikely scenario as air flowing through that gap won't "pool"; it will just pass through and under the car.
Thanks for the tips man. Last couple of months I've learned more about fixing my Z that I had in the prior 12 years I've had it.
Also I like your car ...nice color but I may be biased. That oxidation of the roof is what I had on original paint (especially on the spoiler ) that prompted me to do the repaint.
Thanks for the tips man. Last couple of months I've learned more about fixing my Z that I had in the prior 12 years I've had it.
Also I like your car ...nice color but I may be biased. That oxidation of the roof is what I had on original paint (especially on the spoiler ) that prompted me to do the repaint.
The curse of silver cars. (Especially ones that are parked (or, were parked) outdoors without enough attention to detailing/protecting it.)
Funny that even when I was a kid and we did (or had done) single stage paint, silver was a bear to maintain then. Apparently multi-stage silver does last longer but unless cared for, only incrementally longer. Especially when painted on the different surfaces of the car (plastic trim pieces versus the metal body). But no complaints... 16 years old car and all.
After mechanic was done, the idiots next door took it to install the bumber and hood and lights and because i got some money from insurance since they delcared it "salvage", I decided to repaint the entire car since I had a lot of oxidation on the paint before. I paid the mecahnic next door $1600 and the repair shop $2700, (keep in mind aside from the hood latch, I BOUGHT AND HAD DELIVERED ALL THE PARTS NEEDED)
Was it brand new OEM parts from Nissan or aftermarket/replicas? Im guessing aftermarket since it would be much more than the $1,600 paid.
If its not OEM then the majority of the time the parts do not fit perfect. In addition to the accident it rarely comes together as if it was never hit. Did the shop say they would include the seals? That usually has to be ordered separately at an unreasonably high OEM price tag which is probably why it wasn't installed. If the shop was lazy then they didn't salvage the parts from the previous hood or it was destroyed, unlikely.
Last edited by mr. sparco; 05-07-2019 at 07:17 PM.
As mentioned earlier, a slightly more worrisome situation is pressure build up under the hood but even that's an unlikely scenario as air flowing through that gap won't "pool"; it will just pass through and under the car.
Its usually the pressure difference along with air turbulence above the hood and within the engine bay that causes the hood to wobble, flex, and shake. I've modded and also bought hoods over the years to notice it happening visibly. Over time the latch gets weakened or deformed and may release unexpectedly. Google search "car hood flies open while driving" and you will find plenty of examples at surface street speeds. Seen enough hoods crack windshields on friends' cars since the 90's to avoid this unnecessary risk to self and others.
Last edited by mr. sparco; 05-07-2019 at 08:27 PM.
Was it brand new OEM parts from Nissan or aftermarket/replicas? Im guessing aftermarket since it would be much more than the $1,600 paid.
If its not OEM then the majority of the time the parts do not fit perfect. In addition to the accident it rarely comes together as if it was never hit. Did the shop say they would include the seals? That usually has to be ordered separately at an unreasonably high OEM price tag which is probably why it wasn't installed. If the shop was lazy then they didn't salvage the parts from the previous hood or it was destroyed, unlikely.
For the most part everything is OEM.... Except headlights and the hood hinges .... The latter which could very well be the culprit for the misaligned hood.
But what's driving me crazy is that I don't even know if it's the hood or the number that's misaligned . It's driving me crazy . When I lift he hood up and look at right and left hinges they look exactly the same to me.
... I paid the mecahnic next door $1600 and the repair shop $2700, (keep in mind aside from the hood latch, I BOUGHT AND HAD DELIVERED ALL THE PARTS NEEDED)
*
Whether its aftermarket or OEM, it looks like you provided a new hood. (the shop didn't even paint the underside completely and I can see the Nissan part number) If that's the case, the hood will not come with any seals or bumpers.
If there weren't any seals and bumpers to begin with, you cannot expect the shop to buy them for you.
Originally Posted by Evenflow80
For the most part everything is OEM.... Except headlights and the hood hinges .... The latter which could very well be the culprit for the misaligned hood.
But what's driving me crazy is that I don't even know if it's the hood or the number that's misaligned . It's driving me crazy . When I lift he hood up and look at right and left hinges they look exactly the same to me.
Before you go mad, go to Nissan. Get the adjustment bumpers (62840 in the diagram) and front seals. From the looks of your pictures, that will solve your problem. Even if you just get the bumpers.
The gap on the driver side is fine. It is the gap on the passenger side that is too tight. Look at the how the hood sits lower than the fender on the passenger side and doesn't line up with the vertical edge of the bumper by the headlight.
Screw in the adjustment bumpers and adjust the passenger side to open up the gap. Line it up with the top of fender. For the driver side, just screw in the bumper to provide some cushion but not open up the gap anymore.
The seals should fit in snugly between the hood and bumper but not crushed.
There are only 2 solutions here that I can see....
1. buy the hood bumpers at your local Nissan service center. It will take 2 mins to put them in, and they will cost no more than 10 bucks... screw the left one out slightly further than the right one... and you can adjust the lip clearance enough to correct your problem. DONE.
2. go back to the shop and force them to fix it... those bumpers were on your original hood and its on them if they didn't bother to take them off your old hood and transfer them to the new one. Not having a hood that sits right w proper lines, is their responsibility. Threaten a chargeback on your credit card or contact your insurance company and tell them you aren't happy with the work they did.
I was in a similar situation and gave up on my body shop and jsut fixed it myself. In the process of painting my hood 3x (over a 10 week span), they warped it from working on the hood with the prop rod up, and filled my engine compartment with paint sanding dust. They also put hundreds of tiny surface scratches in my bumper cover from not covering it up and dragging their pneumatic hoses and tooks across the bumper whil ethey were sanding. These guys were total idiots.... the guy's dad used to do great body shop work, but he recently handed the business over to his son, who is lazy and can't paint at all. Lesson learned and if they didn't do all the local township police repairs at a discoutn, they would probably be out of business already. I wet sanded the scratches out of the cover and did my best to fix the warped hood. It looks fine, but I know it will never be the same again...as is the case with most body shop repairs.
Whether its aftermarket or OEM, it looks like you provided a new hood. (the shop didn't even paint the underside completely and I can see the Nissan part number) If that's the case, the hood will not come with any seals or bumpers.
If there weren't any seals and bumpers to begin with, you cannot expect the shop to buy them for you.
Before you go mad, go to Nissan. Get the adjustment bumpers (62840 in the diagram) and front seals. From the looks of your pictures, that will solve your problem. Even if you just get the bumpers.
The gap on the driver side is fine. It is the gap on the passenger side that is too tight. Look at the how the hood sits lower than the fender on the passenger side and doesn't line up with the vertical edge of the bumper by the headlight.
Screw in the adjustment bumpers and adjust the passenger side to open up the gap. Line it up with the top of fender. For the driver side, just screw in the bumper to provide some cushion but not open up the gap anymore.
The seals should fit in snugly between the hood and bumper but not crushed.
Let me know how that goes.
I'm surprised you think the passenger side is the problem side.... I am looking at old pics of my car pre-repairs and the hood seemed to have no gaps anywhere and were pretty tight.
I'll order the missing parts you mentioned though. On NissanPartsDeal they come out to about $160... whats $160 more when I already spent $7000 on this cursed project?
I'm surprised you think the passenger side is the problem side.... I am looking at old pics of my car pre-repairs and the hood seemed to have no gaps anywhere and were pretty tight.
I'll order the missing parts you mentioned though. On NissanPartsDeal they come out to about $160... whats $160 more when I already spent $7000 on this cursed project?
Thank you for the help
Here is mine for reference. Purchased new and currently at 14k miles.
Or you can Google image 350z and look for gaps on Zs with original parts.
Without a gap, the hood will sit lower than the fenders and the body lines/surface will not flow into the bumper when viewed from the side.
If you were in closer, I'd tell you to stop by the shop with the parts and I can adjust it for you. It takes 2 minutes.
05-07-2019, 12:50 PM
