After reading and learning here on this site many years ago about the hood issues (oxidation, paint) I have been diligent about waxing the hood every 4 - 5 months even though it is in the garage every night except when on road trips.
Today was another 4 months since my last wax (time sure goes quick when it comes to this routine) and I'm pleased with the results still. Plenty of gloss and the paint has been fine. I'll keep up with the effort as the results make me pleased overall. I have mostly used the Griot's hand paste wax but I ran out of it and used the Meguiars cleaner wax with carnauba. It's really just as impressive and a lot cheaper. The rest of the car is equally nice but I let 6 month pass sometimes before waxing.

 

you might have the only one; maybe Ford engineers will buy it from you for testing and evaluation? LOL

how does it look on the bottom, along the seam welds?

 

It all seems fine. I do use the Eagle One Nano spray wax in areas underneath too.

 

 

Consider your S197 model as one of the very select few that wasn't plagued by the contamination issues in the materials used during the paint/manufacturing process of the hood..
As for the majority of the S197 cars that were affected, I really don't think any type of wax nor paint correction products are going stop nor prevent the eventual paint bubbling issues from taking place, but that's just my personal opinion

 

I don't take care of mine nearly as well as I should,and it only has a few chips along the front,and a couple small areas underneath.However,pretty much every square inch of the car has paint chips,mostly on the sides,a vertical surface .I'll never understand how that can be

 

No matter what they say, it still helps to keep the cars paint looking very sharp, especially for a 15 year old '07... Being garaged helps too. You should feel really good about the very nice looking car(s) you have!

 

m05fastbackGT I remember other posts about "there really isn't anything you can do" if you bought one of the poorly done S197 models. It was sort of a mixed response but I figured there was certainly no harm in trying. I guess I will never know if just 'luck' or if it was my constant efforts. I'm OK with either scenario.

shaneyusa

 

I'm also a very firm believer when it comes to taking pride in maintaining the cars paint by looking it's very best.. My car is also garage kept and after 15 years, I haven't come across any paint bubbling issues underneath the hood. Perhaps, I'm also one of the lucky ones who was spared being plagued by the contamination issues in the paint materials used during the manufacturing process

I was only referring to what other posts and past threads had brought up about the paint/contamination issues.. However, like yourself, I also have not experienced any paint bubbling issues as those who responded have in the past.. Perhaps, my car was spared being plagued by the paint/contamination issues during the manufacturing process or was just lucky.. It's also very possible that by always keeping up with maintaining the car's paint along with being garage kept could very well be a contributing factor as well

 

This is the first time I’ve heard about issues with the hood paint. I am an original owner of a 2008 GT and have not seen any problems with my hood paint thus far. The car has been a daily driver for 12 years until the pandemic hit and is now more of a garage queen. But I’ll be taking a detailed look at my hood paint after this post.

What I have experienced is issues with the paint on both front and rear bumpers. The factory paint on the top portion of both have now become basically almost flat looking and the glossiness mostly gone, as if the clear coat just disappeared over time.

 

look at the seams around the edge on the bottom of the hood, that's where it starts

 

Thanks, will do.

 

I checked and the only thing I was able to see which remotely resembles bubbling was a small section on the side underneath. Is that what everyone is referring to?

 

If it's the seam around the underside edge? then yes!

 

Ooof…guess I did get hit with this also, but that’s literally the extent of it and there’s none anywhere else. Considering myself lucky!

 

After all this time, that's like nothing. Enjoy your ride!

 

that looks like maybe a tiny little beginning of it, but very minor, nothing to worry about

 

I'd be monitoring it either way. This is how they start out, then it gets worse and worse. Once the aluminum gets a chance to do its thing...

I hope I'm wrong, truly. Original painted hoods are so much nicer to me than any aftermarket, and that's me saying it after replacing mine.

 

Much better to be safe than sorry IMHO