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Hello-
I am looking for some advice on how to go about fixing this hood rot. I have no body work skills lol.
Do I need to use some kind of bondo on it? Do I just scrape off the bad paint and spread some kind of
filler over it then sand it and touch up paint it?
I am not an expert body guy but have done some small jobs for my self. You would have to sand it down to bare metal then primer and paint. Might get a little intense cause the paint that is still on the hood is going to be a different car because of the fade from sun/elements. Not the best help just from my experience. I have a white mustang along with my black one and it always stands out on the white one more than the black one.
And yet, that's a 2005+ aluminum alloy hood, and it's not the paint or primer, that's the metal itself letting go and flaking off due to oxidation. The primer's attached to the metal, and the paint to the primer, but the metal's no longer attached to the metal!
Not even McLaren can get it right. Aluminum (siphons with a large amount of negative pressure) to paint and get it to stick. I'd just swap the hood at this point, m'self. It'll probably cost less.
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Besides the aluminum and paint issue described, the elements (temps, sun, etc...) must have something to do with this, no?? I have trouble believing my GT would get this rough from sitting in the garage 98% of the time (only left outside during vacations) plus it's been hand waxed every 3 - 4 months since new.
Besides the aluminum and paint issue described, the elements (temps, sun, etc...) must have something to do with this, no?? I have trouble believing my GT would get this rough from sitting in the garage 98% of the time (only left outside during vacations) plus it's been hand waxed every 3 - 4 months since new.
It probably is sun related. I moved out to Georgia a few years ago and was no longer able to garage it. The sun gets pretty hot out here lol.
I dont have the funds to replace it at the moment. you think i can scrape\bondo\touch up paint it to keep it from getting any worse until I can afford to replace the hood?
You could bubble gum and duct tape it. Not literally, but patch it but just remember it's not permanent. Like houtex said it's going to get worst. Pretty much like rust it's a cancer for a car.
Or a bra.I never liked the looks of them myself,but it'd be a quick n easy way to cover it.They were really popular back in the '90's,but I dunno,they might be extinct now
Besides the aluminum and paint issue described, the elements (temps, sun, etc...) must have something to do with this, no?? I have trouble believing my GT would get this rough from sitting in the garage 98% of the time (only left outside during vacations) plus it's been hand waxed every 3 - 4 months since new.
It's temperature, humidity coupled with seams and contaminants from the factory that causes it. It starts at the Ford plant when the car was first made, when the hoods were put on, handled, etc. Somehow, some way, the hoods got contaminated and it's over at that point. You have to be *perfect* with aluminum, it is completely and utterly unforgiving. May as well paint a chrome part, and you can have better luck with chrome!
Whatever small bit of contaminant got on the hood, got under the e-coat dipping process, stayed there. Paint laid over the ecoat. Ship it. Now wait. As the temps go up and down (yes, even in your garage), that small contaminant helped to crack the ecoat and paint. Then air and water (humidity) gets in. It does not take much. Aluminum *desperately* wants to attach oxygen to itself... aka aluminum oxide... aluminum rust. And that makes a bigger molecule, which then continues the crack in the ecoat/paint, and it spreads... slowly... insidiously... never stopping. Ever.
It will not be denied it's true destiny now. The entire paint of the hood will eventually fall off. Not that the paint's actually falling off, it's the metal falling off of itself in flakes. For once the layer under the e-coat is compromised, it makes a self wedging fulcrum and pushes the outermost layer of oxidation right off the rest of the metal.
And again, eventually, the paint's gone... leaving a pristine, yet fragile, surface of aluminum oxide, just awaiting the next jostle, wind gust, rain drop, or hand rub to come right off and continue the process of the inevitable, centuries...nay millennia... long process of literally eating itself away from oxidation.
Yep. You'll never see that happen in your lifetime... or your kids... or kids kids maybe. An entire hood blowing away in the wind... but it's comin'. Prepare.
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Well, a little overly dramatic, sure. But that's the problem with these things and why it is that if you actually think about tackling it, the best of prepwork has to happen, and there can't be ANY contaminants on the hood before you even patch it.
The actual best practice is to polish it naked (the hood, not you, weirdo what thought that) and then clear coat it. Repeating as needed as the inevitable scratch leads to the process over and over....
...so 'scratch' that, just get a plastic hood and be done with it. I did. So much happier now.
The actual best practice is to polish it naked (the hood, not you, weirdo what thought that) and then clear coat it. Repeating as needed as the inevitable scratch leads to the process over and over....[/QUOTE that's funny but true what everyone probably thought.
From: the beautiful "Shenandoah Valley of Virginia"
If funds are limited, about the best one can do is fill the blemishes with matched touch up, but it's gonna be never ending job of hiding. Grey Duct tape is too dark and if replaced, will take more paint off. I've seen others and most seem to happen near the leading edge, like from a rock impact maybe. I make sure to touch those up when found but "knock on wood" ... none yet on the GT. Just thinking out loud, wonder how a inch wide strip of black textured vinyl tape across the leading edge would look as a mini bra? Like use 2" wide step tape from Tractor Supply, but wrap the extra back under the hood front. Maybe even do a full wrap? None of this will look truly great, but it'll look OK at 50 mph going the other way.
Last edited by tbear853; Jul 12, 2021 at 09:53 AM.
Actually, the weirdest thing is that it usually starts from under the hood at the seams, then creeps from under to the top. Think it may have to do with the ecoat or water and/or contaminants getting into places it probably shouldn't and there not being proper drains for those areas near the front of the hood... Theories abound of course, but the main takeaway is this: Aluminum panels with complex structure and seams are just (siphon-y) to paint cheaply, so you shouldn't paint them cheaply. And/or use a better, higher quality (and therefore more expensive) aluminum alloy that's not as prone to this problem.
No kidding, McLaren, a very expensive car maker, can't do it (and also won't fix it) so there's no way Ford can (skip to 3:46 on the video.):
But that's the problem with these things and why it is that if you actually think about tackling it, the best of prepwork has to happen, and there can't be ANY contaminants on the hood before you even patch it.
that's funny but true what everyone probably thought. 
Theories abound of course, but the main takeaway is this: Aluminum panels with complex structure and seams are just (siphon-y) to paint cheaply, so you shouldn't paint them cheaply. And/or use a better, higher quality (and therefore more expensive) aluminum alloy that's not as prone to this problem.
