99horsey

Well, my hood bubbling came back. I first noticed it 3 years ago (after the warranty was up). I employed a temporary fix (removed as much of the bubbled paint as I easily could; used touch-up primer, base, and clear; wet sanded and blended in). It was a long process to do a jury rig fix like that, but it was cheap and it looked great for 3 years. As expected, it’s coming back. Since I don’t want to do this every 3 years and it will undoubtedly be a larger and larger repair every time, I’m looking for a more permanent solution.

I really don’t want to just have the hood repainted because as I understand it, even if I find a good body shop and they do it right, the contaminants that started the corrosion may be under the crease in the aluminum and it might come right back. Has anybody had any long term success with a repaint? If so, were any special precautions taken or additional prep work?

Aside from a repaint, I’m left with an aftermarket hood. My problem there is that I don’t want an aftermarket hood. I like the stock look. Does anybody make the stock shaped hood in fiberglass? I’ve not seen any online. If I went with an aftermarket fiberglass hood, is it hard to get a good paint job on those, or pretty easy? How much does a new hood paint job typically cost?

I’ve read most of the threads I could find here but most cover repairs under warranty. I just want the cheapest permanent fix. Any advice is welcome. This whole thing is ridiculous and as much as I love Mustangs, it really makes me question whether I’ll buy another Ford again…

Falkwa

I have it on my car. i just put up with it. just gonna buy a fiberglass hood when it comes time to paint the whole car.

calistang05

Same thing happen to my 05 bubbled then losing clear coat, so got a aftermarket hood had the whole car painted. OP if I were you I go to American Muscle.com check out there hoods maybe call and talk to them about aftermarket hoods there very knowledgable and may even sell stock hoods.

Stang-aholic

aftermarket hood time!! you can sell your oem for a few pennies too even if its bubbling!! or wrap your hood as a temporary fix..

99horsey

Maybe I'll give AM a call. Like I said, I would prefer to keep the stock look. I've seen some aftermarket hoods that look closer to stock (with just heat extractors rather than high cowling or big ram air). It seems like that's my only option for a permanent fix. I've seen new factory hoods for sale, but those will likely have the same problem... Anybody have any costs for painting an aftermarket fiberglass hood? I'm guessing $500 for the hood and $300 for paint is about as low as I can go?

zoomerman46

"I'm guessing $500 for the hood and $300 for paint is about as low as I can go?"

I think your in the ball park with the cost of a new glass hood. I bought a Cervini Ram Air IV with billeted vents for around 600 bucks. For Painting and Prep I think you are pretty low at 300. More in the range of 500-600 bucks to do it right the first time. And that's with painting the underside of the hood.

99horsey

I wasn't sure how much prep a new aftermarket hood needed, but I'm not surprised you'd say $5-600. I just looked and Cervini sells hoods prepainted for $399. Anybody go that route? I don't know how much better a local body shop can match the color and I'd worry about damage during shipping...

Since I really don't want an aftermarket hood (and don't want to pay $500 for one), I wonder what the odds are of getting mine repainted and not having the bubbling come back... I did an informal survey at a Mustang show yesterday and about 1 out of 5 of the 05-09s I saw had the problem. Most were only in the early stages (just on the bottom - fortunately everyone had their hoods up for me to see!). Ford should be ashamed!

99horsey

I got a recommendation on a good shop yesterday and went over to have them check out my hood and talk options. They are more of a custom shop than just a body shop and it looks like they do good work. I was told it would cost me about $650 for a repaint. That covers blending into the fenders since the corrosion is also along the sides of the hood. They told me that they haven't repaired this problem specifically on a Mustang (though they do a lot of Mustang work), but they have on Expeditions and F-series. They've used a product (Penn I think is what he said it was called) that is supposed to help stop the galvanic reaction with the iron particles on the aluminum. He said it's a little early to tell, but they have some Expeditions that have been repaired for 2-3 years that haven't yet developed more issues. I don't know if the repaint route is worth a shot or not. It would save me a good $600 on a new hood...

07 Stang

So far my hood is holding up after Ford fixed it when the car was still under warranty. If it starts bubbling again, I think I will opt for an aftermarket hood. It's ashamed that Ford hasn't owned up to the flaw and give us owners a break by giving us a check for a replacement.

pascal

It's not a big challenge for a good shop to repair your hood...
The bad area has to be sanded down to the aluminum and if the corrosion has not pitted said aluminum (my guess is that it's not) you don't need acid treatment. Epoxy primer will do the trick.
Repainting your hood is cheaper than getting an aftermarket one.