Just wondering if anyone knows why Saleen does not paint the bottom side of the hood? I did not think anything of it until I seen an 04 Cobra (mystichrome), and the bottom side of the hood was painted. My Lizstick red was a 15k option, and I can see the engine was even taken out to paint under there, but the bottom of the hood is still black. Any reason for that. Does not bother me, just curious. Thanks!

 

That's weird. The underside of my '07 Liztick Red Saleen's hood is painted. This photo shows it (not well, admittedly, but it's the only one I have):



...oops, hit EDIT instead ofQUOTE [sm=headbang.gif]

 

Wow, Mine is totally black under there! I am going to call Saleen to ask now. It did not bother me, but it deos now that I see yours!

 

It is odd-- on my car, everything is painted, including the inside of the door panels under the trim and the underside of the trunk lid.

I took this photo of Molly Saleen's in-progress car in the fall of '06. As you can see they really disassemble the custom painted cars. Can't imagine why the underside of your hood was left black...



(In this photo, the paint looks red, but trust me, it's eye-searing hot pink!)

 

Mine is definitely like that. Everything else I can think of is painted including the underside of the trunk lid. The only thing that is not is the underside of the hood. No accidents on record, one owner, 7800 miles. Really strange to me though. I have had a couple of people comment that they were suprised it was not painted under there. I did notice they do not remove the brake booster either as I can see a small trace of overspray. Your pic shows it is still there also.

I just left a message for the regional rep in my area to see what he says. I am sure they are not going to do anything about it, but I still want to know the reasoning for it.

 

You know, I'd bet a fair amount of money that the hood is painted on the underside, and that someone-- the original owner, perhaps?-- just thought it would look neater in black...

Granted, I wouldn't touch my ultra-expensive custom paint job, but there are people out there...

 

Well, I got the answer. First off, I spoke to Warranty in Irvine, and the guy kind of pissed me off. He should of have known the answer, but instead tried to tell me my hood has been replaced, and that the guy must of had it repainted somewhere else!

First I said "Well I thought only Saleen can get this color?" He replied "people duplicate it all of the time, the hood was defintely replaced!"

Now I am calling the orignal owner trying to find out what happend, no accidents on record, the paint is PERFECT. I do not get it.

Well finally the Sallen Rep for the Northeast region calls me back (I left him a message earlier). He knew right away why this was. Apprently if the car came from Michigan, the underside of the hood was not painted. If it came from Irvine, it was painted. He said they needed to cut costs as they were losing money in this paintjob (15k?). The prep is so involved which is why the price is now higher. I think he said they did or are going to stop painting the underside of the hood in Irvine also.

Wel now I am at ease knowing what this is. The guy I had on the phone was the most knowledgeable person I have spoken to yet. I wish the Warranty guy would of have told me that instead of insisting my hood was replaced! Thanks everyone for your input.

 

When was your car built? Mine was painted at the Troy facility in March, 2007.

I hope this isn't true; not painting the underside of the hood is absurd (IMO) on a $17K paint job (price accurate for 2007).

 

Funny, he told me it was on 06's. I am guessing they raised the cost, and then started painting them again. My in-service date is 11-28-05. I did not even tell him the year or the VIN, and he already knew it was an 06'.

 

I have seen them both ways..can't seem to figure out why??? Our car does Not have paint on the underside.

Casey