The recent ice storm here in the KC area gave me a coronary! The S2000 was parked close to a building (but not too close!) and some ice fell from the building's gutter/overhand and put line of dents in the hood. The line was perfectly straight with the dents 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep. I have not talked to my autobody guy yet, I'm going to tomorrow. Since I don't have any experience with aluminum auto body parts, I thought I'd asked to see any anyone one else experience with the hood. Can the dents be pushed out, ala 'Dr. Dent' or must the hood be reworked? Will the hood be replaced? I understand that aluminum doesn't paint well, is that right? The ice didn't hurt the fender or nose piece. Any info about the above will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

i am pretty sure the hood can be repainted. it should cost no more than 200-300 dollars for just the hood. try parking your car in the garage next time or put a car cover over the car.

 

The painting will be less of an issue than getting the dents out - Aluminum does not lend itself well to reshaping dent wizard style... New hood?

If you had a CF hood, there may not have been any dents to begin with.

 

What color is your hood? I have silverstone hood mint, just got J's racing carbon fiber hood.

 

I got a deep dent in my hood from "road debris" that was about 1/2 inch in diameter and took the paint off. The surrounding area was indented as well. The body shop I took it to did a great job in repairing it. I wanted a new hood because of the fear of working with aluminum. The adjuster denied my request saying that it could be fixed without issue. The shop filled it and spotted in the paint in about an 8 inch square area and then clear coated the whole hood. Great job. The nice thing about keeping the original hood is having all of the original decals and VIN underneath.

 

Just got back from the autobody shop. The autobody guy gave me an estimate of $1424 to replace the hood with a new one, paint it, and blend it with the rest of the front. The hood itself was $407. He said the Sebring Silver was pretty easy to match, especially it being a new car and all. He said he could redo the existing hood but over time it just wouldn't look right.

After some discussion however, he would lower the price 10% because I'm a car club member (BMW CCA). I have a deductible of $240 for comprehensive so I'll be stuck with that. I don't think my insurance company with argue with that.

ESZ - I'm be interested in your hood if the insurance company won't buck up for a new one!