cowl damage

[streetstang88]

about six months ago i ended up in the ditch ,better there than upside a
1500lb cow .... it made me sick i got out and checked everything wasnt to
bad i made shure the hood was closed good and it was .....So here i go
and 10 miles up the road the hood pops,comes up and ruins my cowl
(i guess that it knocked some things enough out of line that the latch failed)
I am just now looking into fixing this .... and dont know what i am getting
into anyone seen this or have any ideas??????????? or know where i can get a replacement cowl

[Italian LX]

Replacing the cowl is a pretty big ordeal. Lee's hood did the same thing in his old '88 GT and he ended up just having repair work done to it (ie. bondo). It turned out nice from what I remember.

It's all on how much you want to spend. Maybe he can chime in with what the cost difference was.

[streetstang88]

10-4 i'm afraid i'm past bondo this is gonna suck

[Italian LX]

10-4 i'm afraid i'm past bondo this is gonna suck
From what I recall, Lee's was bent in pretty good. You got any pictures?

[QWKSNKE]

yeah mine was bent pretty bad. They pulled it and bondo'd it up.

FWIW, they used to make replacement cowls

[Sendero]

I had a "hood pop" incident in my 89GT. Replacing the cowl is a pretty big deal. The hood, dash, windshield, front end, and both fenders have to come off in order to properly repair the damage. My cowl was a replacement unit from a Ford authorized stamping company. In the end with painting both fenders, the cowl, and the roof area plus labor to repair and install everything was about $4500.

[QWKSNKE]

I had a "hood pop" incident in my 89GT. Replacing the cowl is a pretty big deal. The hood, dash, windshield, front end, and both fenders have to come off in order to properly repair the damage. My cowl was a replacement unit from a Ford authorized stamping company. In the end with painting both fenders, the cowl, and the roof area plus labor to repair and install everything was about $4500.


DAMN!! Mine was nowhere close to that

[streetstang88]

i think thats what i am gonna need ...i talked to Norreds body shop earlier
and he said that he would do the cowl work (replace it) and strip/paint my whole car including the door jams for about $4000 .... maybe change color @ the same time ?????????? that may be a little ambitious

I'll get some pics in a day or so .....hopefully mine will be more like what happened to Lee's car no roof damage ...BTW sendero whats up w/"dog magnet" I need that Ive hit two dogs it the last month once in my '04
civic whew was that a mess .....(about a 150lb dog) the other in my '77-150
(nothing more than a speed bump)

[coupe]

Might could cut out the top "bent" plate and have a new plate welded in...or some aluminum riveted or epoxied there...I've seen some race cars with aluminum in place of the cowl because they had to run tubing or other stuff into that space. Looked pretty cool. Kinda racey, but not bad.

[QWKSNKE]

streetstang88,

Check with Robbie at Huges paint and Body works in Oxford. He is the one that fixed mine

[streetstang88]

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c260/markmcclendon/DSCF1516_086.jpg

[QWKSNKE]

its fixable. That is about what mine looked like

[Catang5oh]

i just want to throw in my 2 cents, stay away from Norreds, i know them, but most of his good workers arent around any more. Cowl damage seems like a major fix but it really isnt, nothing that a good tech and a porta power cant fix. its a flat surface so they will just push it back up close to smooth, and fill in what is left. Hughes is a good shop, but plan on a little downtime for the car, he stays really busy.

[streetstang88]

I talked to Robby @ Hughes ... now i just got to get a cowl + 400-500 $ for labor ...