[TxCajun]

Hood Lower Valence Replacement

Well, as you can see from the media blast photos shown above, the hood lower valence needed to go as it was really rotten.

I looked around quite a bit and decided to buy an Auto Metal Direct TriPlus Lower Hood Repair Panel from CarID. Through eBay it was about $180.

I first removed the inner hood support by drilling out about 40 spot welds. This piece turned out to not have any significant rust damage but did have a few cracks in the corners that needed to be welded. It was also slightly tweaked, but a little bending and hammer work fixed that.

Before removing the Lower Panel from the front of the hood, I clamped a piece of angle across the front of the hood to help retain the hood shape.
The hood gets very wobbly when this lower panel is removed.

Because the Lower Panel spot welds that attach it to the hood are not accessible with a drill or spot weld cutter, I cut off this part with a side grinder and cutting wheel just shy of the seam, then used a spot weld cutter and a grinder to remove about 35 spot welds and clean up the joint.

The new Lower Hood Repair Panel fit fairly well but did require some massaging on the rear flanges at each end. I also had to drill holes for all of the plug welds that I would need to attach the new part to the hood and the inner hood support.

The Lower Hood Repair Panel was fitted in place and secured with a bunch of clamps. I then started plug welding from the center and worked my way out to each end.

Next, was cleaning up and painting the topside of the inner hood support and the underside of the hood where the support would cover it. I then positioned the inner hood support in place, secured it with a bunch of clamps, then started plug welding from the center and worked my way out.

The end results are pretty good, and the new Lower Hood Panel is a huge improvement over the rotten one that I removed.

I worked a few other areas on the hood that needed some hammer and dolly massaging. The next step is to get the hood primered since it is starting to get some flash rust on the media blasted parts. Hoping for a few warm, dry days early next week.

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