Aluminum Hood....

[brasil]

As we all know, our Pony have those "famous " Aluminium hoods... And the problem is that the hood starts to "self destroy " one day.
Does someone has some information why Ford didn´t make the hood out of steel ?
I found a seller in Poland , who sells steel hoods (OEM STYLE )
The only reason for using Aluminium that I can think about - is to protect a pedestrian -in an accident....

 

[stkjock]

Weight

 

[86GT351]

Weight savings is definitely one reason.

 

[Pentalab]

Alum is 2.76 X lighter than steel..so not quite 1/3 the weight of steel..for a given thickness.
Rust never sleeps, and aluminum doesn't rust. 6061-T6 alum is 40 ksi. Plane jane steel is just 35 ksi. Aluminum will flex 3 X as much as steel. ( modulus of elasticity is triple), so the alum has to have ribs etc in it, to increase strength.

Dunno if my 2011 Fusion has a steel or Alum hood or not.... I think it's steel.... will check later today.

 

[Robert Larimer]

As we all know, our Pony have those "famous " Aluminium hoods... And the problem is that the hood starts to "self destroy " one day.
Does someone has some information why Ford didn´t make the hood out of steel ?
I found a seller in Poland , who sells steel hoods (OEM STYLE )
The only reason for using Aluminium that I can think about - is to protect a pedestrian -in an accident....

The problem of iron contamination is workable. I had the infamous bubbles on my 2012 Stang starting under the hood at the edges. I removed them as fast as they developed cleaned off the white powder to the bare aluminum and waited a week to touch the spots up. None of them returned or were able to reach the top of the hood. What people need to remember is that aluminum cannot corrode when exposed to air and it is only under that bubble of paint and clear coat that corrosion can cause damage. BTW I have not had any bubbling for over 5 years now and I think the problem is done.

 

[86GT351]

The problem of iron contamination is workable. I had the infamous bubbles on my 2012 Stang starting under the hood at the edges. I removed them as fast as they developed cleaned off the white powder to the bare aluminum and waited a week to touch the spots up. None of them returned or were able to reach the top of the hood. What people need to remember is that aluminum cannot corrode when exposed to air and it is only under that bubble of paint and clear coat that corrosion can cause damage. BTW I have not had any bubbling for over 5 years now and I think the problem is done.

The complete issue is not the hood. It is all in the prep work.

 

[Laga]

The corrosion on my 05 started very quickly with little warning in 2015 . Being in the salt belt didn’t help, I’m sure. Multiple spots across the front lip on the bottom. The worst spot got to be about 3” wide and came up the front of me he hood 1 1/2”. I took the car to two local body shops to get the hood repaired and both refused the job saying the pealing will only come back. At the time, my SIL’s father was a used auto parts dealer. He did a search of all the local junk yards and found 1 hood from a 07. When I called on it, it had corroded also.
A fiberglass hood from Cervinis turned out to be the cheapest and easiest replacement. It also turned out to be the best replacement as I’m very happy with it

 

[JC SSP]

Love that MACH1 hood!

 

[saleen836]

The complete issue is not the hood. It is all in the prep work.

And Ford still didn't sort out the issue as the S550's suffer the same problem on the front fenders and hood!
Having said that Aston Martin cars also suffer the same problem

 

[JC SSP]

You do know that ford used to own Aston Martin many years ago… lol

 

[saleen836]

You do know that ford used to own Aston Martin many years ago… lol

I do, but when you are paying $100k + for a car you don't expect problems with it

 

[86GT351]

I do, but when you are paying $100k + for a car you don't expect problems with it

AH. Price is not a factor on warranty concerns. I have a friend that went to work for Bentley from Ford. Same hourly flat rate but makes more monies because the more expensive car still breaks. Sadly Quality Control on all cars, even the hand made ones has gone down hill lately.

 

[MrBhp]

Yeah, finish issues are not exclusive to Ford products. I would say that at least half the GM commercial fleet vehicles are running around half dressed. Paint flakes off in sheets. A good deal of the issue is caused by the EPA's ever changing voc requirements, demanding change before the industry is ready. You can fix the aluminum hood that you have. You just need to find the right shop that wants to put the time in to make it right. The hood should be stripped to bare metal and treated with a pH corrected citric acid solution. Expect to pay accordingly.

 

[Laga]

The aluminum hood on my 2017 Ram had the paint start to bubble up last year. With 4 months left on the 5 year paint warranty. Took them 3 weeks to fix it. Lucky, they gave me a loaner.

 

[86GT351]

I was told it has to do primarily with prep. Not the item itself.

 

[GriffX]

In addition to the annoying corrosion problem is the high speed wobble. You can make it better by screw out the rubber stops a bit, but it does not stop it. Especially around the hinges frightens me to get cracks.

 

[JEWC_Motorsports]

I was told it has to do primarily with prep. Not the item itself.

Most body shops will not touch aluminum panels that are already bubbling, especially ford's. The 11+ mustang hoods specifically had garbage in the aluminum when they were stamped. I was told this by Ford and roughly a dozen body shops. I wanted to get my factory hood repainted. Now I'm going to do it myself and see how it goes.

 

[Ret]

I know this post started out about the weight of the hood. But several posts piqued my interest. The entries about the paint bubbling and peeling. My 2008 GT/CS had no rust on it anywhere. But raise the hood and it had plenty of pealing up by the latch. Anyway, about six months ago I bought a 2012 GT and looked it over for signs of the bubbling or pealing. I didn't find any and was feeling pretty proud of myself.

But post #5, Larimer post about his 2011 pealing makes me a little less smug.

My son and I recently prepare our car for a car show, and I mean we cleaned and waxed everything inside out. No signs anywhere of any bubbling or peeling. Anyone know if the problem had been corrected between the 2011 and the 2012 models.

 

[JC SSP]

Could be a random issue or car built on Monday or Friday! Paint robots like to screw-off on those days. LOL

If your paint is looking good, I would say you're OK.

 

[pass1over]

the hood on my '12 bubbled and peeled. And JEWC is right, no body shop will touch it. I went to 5 in my area and they all said it needed a new hood, there was no way for them to fix the existing one.


I've seen a whole bunch of '11-"12 cars with bubbling or peeling paint on the hoods, especially on the leading edge.

I suspect all it takes is a little rock chip you don't notice and the oxidation begins .... then it will start to bubble and peel after time