Aluminum Hood....

[Robert Larimer]

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.

My Stang is a 2012 built in July 2011. Not all hoods have the iron contamination that causes the bubbling but some have had it on 2014 models too. Your's sounds like it is in the clear by now. All my bubbling was in the 1st 5 or 6 years.

 

[Robert Larimer]

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

A rock chip will never bubble. Aluminum cannot corrode when exposed to air. That why the corrosion is always sealed in a bubble. Break that bubble and the corrosion stops and never returns. Ford has stated that the problem is from iron contamination under the paint. It has happened to many Ford cars and trucks too.

The Ford Explorer corroding hood issue stems from iron contamination of the aluminum panel prior to the application of paint during production. Over time, the iron particles move into the aluminum body part, causing it to corrode.

https://fordauthority.com/2019/08/class-action-lawsuit-calls-recall-corroding-ford-explorer-hoods/

 

[RoushStage2]

View attachment 88971 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

Very nice looking Cervinis hood. If I ever happen to get the hood corrosion issue this is where I plan on going for an answer. Love your hood. Looks very sharp!

 

[Pentalab]

What's a new, replacement (and painted) aluminum hood cost from Ford ??

 

[brasil]

thank you guys ..for all your answers. So at the end of the day , the only way to go is a nice fiber hood . Unfortunatly here in Germany nearly impossible to find for a good price.
The steel hood is around 500 USD .... a fiber hood.... 2000 USD or even more.

 

[AHaze]

I don't understand this idea that these aluminum panels can't be repainted. I did a quick scuff 'n' spray on the front lip of my hood four years ago and the bubbling hasn't come back. The only somewhat specialized tool I used was one of those glass fiber sticks to clean up the bare spots after sanding.

 

[Midlife Crises]

Good old fashion zinc-chromate primer/sealer if you can find it. Been used on aircraft for a hundred years.

 

[GriffX]

I know that Ford dealers in Germany do repaint the hood.

 

[pass1over]

A rock chip will never bubble. Aluminum cannot corrode when exposed to air. That why the corrosion is always sealed in a bubble. Break that bubble and the corrosion stops and never returns. Ford has stated that the problem is from iron contamination under the paint. It has happened to many Ford cars and trucks too.

The Ford Explorer corroding hood issue stems from iron contamination of the aluminum panel prior to the application of paint during production. Over time, the iron particles move into the aluminum body part, causing it to corrode.

https://fordauthority.com/2019/08/class-action-lawsuit-calls-recall-corroding-ford-explorer-hoods/

The big bubble in the front center of my hood had a small gash/cut in it, you could see the aluminum on the leading edge of the hood. The bubble continued to increase in size, until I got a new hood.

 

[DieHarder]

Good old fashion zinc-chromate primer/sealer if you can find it. Been used on aircraft for a hundred years.

This.... my hood had a couple of spots up front along the lip. My body man cleaned and zinc-chromated it; primer/paint; then sealed the underside of the hood... never came back. Been more than 3 years now.

 

[GlassTop09]

This.... my hood had a couple of spots up front along the lip. My body man cleaned and zinc-chromated it; primer/paint; then sealed the underside of the hood... never came back. Been more than 3 years now.

+1........also had this done recently to my OEM hood while I had her in the body shop repairing clear coat damage to both roof panels around the glass roof along w\ some other stuff.

 

[Robert Larimer]

The big bubble in the front center of my hood had a small gash/cut in it, you could see the aluminum on the leading edge of the hood. The bubble continued to increase in size, until I got a new hood.

It was still sealed off from oxygen if it was still corroding. Leaving the bubble on was a mistake. Most start under the edge of the hood and spread to the top. The trick is to remove them before they do. None of the bubbles I removed ever returned. Most of them were smaller than a dime when I removed them and exposed the bare aluminium to the air.

Compared to many other metals aluminium has good corrosion resistance. This is because aluminium develops a thin oxide layer on the surface when the metal comes in contact with oxygen. The oxide layer protects the aluminium against corrosion and if it is damaged, it will immediately regenerate, provided there is oxygen present.

https://www.alumeco.com/knowledge-technique/general/oxide-layer/#:~:text=This is because aluminium develops,provided there is oxygen present.

 

[Ret]

I wonder if it has anything to do with the clear coat. While my car is black it has a clear coat over the black. The clear coat has red (rust) flakes in the clear coating and has some interesting displays in the sun. It's not an aftermarket application as it's on my original window sticker. I know the flakes have nothing to do with preventing the bubbling and pealing but maybe the clear coat is holding it in check.

Or maybe, as suggested above I just lucked out with a decent factory paint job.

 

[MrBhp]

The hood can be successfully re-painted. Most body shops will not touch it because of some strange mentality that they all seem to have. They charge $600 to paint a hood. They can't paint a hood that has issues that will require extra labor. Thus, they can't paint your hood. Maybe it's because if they tell a person $1000 that person says they will take their business elsewhere. The other thing is mustang owners tend to be cheap.

 

[JEWC_Motorsports]

The same shop that wanted 1400 to paint my aluminum hood with no guarantee charged me 600 to paint my carbon fiber cowl hood with a solid warranty.

 

[MrBhp]

The shop I worked at would not paint them for any amount of money. He would let me do them on the side.

 

[Ret]

I wanted to include a photo of my 2008 hood peeling inside but guess I dumped it when I sold the car. But I am wondering, my 2012 has insulation throughout the car, including the hood. The 08 had no insulation and the 12 does. Could it be that the heat is dispersed, and paint protected by the insulation, thus, no bubbling or peeling?

Just thinking out loud.

 

[Pentalab]

I wanted to include a photo of my 2008 hood peeling inside but guess I dumped it when I sold the car. But I am wondering, my 2012 has insulation throughout the car, including the hood. The 08 had no insulation and the 12 does. Could it be that the heat is dispersed, and paint protected by the insulation, thus, no bubbling or peeling?

Just thinking out loud.

My 2010 has insulation under the hood. All the 05-09 cars also had insulated hoods. If your 08 had no insulation, at some point, it has been removed. Without the insulation, you end up with condensation on the underside of the hood...which then drips onto the eng etc. In hot climates, probably not a big issue. Once the dew point is reached, then the moisture will appear.

 

[Ret]

One of the problems with a pre-owned car. Someone removed it, new owner doesn't know why. Living in snow country I only drove it about six months out of the year. Pretty sure it wasn't to fix anything on the underside of the hood as it had the peeling paint and dirty. Or, I guess maybe removed it in order to work on the peeling paint issue and didn't follow through for some reason.

 

[yote0]

In my fairly extensive experience with these cars if there is no underhood insulation, it's because the car has been in a front end collision and the hood replaced. Bumper cover and headlights will also usually be aftermarket replacements. I have seen a few cars that were involved in a front end collision and the owner apparently decided to upgrade the trim level appearance to a Shelby, CS, etc.