Tricks of installing the DF hood?

D

drtruong

Experienced Member
Joined
18 July 2008
Messages
1,233
Location
North of CA
My DF hood arrived several weeks ago and I have a problem of installing it. I have been reading and searching from the previous threads, but they did not do me any good for my problem. I have tried to loose all four screws of the hood arms, even the latch and it still is not flush.

The problem of the hood is the whole side of the passenger is elevated noticeably. It does not matter what I tried, it is not flush with the fender. One of the threads from a primer recommended to put a heavy object on the elevated side and leave it the sun ( I have not tried that yet). It sounds great, but would it work?

Would the owners of DF/VIS hoods chime in, please? Thanks in advance!!!
 
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have you tried taking the latch and rubber off the front to see if it will sit flush?
sometimes if the latch is off center it will cause the problem you describe
 
Check the height of the rubber stoppers near the latch to see if that's the culprit.
 
At that price $$$, it should fit like a glove with no adjustments. However, I have seen a DF painted hood that was not exactly flush with the fender. When you close the hood, is it flush with the top of the front bumper?
 
NSX GT said:
At that price $$$, it should fit like a glove with no adjustments. However, I have seen a DF painted hood that was not exactly flush with the fender. When you close the hood, is it flush with the top of the front bumper?
Click to expand...

Tell me about it! The front bump is flush, the whole passenger side is very noticeable and very minor at the corner of the headlight cover (the driver side):mad:. So does the paint change the contour of the hood?
 
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drtruong said:
Everywhere is flush, except that passenger side:mad:.
Click to expand...

It should not be like that. Even my $650 VIS Hood did not have this issue at all.
You might have a defective DF hood:eek: Can you return it for another one? That's not good. Not sure where you purchased it. Are you sure it's DF? You may want to PM one of the DF salesperson and see if they can help you with this issue. Hopefully they can help you.

It might help if you can post some pictures to help or detect if its a manufacture flaw.
 
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NSX GT said:
It should not be like that. Even my $550 VIS Hood did not have this issue at all.
You might have a defective DF hood:eek: Can you return it for another one? That's not good. Not sure where you purchased it. Are you sure it's DF? You may want to PM one of the DF salesperson and see if they can help you with this issue. Hopefully they can help you.

It might help if you can post some pictures to help or detect if its a manufacture flaw.
Click to expand...

That is what I am thinking - a bad hood. I have called him around noon today, but no one answered. I personally went down to the shop in Alhambra (new location) and personally talked to SAM. I also pointed out to him some issues that some primers have discussed about the problems of the hood so I don't have to deal with. Guess what, it is not avoidable.

I will take the pictures of it tomorrow
 
drtruong said:
That is what I am thinking - a bad hood. I have called him around noon today, but no one answered. I personally went down to the shop in Alhambra (new location) and personally talked to SAM. I also pointed out to him some issues that some primers have discussed about the problems of the hood so I don't have to deal with. Guess what, it is not avoidable.

I will take the pictures of it tomorrow
Click to expand...

They should back there products. There not cheap. I had a small weave issue on my VIS hood and the vendor took care of the issue and exchanged it and paid for shipping both ways. Good Luck.
 
drtruong said:
...personally talked to SAM. I also pointed out to him some issues that some primers have discussed about the problems of the hood so I don't have to deal with. Guess what, it is not avoidable.
Click to expand...

That's not good service. Was this "unavoidable" problem pointed out to you before the purchase?
 
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Man that not cool. Try contacting the people who saying that it worked good on
thier hood and see if they can help you with yours.
They must of figured out a way to make them fit better on thiers and may be they can help you too.
This hood should fit like glove for the price they charge
Thats the worst fitting Hood I have seen yet pictures or in real life on a NSX. I hope they reslove it for you or exchange it for you or give you your money back.
 
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baynsac said:
Man that not cool. Try contacting Vancehu, and the other who kept saying how good thier hood fits and see if they can help you with yours.
They must of figured out a way to make them fit better on thiers and may be they can help you too.
This hood should fit like glove for the price they charge and don't they claim it fit 100% good?
I kept hearing about how cheap you are since your not buying the 100% perfect hood made by DF but seems like they are just as cheaply made.
Thats the worst fitting Hood I have seen yet pictures or in real life on a NSX. I hope they reslove it for you or exchange it for you or give you your money back.
Click to expand...

Is Vance related to them, by any chance?
 
I'm not bashing DF or anything because I love the skirts I got from them with almost perfect fit (according to my body shop). But I too have a VIS hood and it has a better fitment than your hood man. I hear a lot of good comments regarding DF hood so this MUST be a defect, so hopefully DF can make this work for you.




niM
 
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drtruong said:
Is Vance related to them, by any chance?
Click to expand...

Thats not the point I was making, I was saying you should contact the one's who had a good experience and see what they did to adjust it so you can have it fit right. They allready did the leg work by adjusting thiers, now they can direct you through it. If not you should call them and see if they can exchange it, or refund you. They also can do in house installs, so maybe they can install them for you if you pay them. I think it be worth it to pay DF to install it for you. I have some of thier other products and they fit well.
 
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ChopsJazz said:
That's not good service. Was this "unavoidable" problem pointed out to you before the purchase?
Click to expand...

No, SAM was very nice in the business sense. I mentioned to him "I expect to have a perfect fitment and it does not matter how long it takes you to finish as long as it is a perfect job". It took him a while to finish the hood, but it is not a perfect hood. Anyway, I will send him the pix of the hood to see what he would recommend.
 
baynsac said:
Thats not the point I was making, I was saying you should contact the one's who had a good experience and see what they did to adjust it so you can have it fit right. They allready did the leg work by adjusting thiers, now they can direct you through it. If not you should call them and see if they can exchange it, or refund you. They also can do in house installs, so maybe they can install them for you if you pay them. I think it be worth it to pay DF to install it for you. I have some of thier other products and they fit well.
Click to expand...

I have sent several pix already and waiting for the recommendations. It would be 6 hours of driving to their shop. I noticed if I want to bend the hinge down on the passenger side, it would be fine. However, I will not do that.
 
id just ask for a new hood. esp with the price your paying.
 
yoojeankim said:
id just ask for a new hood. esp with the price your paying.
Click to expand...


+1 Get new one.
I wouldn't bend anything as it might compromise safety of your hood and you won't ever be able to sell it. Sorry, Doc I thought you were in SoCal thats why I suggested going in to DF to do the install. Hopefully they do the right thing and take care of you. Sorry to say but you are making me like my decision on getting the VIS hood. I would be pretty mad if I had paid 3 times as much and have problems still. You can have a good body shop install hood pins and maybe get rid of that problem it its up or down adjustment. But if you don't like the way look hood pins look than maybe another from DF could solve the problem. Maybe you show them this thread and they can work you through it, since you have all the pictures up.
 
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I just installed my DF hood tonite and I am not happy on a few issues as well....Drivers side gap is impossible to match passenger side... tried everything.. car is all OEM no crashes or accidents..Put the OEM hood back on PERFECT fit.... Dr Truong your pics are in valid when I click on them..can you re post them.. I will take some pics of my issues as well....Sam did tell me to call him if i had ANY issues
 
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Keep in mind that all NSX all hand assembled. There are some differences between each cars. I have seen OEM NSX R hood not lining up with the fender without any adjustments.

If the hood you guys have don't flush with the panels, it is your car, not the hood. There are so many NSX owners out there with the same DF hood and I'm pertty darn sure all of them are happy. Some did mention adjustment was needed but minor.

My DF hood. The hood you guys bought came from the same mold. They only have one mold.
DSC01219.jpg

DSC01220.jpg

dfHood02_800.jpg
 
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thx Vance.. i see in your pics the hood hangs over one headlight more than the other.. it just makes me wonder in my situation why the OEM hood fits perfect thats all.. im thinking it is in the mounting area of the hood that is off a bit









Vancehu said:
Keep in mind that all NSX all hand assembled. There are some differences between each cars. I have seen OEM NSX R hood not lining up with the fender without any adjustments.

If the hood you guys have don't flush with the panels, it is your car, not the hood. There are so many NSX owners out there with the same DF hood and I'm pertty darn sure all of them are happy. Some did mention adjustment was needed but minor.

My DF hood. The hood you guys bought came from the same mold. They only have one mold.
DSC01219.jpg

DSC01220.jpg

dfHood02_800.jpg
Click to expand...
 

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