smashed up the stang....

[tannerc91gt]

so the car has sat for the last 3 weeks waiting to get a new alternator, and friday i finally got it in there and got the car running. i started the car, had a friend watch for anything odd and close it up. got pretty excited and was ready to take the car out for a spin. unfortunately my buddy forgot to put the HOODPINS back in , and i was too excited to notice. now i know this has happened to a good number of people with lift off hoods at some point or another but i still feel like an idiot. got goin about 65mph and then a flash of white (my hood) and then it was gone up into the air out into the center lane. it broke a hood hinge and dented the roof, as well as smashing up the cowl grill and metal pretty damn good. didnt break the windshield but pretty much destroyed everything in the vacinity. so long story short, turned it into insurance and the stangs goin to the body shop on monday to get a new cervini hood, new headlights, rust spot fixed,new cowl area, new roof and then 75% of its getting fresh paint. ill also be sneaking in a saleen wing to get sprayed while the paints available.

will post pics this weekend

 

[Mr. Rustypwnz]

well that sux man. I've done it too, on my 86 except it was a non reinforced d fiberglass pin on. it was very thin annd light so when mine did it just flew over the car and didn't screw anything. but it sounds like the car will be even better than before!!

 

[dcurtis]

 

[LaserSVT]

Awww man that sucks. When i first joined this site I had just gotten a 92 GT that was really an LX Bought the car sight unseen from the internet for $4500 (never again) after saving for two years. Car was supposed tobe perfect but was so far away from perfect it wasnt funny, lost brakes 5 miles after money changed hands and 300 miles from the house. So after 3 weeks of asking a million questons on here and fixing the gauges, lights, seats,brakes, vac leak, A/C, ALT, water pump etc etc. Spent like $2000 in parts. Got her started and sounded so nice I just had to take her out! I closed the hood but didnt give a test pull on it. Drove the car about 5 miles at 25-30 MPH just making sure it could stop when I wanted to and wasnt gonna overheat. It was driving PERFECT!
WOT 1st, WOT in 2nd for about a second and then WHAM! Roof flipped up, crushed the cowl, crackd the windshield in half and dimpled the roof. I pulled over and screamed the f word so loud it got people in Nigerias attention.

Lucked out though. Had full coverage and the insurance gave me the cars value (just over $4000) and left the title alone. I put on a new hood, windhield and cowl then sold the car a week latter for $7500.

 

[Cobra912]

getting all the new stuff doesn't sound so bad - it was meant to happen!

 

[302GTS]

Make the best out of a bad situation! Sucks, but now you'll never forget! And thankfully damage wasn't any worse!

 

[89stang1]

WOW that sucks!!........man ive heard this so many times, i wanted hood pins when my car was at RNH P. getting stroker motor but Rick talked me out of it glad he did!

 

[90mustangGT]

Drive your own car, don't trust freinds. It's kind of like how skydivers only use a chute they packed, no matter how much you trust the person that packed it, when it's your ass there is only one way to be sure.

 

[RycheGT]

WOW that sucks!!........man ive heard this so many times, i wanted hood pins when my car was at RNH P. getting stroker motor but Rick talked me out of it glad he did!

I dont think you understand how hood pins work. They dont keep the hood in place by themselves. They work with the hood latch still in place and functional. The latch is what fails on these cars not the pins. Unless youre unlucky enough to forget to put the pins back in, and the latch decides to let go. Which is what happened to this poor fellow.

Sucks about the car, but it can fixed. At least you didnt hit anything when it happened.

 

[mob]

WOW that sucks!!........man ive heard this so many times, i wanted hood pins when my car was at RNH P. getting stroker motor but Rick talked me out of it glad he did!

Rick talked you out of getting hood pins?

 

[MAC'n89Blckstng]

I dont think you understand how hood pins work. They dont keep the hood in place by themselves. They work with the hood latch still in place and functional. The latch is what fails on these cars not the pins. Unless youre unlucky enough to forget to put the pins back in, and the latch decides to let go. Which is what happened to this poor fellow.

Sucks about the car, but it can fixed. At least you didnt hit anything when it happened.

The latch doesn't actually fail, its from an improperly adjusted hood and latch. I don't understand why people dont run the safety catch. I had my hood pop up but always got caught on the safety.

 

[RycheGT]

The latch doesn't actually fail, its from an improperly adjusted hood and latch. I don't understand why people dont run the safety catch. I had my hood pop up but always got caught on the safety.

By fail I didnt mean it broke. I meant it let go. Poor choice of words on my part.

 

[Cobra912]

Hehe the one day I took my car to work at 4:00 Am forced me to buy a new hood.....and underwear. The hood flew up at 60mph. The car had limo tint on the side windows and with the hood about an inch from the windshield I had to brake and hold on for dear life - I was driving blind! Fortunately I didn't hit anything even though it was a single lane highway. It did how ever crumble my hood, factory 82? scoop, smash my cowl and destroyed my nice new autometer fuel pressure gauge and pod. '

Realized the night before I went to check the oil, took out the pins, popped the hood, and got distracted. Completely forgot about it and hopped into it in the dark. Then WHAM!

Live and Learn..............

 

[1987LXragtop]

sounds like its going to be better. Except for the deductible it sounds like a good thing

 

[Dizzy_ax]

I've done that in my escort, well...It was in an accident so the latch didnt grab the hood right...Down the road about 45 seconds and just like you had, Hood poped up about 3 inches froze for a split second and then BOOM....

Probably the scariest thing i've had happen while driving.

 

[Lawbreaker5.0]

I dont think you understand how hood pins work. They dont keep the hood in place by themselves. They work with the hood latch still in place and functional. The latch is what fails on these cars not the pins. Unless youre unlucky enough to forget to put the pins back in, and the latch decides to let go. Which is what happened to this poor fellow.

Sucks about the car, but it can fixed. At least you didnt hit anything when it happened.

agreed. i have hood pins and the latch. every now in then i drive and it pops up about 5in and thats the reminder to pull over and lock the pins.(mine are flush and just the key insert is showing.

so hook the latch up as a back up, and it won't happen again

 

[tannerc91gt]

New hood is going to be a standard latch style, no pins. I don't mind the pins, and I'm not afraid of another incident but I just like the clean look. Also decided today to shave the 5.0 badges.

 

[Lawbreaker5.0]

yeah i shaved the emblems, the antenna, the emblem on the back and the passenger door. i plan on shaving the driver soon, when i get the poppers installed

 

[tannerc91gt]

Idk I'm just starting to go for the smooth clean look. Picked up the saleen wing today, just gotta get the car to the bodyshop on Monday. Drove my buddys 92gt tonight, first time behind the wheel of a stang in over a month, just makes me want mine back even more

 

[tannerc91gt]

cars going to the bodyshop on tuesday morning, theyre gonna take all the photos and determine a dollar amount damage wise, send it to insurance and hopefully they wont change their mind and decide to total it out. i picked up a saleen wing friday so either way it will end up on there even if i have to buy the car back and do the bodywork myself.