Proper Hood Closing Procedure
 

Is there a recommended or proper hood closing procedure? When closing the hood should the hood be held a certain height and then dropped to close it? Or should it be gently rested on its latches and then pressed on one side at a time to close it? Looking in the owners manual it says, "pull the hood down and close it firmly"

Interesting question (in that it is hinged on the front--never had a car like that). Without having taken possession of mine, my first inclination is to NOT press on a paint job on any car...

Yup, I let it drop also. 1 -2 feet and let it drop. Gently lowering it and then pushing on the corners to "latch" might break the hood.

Elmer

LOL... that's a scary thought ! :willy:

I'm not really sure if pressing on the paint is really the issue. When closing a rear hinged hood most times you press the hood down to latch it. If concerned about finger prints keep a soft cloth handy for this purpose. I was asking the question because letting the hood drop I would think would hammer items such as the latches and the hood structure itself. But I'm not sure, that's why I wanted the input from members. When I owned my C6 I used to hold it and let it slam down. Then one day I had another Corvette owner tell me not to close it that way. He said to lower the hood onto the latches and then lightly take a soft cloth and press down on each side to latch it. Now that I have my new C7 I was showing the engine to some friend Vette owners and then closed the hood in this manner and they yelled at me and said don't close it that way and to hold it up and let it slam. I would think it either one of these two methods were incorrect it would state it in the owners manual. Is it just personal preference?

Well, I'll be interested in seeing if the two approaches can be resolved into a preferred method (unlike the auto/manual and black/chrome wheel discussions... LOL).

All my previous cars were rear hinged and metal. My current car--due to be sold today--is a 370Z and I have learned its sweet spot--about 6-8 inch drop). However, keeping a MF cloth around is a nice idea but then again, I read that post above about a chance of cracking or breaking the corner by pressing down.

Same here usually works other times you have to press on it to get it latched. Fortunately or perhaps not I do not open the hood that often.

I don't think it really matters. I do it both ways depending on my mood, always have. don't have my c7 yet, but I have done this on an 85, 92, 99, and 05. I had a 71 that had to be pushed down on each side because the air cleaner used to barely touch the hood, didn't way to drop that one.

I gently lower mine and press on each latch with a microfiber.

Well...has anyone damaged a hood from using either method?

Rubbing your fingerprints off a dirty car can do more damage than just leaving the fingerprints until you wash it. Especially depending on the quality of your microfiber cloth. The less you touch your paint, the better.

If you must clean the fingerprints off, always use a detail spray.

It's going to take significant twisting force to break CFRP.

cfrp?

(Wow! Won't let me edit to capitalize those letters...weird)

CFRP aka carbon fiber

When I took Museum delivery, they had me stand in front of the car, fingers of both hands in the hood vent louvers (you can put a cloth over it if you have one handy) then lower the hood to about 1 ft above the latches, then one quick push of the hood to close. They had me practice a few times. Works almost all of the time for me. They discouraged the final left-right latching after lowering the hood to the latch which seems safer than the drop but could also crack the hood. YMMV.

Totally agree with that statement. My current 2016 hood closes easily with the two foot drop previously mentioned, unlike the hood of my 02 which could be problematic regardless of the procedure used.

Never thought about it. Whichever side of the car I'm on, I just grab the corner of the hood and 'throw' it down with the right amount of force. Closes great every time. I'm not going to worry about a finger print or two on the corner of the hood, and if that cf hood breaks from closing it I'd be totally shocked. :thumbs: