HFS! Beyond Pissed...Broken Hood Stud

THunterW

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SOOOO...tonight I decided to install my MMD hood strut kit that I bought from American Muscle. It was supposed to be an easy, quick install, and I started by removing the two nuts on the passenger side hood support. The studs and nuts that are installed in the hood were coated in paint from the factory, and the upper nut came off after some wrenching. I then went to loosen the lower nut about 1/4" per the instructions, and SNAP! The ****ing nut plate that is bedded in the fiberglass of the hood broke itself off inside the hood after loosening the nut about 1/8". So now I'm ****ed on the passenger side. I went ahead and sprayed paint stripper on the driver side hood support hardware to make sure all the paint was off those studs to help with removal, and they were still a pain. Had to go super slow with each nut to make sure I didn't snap those nut plates out as well. So, I think I only have two options now: Option A, cut the stud out with a hacksaw, and take it to a body shop to have them cut the fiberglass and re-bed the nut plate, or Option B, buy a new hood. By the way, since the stud is still stuck in the nut plate, I cannot remove it from the hood. I've even used vise-grips on the smooth part of the stud shank, and there's so much damn caked up paint in that nut that it won't budge, and I've already rounded some threads off of the stud doing that, so I know I'm going to have to cut it out. I'm not even sure if I can even order the stud separately, it's most likely part of the hood itself... This Cobra is pissing me off. First, I'm having to rebuild the entire differential, and now this shit!

End rant...

So, what do you guys think?
 

cj428mach

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sorry to hear you got banged. You're not the only one do a search and you'll see some other fixes guys have had. When I did mine I put oil on the bolt/paint and would loosen the nut a little then tighten it, then loosen it a little more and the tighten it. It worked fine for me but I was scared the whole time. Its one of the reasons why my new car doesn't have hood struts on it, lol.
 

THunterW

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Yeah it sucks man, I just looked at the Ford IPB and a new OEM hood is like $1,200, and a Cervini's Cobra style hood is around $600. Also, the studs ARE part of the hood assembly, according to the parts diagram... Dammit.
 

THunterW

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I've been reading through older posts with similar mishaps, and it looks like most people are breaking the actual stud off in half. Apparently there's a plate that is bonded to the inside of the fiberglass hood, and the hood stud is welded to this plate. Well, my problem is I think the weld broke because I can freely turn and wobble the stud around with no problem. It won't loosen or tighten any further. Looks like I will end up having to cut the stud just to get the hood off, and then dig around deeper to see what happened.

Gah....more tools to buy.
 

04sleeper

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One reason I went with the Redline Tuning set on my old 04.

Sorry to hear your troubles. It can be fixed as I have seen that happen before on here.
 

wildstang_93

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very easy to fix , take the hood off and grind the stud down smooth to the hood . and drill and tap to a 6x1.0 and install a new stud or replace with a short bolt . I have done this several times . put rubber hose over the drill bit to prevent drilling through to the other side.
 

THunterW

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Would that fix work with my issue? My stud didn't break in half like most other owners' hood studs have. Mine seems to have broken off from the backing plate inside the hood and is free-spinning. The stud will not loosen or tighten itself in or out of the hood, and the nut is still attached to the stud. I've even tried prying the stud out using a pry bar against the nut and it won't budge, yet it will freely spin and wobble side to side.
 

Tractionless1

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First I've heard of this in 6+ yrs. on the forum. My cheap ebay units installed fine that many years ago and the hood has been on and off a few times without issue.
 

THunterW

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I was taking my time and going slow too due to so much resistance loosening the nut with paint on the threads of the stud, when all of a sudden it made a loud POP and the stud got super loose and broke inside in the hood or something.
 

mrose75

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One reason I went with the Redline Tuning set on my old 04.

Sorry to hear your troubles. It can be fixed as I have seen that happen before on here.

OK, what's the difference between the redline tuning kit and the OP's kit? Because this sounds like something that is about to be stricken from my mod list.:nono::burn:
 

Maverick-4

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Would that fix work with my issue? My stud didn't break in half like most other owners' hood studs have. Mine seems to have broken off from the backing plate inside the hood and is free-spinning. The stud will not loosen or tighten itself in or out of the hood, and the nut is still attached to the stud. I've even tried prying the stud out using a pry bar against the nut and it won't budge, yet it will freely spin and wobble side to side.

Man that sucks sorry to hear that, any pics of the aftermath?
 

THunterW

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OK, what's the difference between the redline tuning kit and the OP's kit? Because this sounds like something that is about to be stricken from my mod list.:nono::burn:

Nothing wrong with the MMD strut kit at all. Although, now that I've found out about the MRT kit I kind of wish I went with it only because you can order them pre-painted to your factory color. The MMD kit I got from American Muscle is identical in design to the MRT kit as far as I can tell.

Anyways, the issue is with Ford itself and how they painted the studs and nuts for the hood hinge mount studs. Although it looks good, it's a pain in the ass and has caused a lot of headache when doing the bolt-on hood strut kits unless you strip the paint off the threads first before you loosen the nuts. Unfortunately my common sense did not kick in until after I had already snapped the stud from the hood on the first one I started working on.

I would still recommend any of the bolt-on hood strut kits (MMD, MRT, etc.), just be sure you strip and remove the paint from the hood mount studs before you begin to save yourself the ass pain that I and numerous other 99-04 Mustang owners have endured.
 

THunterW

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Man that sucks sorry to hear that, any pics of the aftermath?

Yep, I actually removed the hood yesterday and repaired it (fingers crossed...) last night. I'll upload pictures and explain what I did in a few minutes from my mobile since I can't log onto SVTP to post on my government computer at work.
 

THunterW

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After reading numerous similar issues with other 99-04 Mustang owners snapping or breaking their hood studs the way I did, I decided to tackle the issue and try to repair my broken bottom passenger hood stud.

There were a lot of threads on different forums where people thought the stud is welded to a backing plate that is attached to the inner layer of the hood with a single rivet. That is not the case, as the stud is actually pressed in to the backing plate. My stud did not snap in half, but had actually rounded itself out of the hole it was pressed into causing it to freely spin. Since the stud was spinning freely in my hood and the nut was completely seized onto the stud also, I had to cut the stud to remove my hood.

B8C30FF0-C43C-4EED-8BC9-5FA1E9259C90_zpsughpmzqg.jpg

Excuse the mess...
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I began to use a Micro Grabbit screw/bolt extractor since I was expecting the stud to be welded to the plate, but the stud ended up falling into the hood and luckily I was able to retrieve it.
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And this is what the back of these studs looks like. Notice on the underside of the cap there is that star shaped thing, well that's what's supposed to keep these studs from rotating on you when they are pressed onto the mount backing plate. The nut was so seized on this stud that it caused it the stud to round itself out from the mount plate.
A25B79FD-6E0B-4561-B2B4-65DC62136AF5_zpsto9ccmk9.jpg

Stud halves next to each other. Was using vice grips to try and get the nut off but it wouldn't budge.
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What the stud would look like complete, about 25mm in length or almost 1".
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The stud is actually solid and not hollow, the hole is from where I began to drill it out when it just fell into the hood.
My original intentions were to remove the stud and tap the mount plate for another M6 x 1.00 stud or bolt, but the plate was enlarged too much to tap it so the only option I saw left was to install a bolt and epoxy/JB Weld it into the hood.
I decided to use a M6 x 1.00 25mm length cap head bolt that I got at Lowes, and JB Weld it into the hole.
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For the head of this bolt to fit into the hole, I had to enlarge it with my drill, ending on a 3/8 drill bit. This was large enough for the cap to fit snug inside the hole.
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I picked up this Loctite epoxy weld kit and dipped the cap of the bolt into the mixture and placed it into the hole. I adjusted the angle of the bolt to match the upper factory stud so it will mount correctly. I also applied the compound around the bolt on the outside of the hood for extra support. I'm going to let the compound cure for at least 24 hours then will sand it down and paint the remaining amount with touch up paint to have a factory look.
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The bolt is a tad bit longer than the factory studs, but as long as it holds I'm not too concerned with that.
I checked the compound this morning after I let it sit overnight for 7 hours, and it had a soft texture to it. First time I've ever used this Loctite kit, but I assumed it would be hard like actual JB Weld. This stuff resembles B 1/2 sealant that we use on the edges of aircraft panels. The package says it's a "weld" type of epoxy and can hold up to 3350 lbs. After it fully cures, I'll see how solid it is, and if it doesn't hold well, I'll scrape it off and restart with actual JB Weld.

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afcobra01

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Sorry to hear your troubles. Those things are frustrating. I put the Redline struts on my 01 Cobra a few months ago and had a easy time of it. Hope your repairs work.
 
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THunterW

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The repair I did looks a little ghetto but I really saw no other option. There's nothing left inside the hood to tap and thread into, and I sure as hell didn't want to cut into the fiberglass and remove the backing plate and weld a stud in and then patch up the hood where I cut it. Although if this doesn't work, I might have to do that. Hopefully it will hold along with the other 3 undamaged mount studs, as I do not plan on removing the hood again once it's reinstalled.

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TRBO VNM

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Better put some type of sealant on that bolt after you put it back on the car. That bolt will rust fast.
 

THunterW

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Better put some type of sealant on that bolt after you put it back on the car. That bolt will rust fast.
Yeah, I found that out when I used the same bolts for my license plate on my Lightning. Going to have to switch them out for stainless. After I reinstall the hood I plan on repainting the studs and nuts since like I said I don't plan on removing the hood anymore.

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THunterW

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Would have been nice if I could have saved the stud by getting the nut off, then all I would have had to do is put some JB Weld on the inside of the stud head and mold it back inside the original hole without having to do the drilling I did. I broke a #2 Micro-Grabbit off inside the stud trying to get it out of the nut. Pretty sure that damn thing is permanently seized in there.

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Steve@Tasca

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I hate to say it and I hope I'm wrong but I seriously doubt that the epoxy is going to have enough structural integrity to hold that bolt in place if there's any sort of pulling pressure put on it.

The original stud couldn't pull through due to the head on it and it being installed in a reinforcing plate, you've got a flush mounted bolt with nothing but epoxy stopping it from pulling out.

I'd be nervous about that repair holding, time will tell I guess.

-Steve
 

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