Ok so I got my classic car restored nearly 2 years ago. It was a mess but thankfully the body shop accepted the project.

Without getting into too much info; the body shop outsourced the hood and trunk lid to be media blasted and the hood came back warped (must have used sand). The shop didn't see it because it stayed in the box for 2 years while he was working on fixing the rest of the car. He only noticed it when he was prepping the rest of the car to be painted.

He fixed the warped part of the hood with filler without giving me an option or offering to replace the hood. It was fine at first but now the repair is cracking. When I looked on websites; they say that filler on a hood is a big No No because the heat of the engine and constant slamming.

Im trying to deal with the shop owner who is brushing me off. He wants to fix the crack (Which I think will continue to crack further in the future) when im trying to get him to pay for a replacement hood.

Any advice going forward?

Its kinda hard to point the finger at anyone not being there to see it before and after and so on. I personally don't see any problem putting filler on a hood if common sense is used, I've used filler on a lot of hoods with no problems. but for sure the filler should not have cracked, whos fault ?
Jay D.

What kind of car is it? If its something like a Mustang or Camaro where the hoods are cheap ($) and made with original tooling or very good reproductions I'd just get a new one and be filler free. That's what I did with my deck lid, it didn't make sense to spend a day working on correcting it when a new one was $160.

Too many unknowns.
Was the underlying problem addressed before the filler applied? Often the structural supports are bent and need to be straightened.
Was the metal oil canning and the filler applied to stiffen it?
Was the filler appled too thick?

It's a 67 impala. Parts are hard to find because it was an odd year. If it wasn't for that I would have just bought another. A good condition one used is about $500. Just needs to be stripped, prepped and painted.

The guy didn't consult me with starting to fill it. He was already nearly done and told me that I should look for another hood in the meantime. He forced the repair on me instead of him paying for it. I think it was bent enough to put too much filler but the guy had an excuse for everything. All in all im assuming that it shouldnt stsrt cracking 1 year later.

When I brought it up he would use tactics on me to brush me off...

Sounds like the guy that did the repair doesn't want to warranty his work. If that's the case and you get to the point where you know he's not going to fix it just because it's the right thing to do, I would look for a more reputable shop and have them fix it correctly. I'd also post honest reviews on Google, Facebook, and everywhere else as to how they (did or didn't) take care of you if that proves to be the case.

if you really feel your in the right on this and it sounds like you are. and the shop owner doesn't want to work with you, ether with fixing the hood you have now or a good used hood. sounds like the owner was careless by not checking the quality of the blast job, if he would have he could have went back on the blaster. not pass the blasters mistake on to you. just a suggestion you might offer to have him fix the hood right or buy a good used hood then you pay for the paint work. I know this doesn't sound right but might be better than being stuck with what you have. if ALL FAILS you can always mention the LAWYER word that usually really gets there attention epically if he knows there was some wrong doing on his part. the working with him idea would have the best outcome.
Jay D.

Yank the car and find a qualified shop. The last five cars I've had shipped to me were butchered by other shops. Very costly to repair a hack job. Sand does not warp a hood, lack of media knowledge and how to use it does so.
Many self-proclaimed restoration shops are unfit to do quality work, and lack the knowledge or pride to do so.

Lenny B.
I have three first gen Camaros here for restoration work; two in queue. Repro hoods are not plug and play, nor is any repro part. I use assembly line take offs whenever possible, and they require mods for show winning gaps.

The car is completed and currently in storage for the winter. Prior to bringing the car to storage; I went to meet him to talk about this. He did his usual "pass the blame" and didn't take responsibility. When I asked who was the company that did the blasting; he didn't want to give me the name of the company and claims he hasn't used them since. He was also hinting on me having to pay for a replacement hood. He was also contradicting previous claims said to me before on other things.

He wanted to see the car so just before I put the car away for the winter; I dropped by his shop to show the car. I was there for a good 5 minutes and he didn't really say anything about the hood and mentioned that he's busy until May. That was sign enough that he wasn't interested in helping me out. I sent him a very long email about making it right but he hasn't replied and I don't expect him to. I'll be talking to a lawyer soon.

Like I said before; he knows all the tricks and plays the "busy game". I passed by during a day off I had and his shop was bare... He also can't keep workers since they always quit on him. Wonder why...

The best thing I had done was have another shop paint my car. A guy he hired to finish my car worked at another shop as a painter and had a very expensive paint booth. I've since then made friends with him and he agrees the original body guy is a dick and offered to fix it all for me but I still need to pay for it...

Tell him to go ahead and repair it, but record him saying/ put it on paper that he'll fix it every single time it goes bad. Then your new hood is just a waiting game