Hello Acurazine, I tried to use the search for this problem but didnt find much pertaining to the problem im having maybe thats because its pretty basic im not sure however I've never had to adjust a hood before and I would like to know how and that I am doing this correctly I bought this 99 TL recently and got it for a good price as the guy who had it before had been in a front end accident and im assuming he attempted to fix the front end himself cause it fits really sloppy unfortunately for me im a perfectionist and this has been bothering me since I bought the car so im hoping ill be able to adjust this thing and get it fitting right anyways If you look under the grill you'll see that one side the gap is bigger than the other and up at the top of the hood you'll also see the hood pops up im not a fan of that either... after looking at it a little bit more i realized he just had the hood on crooked I belive if you look at it.
Can anyone help show me how I Adjust this? the guy tried to fix it but all he did was jack it up and im tired of looking at it this way. thank you to anyone who can help and sorry about the image size I couldn't resize them.
TOPLEFT HOOD:
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
TOPRIGHT:
[IMG][/IMG]
BOTTOMLEFT:
BOTTOMRIGHT:
[IMG][/IMG]
FRONT:[IMG][/IMG]

 

depends on how bad the previous owner wrecked the car...
you might not be able to get it straight, by yourself.

are they all brand new pieces? hood, grille, bumper?
if they are, we eliminate those.
next would be to see WHY it's not lining up.
my eyes arent that great and I generally cant tell if something is out.
but maybe, your eyes are better and can see if something is bent or not straight.

if you physically cannot see where the bent piece is, it may have to go on a body alignment machine, and depending on what they find, they can stretch and pull the body

 

What what I "think" and granted I'm no expert but if you look at the top left... Then look at the top right of the hood... And I'll try to post some pics but if I were to pop the hood up and underneath the hood where it attaches at on the passenger side it is a good half a inch lower then where it is attached on the driver side. I'm unsure about if the parts are new or not but the only bent part I see is the hood latch which is what I thought at first was causing this problem however I don't see how that would have any effect on why this hood is on completely crooked and why it is so far down below the headlight on the passenger side but not on the driver side

 

you're my eyes, as I cant see where the bolts are attached too.
but if you say, one side is bolted higher than the other...simply taking off the bolts on the higher side and using a lower mount.
again, the previous owner might have done that because the body was bent too much to get it straight.
i dont know, I'm just guessing at this point

 

Yeah. I'm a little worried about that now. I am unsure as how much it would cost to have a body alignment machine done or to have it bent up... But I am thinking probably more than the car costed me.... However I can say that I know at the very least he didn't do a very good job putting these parts on... The passenger side fender is the same way if you look at it you can very clearly see where it should be moved up towards the headlight more cause there's a gap In between and as a result of it being so close to the door the passenger side door scrapes it a little bit when opening and closing. If I can get the front end to fit correctly which is what I was hoping for when I bought it the rest of it is very clean.

 

Yeah, depending upon the impact and what all was previously damaged.....the mounting points may have been altered due to the force of the accident. Post a pic of the front fender alignment along with the hood's latch and rear hinges. Might help visualize the body panel's alignment better.

Sometimes ya can cheat a bit by egging the mounting holes or using shims to even out the difference. Try loosening up the hood's mounting bolts and attempt to realign the positioning of the hood. It could be that the rad support or latch is twisted back ?

 

shims or washers!!

 

Yeah, ya can "slot" an opening into the washer, making it easier to slide in under the bolt.

 

^i see you graduated from the school of "backyard mechanics" too

 

It's amazing what ya can "rig" in your backyard when ya gotta improvise.
Hell, I once pulled my kid's Durango front end by hooking up a chain to it and a nearby tree, ha...hah !!

 

Hey guys sorry didn't realize I got more replies until today thank you I got the car up right now I'm about to take and post some pictures to help you see what is going on cause I'm a little unsure at this point

 

Alright guys heres more pictures I tried to get the best pics I could let me know if you need to see anything else.

Fender:
[IMG][/IMG]
Fendergap:[IMG][/IMG]
Fenderheadlightgap:[IMG][/IMG]
Hoodlatch:

and now the reason I think the hood has this gap this is where the hood is bolted on both the driver side and passenger side while my hood is popped
TOPLEFT:[IMG][/IMG]
TOPRIGHT:[IMG][/IMG]

 

[IMG][/IMG]

 

I think you should get an estimate from a body shop. You have multiple issues. From what I can tell, both front fenders need adjustment before you even think about the hood.

 

While I'm by no means any type of expert, the repair work on the car is visibly shoddy....IMO. It's going to be difficult to get things back to appearing factory perfect.....unless the damaged parts are professionally replaced and aligned.

On an older car, sometimes it's value is less than that of the necessary repairs. Hopefully, ya got a really good deal. All ya can do now is attempt to guess at how to fix it by yourself. The basic mounting points of the hood and fender are not very forgiving during an accident of any force.

At this point, the hood hinges or latch may be the problem. So, start there and see what happens.
But as TLer trash previously stated....the fenders must be dealt with first.

 

Honestly man... I thought I got a good deal at the time and I still wouldn't say it was a terrible deal but I didn't know what I was getting myself into... It's still a 2000 TL with 120,000 miles. But It does need some work that's for sure. But now I'm starting to wonder if I should just buy a new car. Probably not even worth it considering what I bought it for.

 

I recently moved to Las Vegas from Seattle so I really don't know anyone. But I do have one guy he works at a dealership body shop down here he thinks he can fix it quite easily.

 

Yeah, sometimes a good deal is hard to pass up. But, if you're a perfectionist......ya should've passed on the car. If the car is otherwise mechanically solid and has a good tranny, then it may be worth spending some additional money on getting things straight.

Or.....ya could just run it as is.....and save up for a more perfect car !!!
Just remember, beauty is only skin deep.

 

thats what I would do. I wouldnt spend money on fixing the body
Run this car to the ground, NOT worrying about the misaligned bumpers/fenders/hood.

the previous owner DID not get the body pulled and tried to just slap on the fenders/hood/bumper.
if body isnt straight, your fenders/hood/bumper WILL NEVER ALIGN.


Drive it till the wheels fall off!!!!!!!!!!


and let this lesson serve you well!
Ive bought many a used cars only to learn what I know now.

 

Had the same issue on the drivers side.
I removed the headlight from the drivers side then used the jack from the trunk with small piece of wood and did some magic there.

To pull the support I used an old seat belt, tied it up real good to it then used a 15 Lbs weight to pull forward on the support almost like a slide hammer, Did this until it was all in place.

Backyard mechanic to the max lol but the end results was what mattered to me and I am satisfied.

 

Yeah, it never hurts to try a few things and improvise a bit.

The dude probably was in a hurry to patch it up and peddle it, so with a little time and persuasion, who knows ?

 

Yeah I'm gonna mess around with this and see what I can do.... But worst comes to worst atleast it still has a lot of life left. It's unfortunate really though cas as far as the car itself I fell in love with the thing and intended to keep it for a while and really put effort into it. I'm in a position right now where I just needed a reliable vehicle but also wanted a project cause in July I will be coming out of school and will have the money to put into it. But if this doesn't pan out perhaps it will be a good car for my girlfriend to wreck a few more times when she starts driving lol

 

Think I decided on straightening it out and getting it bent back into shape one way or the other... I was just a little upset about all this but everytime I look at it or jump in it I like it too much I knew when buying it I was gonna have to throw a little money into i got someone coming down here next month from my hometown who has a little experience in backyard mechanic stuff so we will see I will update with how it turns out in a few weeks I just like the car and see too much potential to not do this though... Other than the front end the rest of the car looks new so I will continue as planned in fixing it thank you everyone for your help it is appreciated. Fixing this front end will give me time to find a eom front lip anyways since they seem to be very very hard to find

 

First off, I can see that the radiator core support is bent. That's why when you close the hood, you can see a nice gap where the hood meets the headlights, and on the other side, the hood is over-lapping the headlight seal.

That jacked-up hood latch doesn't help either.

Depending on the severity of the frontal impact, the strut towers might have shifted a little. Since so much rides on the radiator core support being straight, and the strut towers being in the right place for the fenders, if they are bent, even 1/4" of an inch, it can throw off the alignment of the hood.

You can shim it, cut it, slot it, weld it, slice and dice it, it will not make any difference. Bent is bent. Take it to a body shop, get an estimate. Then you'll know how much you'd have to put into it to get it straight.

I have the same problem on the 2002 camry I got from my stepson. He hit someone from behind, and although the impact was less than 10 mph, it bent a lot of shit. Had to get new hood, new fenders on both sides, new front bumper, new bumper hangers, new front grill. It helped a lot, but anyone with 6 months boys shop experience would be able to tell that the radiator core support is tweaked to one side.

Best of luck to you.