o0Riffraff0o

JUST GOT A EJ8 LAST NIGHT

and well, with it being all "dark" and ****, as "night" usually is, + after the nice wash and wax job courtesy of the previous owner, i failed to notice the half inch gap between the grill and hood...

i thought maybe it had been in an accident or something, but after checking the vehicle history and examining the engine bay, iv come to the conclusion that it either, just a bumper or hood, or both, from a different year, or a bumper from a sedan, but im not sure if that would matter.

also i just got an si grill i was going to slap on, but the homie told me that even if i changed the bumper/ or hood, there would still be a gap......

with that being said, anybody know what year bumper or hood this looks like? and if i changed it back to the original year, why there would still be a gap?... i mean iv had one before, and put an si grill on it and it sat flush like the stock one

D3vin

That is a 99-00 front end.


This is a 96-98 front end. The hood, fenders, grill, bumper, and headlights are different.

slammed ej8

i would think the rad support is bent. i had same probem

o0Riffraff0o

ok, so if i changed it back to a 98 bumper... there would still be a gap????. why???

Dkober101

x2

did you contact the previous owner and ask him those questions?

o0Riffraff0o

that cat was russian... the less i had to do with him the better and longer my life would be... j/k. lol... but no, the guy didn't even know what he had... i got the car for 2giggaz, 133k miles... immaculate interior clean title.... and he had chrome 18's on it... *threw up a little bit*

slammed ej8

you cant change it too 96-98 bumper . you need to change the whole front end too that.

o0Riffraff0o

so what about the hood... could i just get one for a 99?... and say f the si grill

slammed ej8

bro you have a 99-00 front. and you CANT fit any 96-98 parts (FENDER,HOOD,BUMPER,GRILL.)

o0Riffraff0o

"understood", i mean a "99" hood, will it bolt right up??

Dkober101

If the problem is the hood, did you bother to check the alignment of the hinges? It may sound stupid I know, but you should start with the little things first.

slammed ej8

he is right^^. check that . den check rad support

o0Riffraff0o

lol... no i agree. and i did check um.. its like a couple of hairs to the center... nothing would change,

Dkober101

Did you check the bump stops?
If they are the wrong size or adjusted too far out this would cause a gap.
(the little black rubber things that you hood rest on near the latch)

o0Riffraff0o

we didn't necessarily "check" them (the stoppers for the lights and bumper) sort of gave the bumper a good hard looking at... and just assumed... but he said maybe who ever did the bumper put um on wrong or not at all...

but even then... i don't see why there would still be a gap if i went and got a 99 bumper... i would think it would just fall into place... stopers or not... or even if it didn't fall into place, at least the gap wouldn't be "that" big

but i haven't even got real deep down and dirty with it aside from changing the brakes... but that was like 15 minutes of nothing but that, and then off to work

Duc_du

good luck changing bumper/hood cause i doubt that is the problem. i got the same problem but too lazy to fix since it rain all the time in seattle.

Weifast

I can think of several things because this thread seems like it's going back and forth with the OP keep wanting to get a 99 hood/ bumper haha.

1. Check the hinges, this is the most likely culprit, I know you said you did, but you often need two people to properly align the hood, so recheck it again with a buddy.

2. You might have aftermarket parts which could be either the hood, grill, bumper, etc. Aftermarket parks usually don't fit very well and one piece can throw everything off.

3. The car might have gotten into an accident, but damages were less then $500 and therefore will not show up in the DMV database....OR damages were over $500, but both parties decided to do expenses out of the pocket to avoid insurance hikes and ruining the clean title of the car.

4. I don't understand why you keep saying "if I get a 99 hood/bumper it should fit etc...." Are you thinking that you have a 96-98 parts or something? If that's the case, it's impossible because 96-98 hoods/bumpers would fit even worse on your car. Your car already HAS a 99-00 hood/bumper, getting another hood/bumper wouldn't solve anything unless the hood/bumper in your picture is damaged, then yes, get a 99 hood/bumper to replace it, but it doesn't look like the case.

My conclusion is it got into an accident (bent radiator support) and wasn't fixed properly and wasn't reported to the DMV thus not showing up in papers. Possibly bent hood, or non-oem hood bumper etc, or was not aligned properly when put on. Remember, one NON-oem part can throw off the alignment of all the other parts. Keep checking, if it's not one thing, move on to another.

Dkober101

Well just take the hood stops off completely and see if it closes the gap......Looking at the pictures that’s all I can think of. It looks as if your hood were allowed to drop down an inch further it would line up. Try this and let us know, remember bro start with the small things first.

You already have a 99 bumper.

Weifast

although taking the hood stops off might solve the issue, it's not the right way to go about it...hood stops are there for a reason...plus the hood looks like it's more misaligned than anything. The photo shows the hood popping forward more so than upward (assuming the hood was already closed to it's max).

o0Riffraff0o

well to answer your question.. i kept asking if a 99 hood will fix the problem, because iv gotten info on the bumper and not the hood until now... and i thought people were asking me standard question regarding the extent of my examination to help diagnose if getting another bumper was necessary

and me "and" my buddy did a quick check on the hood and front end at his shop, the head lights aren't stanley, but the hood is pretty straight and flush with the fenders up top near the windshield...

and i assumed that it couldn't get anymore gaped then that, if its a 99 bumper, and since it dosen;t fit right, maybe the hood is a 98 so if i go grab a 99 hood and pop it on, that will get rid of the gap

its possible that it may have been in an accident and all of that, but the sky is the limit with assumptions... im just working with what i have here ya know

o0Riffraff0o

it doesn't look to me that its the height...the hood looks too long, if it came down anymore it have an over bit look wouldn't it

Weifast

Gotcha. You have both a 99 hood and bumper...so year is not an issue because it was, trust me, they won't even fit properly with the 99-00 headlights you have...it won't bolt up due to he curvature of the lights. As far as the headlights not being stanley, it COULD be the case...but I doubt it. I honestly think your hood is non-oem or your grill could be non-oem. It has to be, OEM stuff never fits like what you got. Check to see if if they are OEM or not, if they are OEM, then you gotta check the raditor support to see if it's damaged.

o0Riffraff0o

word, another random question i had was do they make after market mesh grills for the 99 ex, just in case i say "f it, the gap can stay for now"... because im googling and ill i see is 99 si pics not ex

Weifast

No, they never made mesh grills for 99 ex's. I say just get the 99-00 Si Mesh grill and put it on...the 99 ex ones are lame anyway :p

alphalanos

I think your rad. support is bent. Or your hood is somehow shoved really far forward on the hinges but I didnt think it could go that far. Maybe try to find someone with a 7th gen and measure against it.