Is this hood repairable? The only hood I can find locally has many trim holes and a different latch setup. It is also a different color. I have never done bodywork so I am not sure if this is an easy fix or if I should keep searching for a better matching hood. I wanted to keep it if possible because it matches

 

Looks good to me. Assuming painting is down the road, you could use it as is for now. Or get someone to blast it. Make sure they know how to sand blast body work though. A bit tricky. You might be able to swap out the latch from the other hood you have.

 

Any through rust or rotted through holes will obviously need to be cut out and patched. For the surface rust IF you don’t want to sandblast (which is usually the best option) you can treat it with Muriatic acid/vinegar/rust converter ASSUMING you take the necessary safety precautions. Don’t breath it, get it on your skin, do it outdoors, etc, etc.
Wire wheel/brush all the rust you can with angle grinder or wire brush. Again, assuming you have taken safety precautions, either brush on with paint brush or spray bottle muriatic acid (available at hardware store in gallon containers) thoroughly soaking rusted areas. Let sit for about an hour. With heavy rubber gloves and breathing protection scrub rust with a scotch brite pad and wire brush. Rinse with water (preferably high pressure). Repeat process till your satisfied. THEN, apply vinegar thoroughly to neutralize acid. Rinse vinegar off.
It will immediately start to develop a yellow looking film as it dries. As soon as it’s dry apply a rust converter. I use a product called OSPHO available at hardware stores. It is a liquid in a gallon jug. I put it in a spray bottle and scrub with scotch brite pad. Don’t let it pool on the surface, just a good wet wipe over to end. Let this dry overnight. Any rust converter streaks can be sanded out.
At this point you are ready for epoxy primer/ body work.
I have used this method often over the years when I didn’t want to sandblast and it has always worked well for me.
Very important not to short cut on safety precautions though. Whatever you do don’t breathe acid fumes! Not even for a split second.

 

I was ok with the rust, I was just curious if the dents and deformity can be fixed or if I should look for a new hood.

 

All dents can be fixed. Using hammer and dolly or heat shrinking if required. Metal is easy to fix once you get a feel for it. Only four things can be done, cut it, weld it, shrink it, or stretch it.

 

So true

I dont know what them guys were seeing about the rust when you posted about the bent up hinge mount / rear brace running across the hood
Not knowing your skill level and tools you have on hand but if that was my hood and not seeing any rust just that bent part I would fix it.

Get a spot weld drill bit and drill out all the spot welds to remove that rear brace.
Once off it should be cake to straighten it out. Once straight plug weld it back in place using the holes from where you drilled out the spot welds.
You may need to add a few more welds to make it a little stronger but other wise should be good to use.

BTW I have removed the inner frame from the skin on 3 different hoods.
2 were to treat rust on a 1 year only hood before it turned to rust dust.
The other was to pound out a dent that could not be fixed any other way.
I have the skills & tools.

Good luck
Dave ----

 

Thanks, I think I can find a local body guy to fix it. I have a welder, but no body tools. I bet someone that knows what they are doing can knock it out in a few hours. I just want to be able to mount it on my truck and close it.