Bonnet Hinge - Rubbing Issue

[Seano350GT]

Since the day i picked up my car i have had this issue with the bonnet rubbing with the fender and i am finally getting around to fixing it up..

The cause of this rubbing is the hinge itself, somehow it's bent causing this to happen..

Here's a picture of what the bonnet corner/fender looks like after 12 months of rubbing.

It's not noticeable until you get up close, then it looks horrible. I have tried putting washers behind the bolt holding the hinge in to give the bonnet a bit of height but i can't seem to get it to line up with the fender without it rubbing and it looks silly having it too high.

Now, what my problem seems to be is sourcing a new bonnet hinge. I have been in contact with my buddy Charles from B2Autodesigns in the states but he thinks the guys at OCinfiniti reckon they are different. It's hard to tell between pictures without having the hinge off the actual car but here's a pic of it on my car compared to what i found on google for a g35 hinge.

I would go ahead and order a new set of hinges and pay $100 but i'd rather make sure they will actually fit the car. I also plan to get the corner touched up once i've replaced the hinges as it looks horrible and i hate it

My local Nissan could be an option, but my experience with those guys has been nothing but negative. Ever since the head service manager told me i need to take the car to a panel beater to get a compression rod bush replaced...

If anyone could shed some light on this that'd be great,

cheers

Edited March 7, 2013 by Seano350GT

[AlexanderWilde]

Mate ! save the money and check your alighnment of your front quarter pannels and the bonnet itself. mine did the same and all i had to do is re lighn it

[Seano350GT]

They seem to be alligned fine Alex, forgot to mention we checked that when we determined the hinges were the problem.

[gillywig2]

I'm going to be ordering a pair of hinges from Perry Infiniti soon. I can't see why they would be any different to the G35 hinges.

It's a very common problem as highlighted on http://g35driver.com/forums/interior-exterior/216502-another-hood-hinge-bending-problem.html

[Seano350GT]

Andy, thanks heaps for that link i didn't realise how common this issue was. First time i saw it i thought to myself "shit it's been in an accident" lol.

I don't see why they'd be different either, it just seems to look like they are judging by the pictures. Not sure if i should go ahead and buy the hinges from the U.S yet. I might give Nissan a ring today and see if they can help but i highly doubt it.

[Seano350GT]

Amazingly enough, Nissan came through. Must be a new bloke that works at my local Nissan because he's the first one to actually know what a V35 is lol.

$65 for a set of hinges coming from Melbourne so that's good news. My next issue is apparently you have to remove the fender to get the hinges undone.. that sounds like fun.

[junkie]

Damn it. Checked mine after reading this and see a small chip on the corner of the guard on the drivers side. Going to have a crack at fixing it on the weekend

[Seano350GT]

turns out it's actually a really common problem with the hinges starting to bend.. quite weird if you ask me. But yeah i need to see if it can be done without removing the fenders, after some reading on g35driver.com it seems the fender has to come off. But in saying that a bunch of people were also commenting saying no you don't have to take it off.. we'll see lol.

[junkie]

reminds me on a grandpa's lancer i worked on once, bonnet was hard to open, turns out both hinges were rusted solid. i was actually bending them when opening and closing the bonnet, and the passenger side was already becoming soft and ready to snap

Edited March 8, 2013 by junkie

[gillywig2]

Sean, on page 3 of the link jberry has posted some pics and has said that they were able to just loosen the bolts of the wing.

This should just give enough clearance to work on the hinges.

[Seano350GT]

Lol the hinges were rusted solid? dear me.. wonder what else was wrong with that car..

cheers Andy i didn't look that far into it, but that's good news!

[junkie]

had a good look at mine today. seems like the longer part of the hinge, between the pivot point and the bonnet, has some flex in it, you can actually spot it when opening the bonnet

with that amount of flex, if the pivot point isnt lubricated properly, it would flex enough to catch the corner of the guard, and only on the way up

the pivot point itself appears to be in an area with a bit of water runoff from the a-pillar area, so regular lubrication would be a good idea

you can reach it with a thin tube between the a-pillar/guard and lower windscreen trim panel, there is just enough gap there

[crystos]

i have thi sissue. local nissan cant help. does the american 2004 equivalent work?