Hood or Bonnet, It Is All The Same

So, where is the hood on your car? If you said above your engine you just proved that you are not from Great Britain. You see, in England the hood is the cloth or metal top of the car, whereas the covering over the engine is called a bonnet. Actually this writer likes the term bonnet, kind of a nice little head covering for a beautiful lady, which is how I feel about my car. But we are getting way off course so I’ll return to the subject at hand.

The hood is held down by a concealed latch and is most often made of steel, aluminum, fiberglass or carbon fiber. Often the most distinguishable feature of a hood is the hood ornament i.e. Mercedes’ distinctive hood ornament that every thief wannabe steals when they get the chance.

Are hoods easy to replace? About as easy to replace as a trunk lid or a front or rear door. They are held on by a hinge; remove the bolts of the hinge and the hood will lift right off. They are reasonably heavy so make sure you have someone with you when you try this.

Are hoods expensive? I would say so, yes! If you buy a new aftermarket hood from a dealership you are looking at several hundred dollars and that does not include the labor to put that replacement part on. However, if you go to a salvage yard and buy a used replacement part hood, then the expense is about half of that.

I hear you saying: what if they don’t have the right color of hood that I need? Well, all they do then is hop on the computer, find your hood from the thousands of salvage yards listed in their data bank, and have it shipped immediately. It really is that simple when you are buying any used part, be it a used battery or used radiator or used transmission.

One last piece of information and then we’ll call it a day in our discussion of hoods. Why are they called hoods? I mean, bonnets make more sense, right? If you were to look at the hood of a vehicle made in the 30’s and 40’s, when the hood is open and up, you would see why they are called a hood because that is exactly what they looked like.

So there you have the semi-interesting story of the hood. Remember, new hoods are expensive and bad; used hoods are inexpensive at salvage yards and good.