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Sunk-in hood

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Fit and finish is an issue but one I expected. What I didn't expect was the idiotic "smartphone key." I hope I don't get mugged someday while fumbling with my smartphone to connect with the car.

I also have the sunken hood but blew it off at least until I hear any surefire solution.

Hi Azred, about that "idiotic smartphone key". In my world that solution is brilliant and obvious at the same time. What fumble? You walk up to the car and it opens; you walk away and it closes. What more could you possibly ask for? No fob, no handbrake, no start button. Useless gauges behind steering wheel replaced by undisturbed line of sight. Beauty in simplicity. No looking back. I started this thread about the sunken hood, but in the big picture, it's nothing.
 
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Sunk-in hood is fixed. I started by shimming the hood striker to get the hood higher and more flush with the fenders. I then took the frunk liner out and found that I didn't need the shims as there was plenty of adjustment in the latch. When the hood is close to flush with the fenders, the leading edge is a bit higher then the front bumper cover---not what you want. Today I went to the hardware store and bought a half dozen nylon fender washers. These had the required 6mm hole and were about 3.25 mm thick. The fender washer provides plenty of surface area to support the bumper cover. I removed the bolts holding on the top of the bumper cover and slipped a washer between the support and the bumper cover at each location. I replaced the bolts and put the liner back in. Lo and behold, I no longer have a sunk-in hood. It is fairly flush around the entire perimeter of the hood with the exception of a short area maybe a mm low toward the front. However it is now well within limits and something that you wouldn't notice unless you are really looking for it. The bumper cover is urethane so it is pretty flexible and will conform to the shims without damage. Hey, you only need to buy about five bucks worth of washers and need a 10mm socket to do the whole job. And while you have the frunk liner out, you can marvel at the great engineering that went into this car that is normally hidden.
 
Sunk-in hood is fixed. I started by shimming the hood striker to get the hood higher and more flush with the fenders. I then took the frunk liner out and found that I didn't need the shims as there was plenty of adjustment in the latch. When the hood is close to flush with the fenders, the leading edge is a bit higher then the front bumper cover---not what you want. Today I went to the hardware store and bought a half dozen nylon fender washers. These had the required 6mm hole and were about 3.25 mm thick. The fender washer provides plenty of surface area to support the bumper cover. I removed the bolts holding on the top of the bumper cover and slipped a washer between the support and the bumper cover at each location. I replaced the bolts and put the liner back in. Lo and behold, I no longer have a sunk-in hood. It is fairly flush around the entire perimeter of the hood with the exception of a short area maybe a mm low toward the front. However it is now well within limits and something that you wouldn't notice unless you are really looking for it. The bumper cover is urethane so it is pretty flexible and will conform to the shims without damage. Hey, you only need to buy about five bucks worth of washers and need a 10mm socket to do the whole job. And while you have the frunk liner out, you can marvel at the great engineering that went into this car that is normally hidden.
Any chance you can post pic or a youtube video of this procedure? I think quite a few people would benefit from it.
 
Not totally decided yet, but I am inclined to rather keep the faulty hood. This sunk hood is more of an issue than the varying panel gaps that I am tolerant of, so it's poor quality control and a disappointing proposed solution by Tesla. I didn't expect a local paint job being their solution. Views?

Maybe keep the faulty one but keep an eye out for a wrecked 3 in your color with a good hood. Its a long shot, but it could happen. You might get a good hood factory painted your color.
 
Sunk-in hood is fixed. I started by shimming the hood striker to get the hood higher and more flush with the fenders. I then took the frunk liner out and found that I didn't need the shims as there was plenty of adjustment in the latch. When the hood is close to flush with the fenders, the leading edge is a bit higher then the front bumper cover---not what you want. Today I went to the hardware store and bought a half dozen nylon fender washers. These had the required 6mm hole and were about 3.25 mm thick. The fender washer provides plenty of surface area to support the bumper cover. I removed the bolts holding on the top of the bumper cover and slipped a washer between the support and the bumper cover at each location. I replaced the bolts and put the liner back in. Lo and behold, I no longer have a sunk-in hood. It is fairly flush around the entire perimeter of the hood with the exception of a short area maybe a mm low toward the front. However it is now well within limits and something that you wouldn't notice unless you are really looking for it. The bumper cover is urethane so it is pretty flexible and will conform to the shims without damage. Hey, you only need to buy about five bucks worth of washers and need a 10mm socket to do the whole job. And while you have the frunk liner out, you can marvel at the great engineering that went into this car that is normally hidden.
Tesla has authorized a body shop to address this issue for me, but I’d like to better understand your procedure and pass it along to them.

Did you have to do any adjustments to the back hinges? Thanks.
 
I wish I had taken some pictures. The key thing is (at least for my car) that the process of trying to fix the sunk-in hood relies on trying to align the front of the hood with the top of the bumper cover. However, it is the location of the bumper cover that is the majority of the problem, not the shape of the hood or the fenders. I raised the latch until the hood was flush with the fenders and found it was high on the front edge. The solution is to somehow raise the bumper cover in the area where it passes in front of the hood. When you remove the frunk liner, you will see the six bolts that hold the bumper cover in place. There appears to be a factory shim between the support and the cover however it is not thick enough. Adding thick fender washers between the shim and the bumper cover made the hood fit correctly on my vehicle. There is no other interference caused by doing this. The washers I used are 3.25 mm in thickness which raises the bumper cover the same amount in relation to the hood. Any more than this would require longer bolts in the bumper cover. Also, the rubber side bumpers on the hood itself are turned out about as far as they can go without falling out. BTW, the rear hinge height on my car is correct and no shimming of the rear would help in my case.

I need to replace a couple of plastic clips on the fenders that are missing from my car. When I get them from Tesla, I will pull the liner out and take pictures of this "fix". It's really simple once you or your body shop gets in there---maybe someone else will try it before I get the parts I need from Tesla and can get some photos. If it doesn't work for you, it is totally reversible, nothing is changed or damaged, just remove the washers and you are back where you started from.
 
Wow .... I really expected Tesla to have resolved these issues by now. I thought that is why all of the early copies went to employees where adjustments could be more easily made. Very disappointing.

I am not an emotional buyer (meaning I have fallen in love with the vehicle and must have ... regardless). I admire the design, and my next car will be an EV. But improvements will need to be made in fit and finish before I will own a copy. I can wait.

One more thing .... I want to see, drive and examine a new car (any new car) before signing on the line and paying. That does not appear to be possible with the Tesla 3 right now.
 
I took the cover off the latch area in the Frunk today. It pulls straight up off a couple off molded guides at the bottom. You can then see two bolts that take a 10mm socket to loosen. There is a slotted hole on each side of the latch to adjust it up or down. I removed the shims that I added to the striker (described in an earlier reply) and adjusted the latch higher and achieved the same fit that I wanted without the shims. It was interesting to see the bolts and washers had paint marks showing where the bolts were originally installed. Someone had adjusted the hood before delivery and lowered the latch. I adjusted the latch bolts to line up with the paint marks and (drumroll) the hood closed to where I had adjusted it with the shims. If the car had been left alone, I wouldn't have had a problem with the "sunken hood" that would have been obvious enough to warrant a repair.

Problem is the hood itself is out of alignment/shape. Front edge and back edge align with body, but middle portion is sunk. So adjusting bolts/strikers wont make difference. Hood needs to be reshaped. I dont trust a local body shop to do it. If you force Tesla, they offer to replace it with a primed hood to be repainted at the Tesla certified local body shop.
 
I wish I had taken some pictures. The key thing is (at least for my car) that the process of trying to fix the sunk-in hood relies on trying to align the front of the hood with the top of the bumper cover. However, it is the location of the bumper cover that is the majority of the problem, not the shape of the hood or the fenders. I raised the latch until the hood was flush with the fenders and found it was high on the front edge. The solution is to somehow raise the bumper cover in the area where it passes in front of the hood. When you remove the frunk liner, you will see the six bolts that hold the bumper cover in place. There appears to be a factory shim between the support and the cover however it is not thick enough. Adding thick fender washers between the shim and the bumper cover made the hood fit correctly on my vehicle. There is no other interference caused by doing this. The washers I used are 3.25 mm in thickness which raises the bumper cover the same amount in relation to the hood. Any more than this would require longer bolts in the bumper cover. Also, the rubber side bumpers on the hood itself are turned out about as far as they can go without falling out. BTW, the rear hinge height on my car is correct and no shimming of the rear would help in my case.
Thanks, I believe I understand your approach.
1. Adjust the hood latch until the middle sunken part of the hood is raised to be flush with the fenders
2. Shim the front bumper cover until flush with the front edge of the hood

Does step 2 create misalignment where the bumper cover meets the front fender?

Could you take photos of the finished product?

Thanks again.
 
OK this is my first attempt at uploading pictures. The hood looks a lot better then it did when I got the car but still isn't perfect. It is good enough for me and it is nearly 4 mm higher in the front than it was when delivered and the hood closes a lot easier. Remember, this is a 1/2 hour, five dollar, reversible "fix". No it doesn't cause a problem at the fender/bumper cover as the bumper cover is flexible and conforms to the shape in the corner. You could put a smaller shim at the very edge bumper cover attach bolt and make the transition a little better but I am happy as it is.
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If I really wanted to go for it, the panel gap can be addressed. My first attempt was to get the hood flush with the fenders. As there is no reference point at the rear of the hood, the hood could be adjusted forward at the hinges to close up the gap between the front of the hood and the bumper cover. And as the hood is a trapezoid shape, as it moves forward the side gaps also will decrease. In addition, because of the bow in hood, the side edges will rise slightly in relation to the fenders without raising the front of the hood which is set by the latch height. The latch striker is wide enough to allow for tons of fore and aft movement of the hood panel. This isn't a show car but if I took my time messing with the fit of the hood, it could be made to look one without bending anything or breaking paint. If I get a rainy day with nothing to do, I might mess with the hood position and see what happens.

BTW--the hood panel gaps are the same as they were when the car was delivered. Sinking the hood in the body just makes them look less obvious
 
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They are Nylon and have a hole for a 6 mm bolt. About 32 mm in diameter and 3.25 mm thick. They were in little bins at the hardware store stocked by a company named "Jandorf" but anything similar will work. Hope It works for you as well as it did for me. Follow my earlier posts about setting the latch height and as a final thing, the bumpers which will be almost all the way out.
 
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