Is it safe to drive a car with no hood?

Well another poster in the wind. We’ll never know, but check the papers anyway.

I imagine that he was made from various cells and protoplasm.
What else could he possibly be made of?

I would rather a car have no hood than have a hood that isn’t securely attached. My dad and I were in our 1954 Buick back in November of 1958. The hood came off the car ahead of us. Apparently, the owner of that car had done some engine work and not bolted the hood to the hinges. It was only being held by the hood latch. The car that lost its hood was a 1952 or 1953 Ford. At any rate, the road was slippery from rain. When my dad applied the brakes, the rear end slid to the left. When Dad corrected, the car slid into the ditch. It started to turn over, but hit a utility pole putting a dent in the top above the passenger door. The ground was soft enough that the wheels mired in the mud. The first wrecker was afraid to pull our car out of the ditch, so we had to call another company. That tow truck driver hooked the winch to the right rear corner and lifted the car back on the road. We drove the car three years with the dent in the top. When we had the car repainted, the dent was pounded out.
There apparently was no way we could collect damages from the car that lost its hood. In this case, we wish the driver had left the hood off the car.

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It’s now 2021, almost 10 years later, and I too am dying to know haha

Put tarps in the front of a corvair, hood did not latch, blew off on the highway, drove on no problem after throwing it along side of the road for later retrieval, had to put the tarps in the back seat though!

Doesn’t everyone realize that when you drive in the rain that the water comes eight throug the radiator and the fans blow it all over the engine. For years engine compartments were open to the ground, splash shields were non existent in most cars for half of my deiving career and they are really for better aerodynamics

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This is exactly what I was thinking as I read through these responses, specifically:

The only elemental protection a hood offers to the engine is from the sun. Water already gets everywhere in the engine compartment when you drive in the rain.

It might also add a little protection to your front crumple zones in a crash, but any protection it adds would be minimal.

A car with no hood may not be safe in a collision. It might be part of the front crumple zone.

“Water already gets everywhere in the engine compartment when you drive in the rain.”

I don’t believe that, and after my next drive in the rain I’ll open the hood to check.

Also, various incidents posted on this forum indicate that, at least in some cases, the under-engine air dams are supposed to keep road splash out of the engine compartment.

(I’m not talking about the cases where a low-mounted air intake gets flooded when somebody tries to drive through standing water.)

Keep in mind much of the engine is hot enough that water evaporates on contact, so it and everything else that gets that hot will be dry by the time you stop and get the hood open.

I thought we were discussing a missing hood, not missing undercarriage shielding. Nonetheless, that shielding is not water tight.

My kid bent her hood. I have car at my place now and took off hood. The junkyard I go to is 45 miles away and has 3 cars with same color. But, how do I get hood home? I could drive there, and install hood? Trailer? Life is interesting.

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Drive there and install the hood. Go ahead and go full on redneck :wink:

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a thought… you could rent a truck from home depot. I think it is $20 for first 90 minutes. if it was me I would just drive there and put the hood on there.

Plus you get the added benefit of people staring at you, possibly taking pictures, and maybe mentioning you in the “you share the road with these people” thread!

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Better take a buddy or two, putting on a hood with one person is NO fun!

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how many old school hotrods have you seen with no hood? its not dangerous to drive with no hood. and its only one way.

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That’s the same advice I was going to give. That’s how I sometimes get new car batteries; I pull up to the auto parts store, remove it, buy a new one, install it, and drive away.

Make sure you check how much they charge per mile. On daily/hourly rentals, the per-mile charge can be high.

I did it alone at the scrapyard on my lesabre with its huge hood. Swapped my deer dented one for another dent free hood of the same color. You’re right, best to bring help. Kind of awkward doing it alone. Would be quite easy to let it slip and crack the windshield.

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“I don’t believe that, and after my next drive in the rain I’ll open the hood to check.”

Well, I did – sort of. Drove about 15 minutes in a short moderately heavy rain this evening. Some pooling on the roads. Stopped and opened the hood just as the rain was ending. Engine, battery, alternator, everything visible was completely dry. Did not check back side of radiator. 2004 Camry. YMMV.

To quote Firefly Chicolini (Chico Marx, in “Duck Soup”): “Who ya gonna believe – me or your own eyes?”

If I get a chance to drive in heavier rain for a longer time I’ll post again, but low chance of rain and low chance of driving for a few days.