I've been hesitant to share this story, as it's a total blow to my pride, but it's been slow around here lately and the place could use some conversation starters.

Finished up installing a rebuilt B20 in early December. Had a hard deadline to get the car moved from my parents garage and over to my tiny one-car across town, because they were beginning a massive home renovation and the contractor needed the driveway and garage clear.

So, got the engine and transmission in and running. Took a couple successful test laps of the neighborhood without incident. Everything was working perfectly, but I left many details like wiring clean-up and general tidying up for when I got the car back to my place.

I bolted the hood up before making the 3 mile drive to my garage across town. I didn't however, reinstall the hood latch and forward hood support. I even sat there and contemplated securing the hood, but reasoned it was heavy enough and the hinges were robust enough to keep it down. I'm sure you can guess the next part . . .

The first time I went above 25 MPH, the hood flew backwards, all the way to the roof. Luckily it was a Sunday morning and roads were empty. Could have been a bad situation.

The roof and windshield were undamaged, thankfully. The hood had quite a few ripples and dents, and the hood hinges were toast (bent backwards several inches). Keep in mind this car is supposed to be used in my wedding in March.

Over Christmas I was able to find a paintless dent repair guy to work no the hood. He did an outstanding job, all the major defects are gone. Also got a new set of hood hinges and painted them up. I was finally able to enlist the assistance of my fiance to get everything bolted up this weekend. The only visable damage is that the driver-side corner of the hood sit's about 1/2" too high in the back corner hear the hinge. Doesn't look as good as before, but overall I can't complain too much given how bad it could have been.

Certainly a reminder to always go through a comprehensive pre-flight inspection after a project like that!