Maybe I'm just an idiot but this has been bothering me for a while. I have a huge headlight gap on the driver's side, and the passenger side of the hood literally sits on the headlight. A long time ago I threw out the bump stops because they were ruined and beat up. 3 months ago I got into a slight bumper bender and the tip of my hood got bent in a little but I don't think it caused the problem. It's been like this even before hand. If I jack up the car from the driver's side tow hook, the hood sits better than it does when on the ground. With the weight on the passenger side from being jacked up, it causes the hood to sit even, which I don't get at all. I can close my hood, and I replaced the hood latch and struts. If I place a bolt like bump stop on the radiator support and close the hood, there becomes an issue where it doesn't really want to close nicely. The latch seems fairly straight too. The top of the hood sits equal and straight with the exception of the driver's top corner to hit the fender a bit. I took a wooden shim and tapped it in the space to make a gap and reduce the contact. I've loosen the bolts underneath the hood several times trying to adjust it any way I can, but there isn't much play other than going up or down.

Jacked up:




Hood is raised up slightly past the fender line. \/


On the ground:

 

I would say the bump stops are important for proper hood height... It also looks like you are missing the rubber pieces under the headlight and the ones attached to the hood... My front fenders don't line up perfectly with my hood either and my car has never been in an accident..not sure if you can loosen the hood bolts and slide it forward or backward...never tried...maybe the little accident you had did more to ur car than u can see

 

Your DS looks ok to me.

Your PS where the light is touching the hood looks off to me.

Dennis is right though.

vvvvvvvvvvv

 

His hood is bent. He said it, he knows it. Look at the 3rd and 6th photos all the way on the right side. The leading edge is bent down. Combined with no hood stops, of course it won't sit right. Chances are the hood hinges may be bent also.

 

My hood isn't completely bent, and I never knew the hood came with rubber pieces for the headlights? When I bought the car it was even. The accident made it a little worse. I figured the spot where the front edge of the hood bent in a little, caused the hood to warp? I was thinking of replacing the hinges, but that doesn't seem like the problem. It's more of a front end issue.

 

Were you ever able to fix this issue you had with your hood alignment? Because I'm having the same problem with the passenger side.

 

Never bothered too. This was before I got into another accident, as I hit a deer and I just gave up. Still have the same issue. I don't have bump stops and my hood is just screwed up. I think it's buckled and bent.

 

I mean no-one else would really notice it until you told them.. but its not that bad, it can be worse.. to me it doesn't look like anything that noticeable.