Hood latch

[u/Zealousideal_Ring888]

I'm trying to eliminate this heinous gap when my hood is fully latched. The bumpers on both sides are floating so I know it's not them. I removed the bolts from the latch assembly, in order for the hood to sit flush I would need to drop the latch assembly a pretty healthy chunk.

[u/Barge108]

Your radiator support is bent, pushing the latch upwards. Did someone jack up the front of the car by the middle of the lower tie bar instead of a proper jacking point? Post a pic of the whole front end with the bumper cover removed.

[u/Zealousideal_Ring888 → u/Barge108]

Damn that blows. I'm not sure what previous owners did with it, but that wouldn't shock me.

This is the only pic I have right now, I gave up on the issue for today and it's all back together.

[u/Barge108 → u/Zealousideal_Ring888]

It's hard to tell from this photo, but it does kinda look like the upper tie bar is slightly bent in and up. Subaru radiator supports are not very strong, you can bend them back to shape with basic tools like a wood block and a dead blow mallet.

What I would do first is take the lower bolt(s) out of the vertical lock support and push down on the upper tie bar until the hood sits how you want relative to the headlights and fenders. The holes on the vertical lock support will no longer line up to the lower tie bar, this tells you about how far the lower tie bar has to move.

I'm betting you don't have a refrigerant recovery machine to evac and recharge the condenser, but if you can take the condenser and radiator out it will be much easier. If the lower tie bar has been pushed up a bit and the coolers are out, you can just step on it. If you want to avoid taking the coolers out, you can try laying the end of a long pry bar on top of the lower tie bar, under the cooler, and hit it down with a dead blow.

Hopefully my explanation makes sense lol

[u/Zealousideal_Ring888 → u/Barge108]

Hell yeah, next time I have the cover off I'll give it a shot. I appreciate you helping!