How to Install a Subaru Hood Deflector
by Harvey Birdman
Installing a hood deflector on your Subaru allows you to preserve your car and enhance visibility. While the hood deflector is primarily designed to deflect bugs, the airstream generated by the deflector can also shunt aside small pebbles and dirt. This protection helps keep your windshield clear even if you are tearing up the backroads with your Subaru WRX STI or the less-manic Outback or Legacy. This installation process, relatively simple as far as car modifications go, should not take more than an hour.
Step 1
Clean the hood of your Subaru thoroughly with a mixture of soap and water. Soak a rag in this solution, and rub down the hood --- particularly the front, where you will install the deflector. Any debris left on the hood during the installation of the deflector can cause early metal corrosion. Dry the hood with a towel after washing it, as any water trapped under the deflector can also lead to metal corrosion.
Step 2
Open the hood by pulling on the hood latch in the cabin. Clean the underside front edge of the hood with an alcohol pad --- either your own or one that came with the installation kit. Strip the cover from the tape on the hood deflector itself. Align the hood deflector so the screw holes on the deflector and screw holes on the underside of the front edge of the hood align. Press and hold the deflector firmly against the underside of the hood so the tape binds.
Step 3
Screw the hood deflector onto the underside of the hood by placing washers on the screws and then screwing them into the holes with a screwdriver. (The washers and screws will have come with the hood deflector and should be sized to fit a Subaru hood). Only screw until you create a tight fit; do not overtighten them, or you can shatter the plastic hood. The hood deflector will have also come with small gel bumps with tape backing, designed to prevent the hood deflector from damaging the top of your hood. Affix these bumps to the top of your hood, just behind the hood deflector.
References
Things You'll Need
- Rag
- Soap
- Towel
- Alcohol pad
- Screwdriver
Writer Bio
Harvey Birdman has been writing since 2000 for academic assignments. He has trained in the use of LexisNexus, Westlaw and Psychnotes. He holds a Juris Doctor and a Master of Business Administration from the Chicago Kent School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in both political science and psychology from the University of Missouri at Columbia.
