Weird dent in my hood

[ex man in van]

Hi all.
New here. I just picked up a 96 Explorer XL. It has been off road, has some bumps and bruises in the driver door that I can fix, along with a minor wheel lip repair, but I do have one dent that is real weird. It's dead center in my hood about the circumfrence as a basketball. it's fairly close the the windshield, and what peaked my interest was that it has no ridge, and almost looks like it is under some pull, not like a typical dent, more like if it was released, it would pop back.

I looked under the hood at the bracing, and sure enough right in the center of the dent, there is a lump of the caulking they used to bond/isolate the two panels. It looks like the caulking has squashed or shrunken and is pulling the panel down with it.
So my question is, has anyone here seen this before? I was told that this is something that can happen in extreme heat, (this truck lived in Arizona for a while before coming north) and something heavy placed on the hood can crush the caulking, but then I've personally never seen this until a few days ago when I saw the same thing online in almost the exact same location, and the same size depression.
So with that...is there a paint safe way to either soften the caulking, pop the caulking from either the bracing or the hood skin and back-fill with fresh material, or should I just consider getting a new hood? (possible the cheapest option if buggering the paint is inevitable)
It bothers me because the truck is in the Mocha Frost Metallic, and it really stands out.
Thanks in advance!
Shane

 

[ex man in van]

Ok....So with my lame post with no pics (Sorry) I had little response to my question, so I took a leap of faith, and decided to take matters into my own hands on a hunch. It wasn't a major issue, bet really dragged down the appearance of the truck. Especially with the metallic paint.
I found an image of an Ex with the beginnings of the same condition as mine.

Mine was about twice the depth.

Basically a large dish forming in the center of the hood. When I bought the truck, it was not visible, then the following day I noticed a large round depression. I thought someone had jumped on my hood.
Anyway...I looked closer and noticed that there were no actual ridges or creases along the dents edge. Weird.
Looking at the hood underneath, I noticed that the urethane adhesive/support goop looked like it had broken down somewhat, and....The depression seemed to follow where the foam was placed.

So.....On a hunch yesterday, I took a plastic putty spreader, and on the bracing side, I broke the urethane free. It was very shrunken, and the skin came up with a "pop" with each dollop of goop I broke free. Checked my work as I went so as not to remove more than neccesary.
Well...The result? a perfect hood with no evidence the dishing was present. Whew!
So here's my next question. I know there are some older threads on adhesive for this aplication, but what do you guys currently recommend to backfill the existing urethane?
Reason I ask is there are reports on other boards that this is not always as simple as it looks because the foam over curing can produce bulging in the skin, or back to square one with shrinking and pulling the skin down again.

Any thoughts on current products?
Thanks.

 

[Dono]

I cant help, but am reading and learning due to the age of my own vehicle. Nuce job on getting rid of the pull though.

 

[ex man in van]

Thanks Dono. I'm getting my cam back today, (been in the shop getting repaired), so I hope to post pics of my Ex. it's basically very much like the one in the photo, but I am just taking care of a couple small mechanical issues (passenger side axle seal, front passenger side bearing), then I'll start adding my personal touches to it. I absolutely love the truck. The interior was in great shape, the engine runs very strong and clean. Just clicked over 218.000 kms. or around 135.000 miles on Friday afternoon too, so I consider myself very lucky to have gotten a vehicle with so little to worry about.
Things I plan to do are brush guards, wheels, sound system.
Not really looking to do much in the performance end as the 4.0L is what it is.
A durable, reliable engine that gets the job done and starts when you turn the key. The previous owner did have some work done on the trans with some stronger internals, as well as installing a beefier T-case. he did a lot of hunting and off road driving, and said the trans failed one time too many, so got it upgraded in '03, along with a larger cooler. It does feel a little more positive in the shifts then others I test drove.
For body....meh....I do have a slight amount of rust and bubbling in the upper radius of the passenger side dogleg. it came from the wheel well side. Rusted through, and got a nice pile of damp silt in the dogleg/rocker area, so I pulled out what I could, then sprayed in some Rust Not converter, and bonded a patch in the wheel well for now.
I plan to pull the patch, then spray some wax oil into the entire rocker area, then either weld or rebond the patch. That should keep any further rusting at bay for the long term.

 

[Dono]

I better check my dog legs from the wheel well side also. I didn't think of that. The one side I looked at was packed full of silt also. Thanks for the tip, I bet I have the same thing happening.

Keeping these older vehicles on the road does become our hobby. I guess its a good hobby to have, as it is cost effective. We also learn so much.

 

[ex man in van]

Haha! Yep! Tons of surprises on older vehicles. I mentioned the rockers and doglegs and a product that's fairly new to me. Waxoyl. That's how it's written. The stuff comes from England, and has been used by the military, aviation, and LandRover clubs to name a few because British climate essentially rots cars for 90% of the year.
It comes in black and clear and is permanent when sprayed into doors and rockers. You need to rent a pressure tank/compressor, and wand to get in the tight places, but it atomizes, reaching all the areas water and dirt can sit, and stops the rust in progress, and makes it almost impossible for new rust to start.
Perfect for our Ex rockers with all those trim holes behind the plastic covers where winter salt can get in and wreak havoc.
I'm hoping my rust is limited to this area, and it's still salvageable to just being a little minor blistering.
When I get the gear, I'll post a rundown of the process with pics.