So I ordered another hood, this time brand new aftermarket, and it arrived damaged beyond repair. That issue took way too long to resolve. Then I ordered a new OEM hood from another company, and a day later my order was cancelled because they couldn't ship it safely (not sure why they listed it on the site if they can't actually sell you it lol). After a bunch more runaround, I finally gave up and called the dealership, spending more than double what I had budgeted on a hood, at least it's new and OEM and should arrive in perfect shape. Who knew hoods were so hard to buy.
On the bright side though some slight progress has still been made. Firstly, the bent fender frame rail was straightened out and seems to line up nicely (sorry I forget to take a pic when I saw the car last) and I also have nearly finished sanding and filling in the minor damage that was on the S-Line bumper I had picked up.
Just smoothing out the major imperfections to save my paint guy some time and myself some $$$, it's coming along well.
Also received a used headlight from eBay
lots of scratches on the lens but from a distance they're not noticeable and it was super cheap. In the spring I can just replace the lenses on both lights and that'll give me a chance to do a proper amber delete as well.
I also picked up a set of used S-Line fog lights from an Audizine member
Fast forward a week and the new hood from the dealership arrived and it was in perfect condition! Took it over to my body guy and helped him get it lined up with the replacement fender I purchased. We spent the entire day getting everything lined up, and when looking back on the experience I'm glad I purchased OEM body parts because knowing that the panels were straight made it easier to determine when the car itself needed some persuasion with a hammer haha.
Heres the fender rail that was straightened out
New OEM hoof lined up with used OEM fender. Fender is already painted monsoon grey but it will get resprayed as it has some deep scratches
Also, when i bought the hood the dealership claimed I needed to spend $50 on "sound insulation", this is what they gave me[>_<]

$50 piece of foam tape....yeah that's getting returned lol
Now we're completely caught up, so this week, the body guy will remove a dent from the driver's side fender and paint the underside of the hood. Then, I'll probably head back this weekend to help him refit the hood so he can paint the top of the hood, fenders, and bumper together! We're getting close[

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