Fibreglass Hood Problems!!!!

nos707

New Member
Sep 25, 2005
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UK
Just fitting my new cowl hood!

I dont want to use hood pins, but I want it to be secure, and not to pop up!!

Has anyone used a factory catch on a fibreglass hood?? :SNSign:
 
most fiberglass hoods have the hole molded in so you can remove your hood latching stuff from your old hood and install it onto your new one. and i would highly recommend some kind of secondary lock like hood pins. it's a b*tch when they fly up and smack you.
 
Just do a thread search on hood pins. Take a look at all the "OOOOPS!" threads. Personally, I find it difficult to believe that folks who are aware of the problem still run FG hoods without them. Seems like every other week someone else posts a thread about how their hood flew up. I ran my Cervinis hood for a couple of years without pins. The secondary latch has caught the hood a couple of times and saved my bacon. All it take is that ONE time for the hood to get past that latch for you to be crying in your beer. The pins remove all chance of that happening. What else is there to say?

Edit: Don't get the Mr. Gasket pins. They rust at the slightest bit of moisture! Mr. Gasket... if you're listening... Your product sucks.
 
Well people have told me what I'm doing with my pony I should get some of those hood pins. I'm not being mean when I say this ( I think those thing look redneck and mess up the look of the car)but thats just me. I'm asking is there a other way to do. I.E something else
 
the one time i forgot to put my hoodpins in, was the one time my hood flew up on me. protect your investment and buy a pair of hood pins.

FMS from summit ones are nice. been on there for a while and no rust at all!
 
I get what you're saying and I agree. I don't like the looks of them either. It was the first comment I posted after the install. Thing is... That's like not wearing a seat belt because it wrinkles your clothes.

If you have the stock latches in place, I don't see any problem with running the hood locks instead of the pins.

Something like this would be great if you found a set that you could paint the same color as your car:

hoodlock_cf.jpg


Word of caution though. These are not hood pins nor are they a substitute for hood pins. It will tell you that in the installation instructions. You MUST use your factory latches if you want to go this route. I think that it's what I will be going to in the near future.


Edit: Lame cuss filter killed the first image bacause the letters s-h-i-t were in succession from the website. Fixed with another one.
 
1991vert said:
the one time i forgot to put my hoodpins in, was the one time my hood flew up on me. protect your investment and buy a pair of hood pins.

FMS from summit ones are nice. been on there for a while and no rust at all!

I may have to check into those too. Are the Summit brand?
 
Thing is... That's like not wearing a seat belt because it wrinkles your clothes.


lol :lol: :lol: :lol:

I also got a fiber glass hood. but I'm looking for something you can't see, are those hideway ones? But hell I can just put more money in my car to have custom ones made so you can't see them. what do you think?
 
The ones I showed above are not hide-away. You will still see them. The nice thing though, is that because you're not sliding a pin in and out of them, you can paint them to match your hood and they won't stick out like a sore thumb.
 
I have literally 2 plus hours in aligning my hood so it would secure to my liking. You need to play with the hood...pulling/tugging/pushing from every angle untill the latch would not release. I "thought" I had it several times..only to push from one side or another (when latched) and actually have it released. If I were not so anal with my cars appearance I would NOT hesitate with pins.
 
Considering the cost of the hood, the labor of getting it to fitted properly, then getting it painted, I would never run a fiberglass hood with out real pins, and the hood latch working properly. I have seen too many come up. I like the look of them also, if installed properly.

hoodsep4.webp
 

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393Bird said:
Considering the cost of the hood, the labor of getting it to fitted properly, then getting it painted, I would never run a fiberglass hood with out real pins, and the hood latch working properly. I have seen too many come up. I like the look of them also, if installed properly.

hoodsep4.webp
nice t-bird:nice:



i have the latch on my fiberglass cobra r. but hardly ever use it cause alot of people ask to see the engine and i get tired of having to pop the hood. all i have to do is pull the pins and raise the hood.
 

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HoodStrype said:
Hmmmm...so has anyone had the hood pins fail while they were in?

I've had hood locks break on me a couple times. They always end up getting rusted inside and break. It happen when I was on the freeway to, good thing the other side held until I was able to pull over. When I finally get rid of my pin-on hood and get a bolt on, I'm for sure getting the latches like 393Bird has.
 
If you use the stcok mounting stuff, I don't see how the hood can fly up? Unless you didn't latch it correctly yourself. My Cervini fit perfectly, the first try. Never loosened another bolt the least bit. I can hold the hood 2 inches up and let it drop and BOOM....Latched. I could probably let it down and just press on it a bit and it would latch too. Just Like someone said above. Work with it a bit and get it to latch right. Don't forget you can adjust the latch position too, not just the hood.
 
I understand what everyone is saying about pins!

I have also seen some flush locks......but you can still see them from the outside!!

Ive never been one for looks before performance...but in this case, I really dont want to use pins of any kind that can be seen from the outside!!

Im going to try and fit a stock safety catch tomorrow so i'll see how I get on!!
 
Daggar said:
If you have the stock latches in place, I don't see any problem with running the hood locks instead of the pins.
I ran some for 6 years with no problems on my 88 GT. :nice:

This was with a Harwood hood along with the stock latch.

I also ran a stock fiberglass hood on my coupe for 5 years with just the stock latch and never had an issue either.

I just took my time fitting and adjusting them correctly and made sure the hood was latched all the way every time I shut it.