i have had seibon vt cf hood for about 1 year no hood pins with no problems but i also have the latches from top secret and i'am looking for a shop to install them in central il

 

I Also Plan on Making Some Type of Hood Straps clamps for Under the front of my New Veilside ver.3 Hood , Dont Want any Pins Thru the hood unless I have To ..latch seems good but the local vette body shop says , don't take a chance on loosing a windshield ect ...

 

You can buy them at almost any automotive specialty place, ebay, I think I even saw ones similar to the Sparco pins at Pep Boys once..

Installing is easy.. Drilling is only necessary on the hood.. The pins mount very nicely to the middle hole near the headlights (The Z seems to keep this empty for some reason).. Sorry for the blurry pic





I put a dab of Elmers glue on top of the pin and closed the hood on top to mark the spot where I need to dremel out the skeleton and drill through the hood from the bottom..



I put masking tape on top to help prevent cracking when drilling through.. mount the hardware and voila done!



~30min job if you rush

--mike

 

There was a great "how to" installation thread on g35driver regarding the Aerocatch latches.

I'm getting those for the flush look.

 

leemik.......thx 4 that.....appreciate it!

 

i have a seibon cf hood with no pins. i've gone 100mph+ a few times, no problems.

 

sparco pins fit directly into the 'stock' holes

cover the engine bay with newspaper or cardboard and then drill up. for the inside, you can use a 1" hole saw, for the top side, drill down in progressive steps , remember your hood archs when opening so you'll probably end up with a rectangular shape.

i dont get it. people will put roll cages, 5 point harnesses, racing seats, big *** brakes.... but then cheap out for a $30 pair of hood pins that might prevent an accident cuz 'it looks bad' or 'ruins the lines'..

if you do the 'strap' idea, just remember you're probably attaching this 'strap' to the inner skeleton. the inner skeleton is also fiberglass and glued to the underside of the hood. when driving at 60+ and if your initial latch fails, it will swing up and 'catch' your safety strap. that's if the glue is strong enough to prevent the skeleton from ripping off the underside... i really dont see the point of doing the safety strap unless it's hard attached to the topside of the hood.

 

all the item you just point out up there are all for THE LOOKS. Common, who really need that stoping power with BBK? Racing seat?

back to the OP question: there is some minor vibration you can see from the hood but that is just all the wind go through the engine bay then out at the "outer vent". I've been cruising at 80-90-100mph all the time (Yorba Linda back to San Jose Trip) No problem.

 

Nicely done!

 

can we see more pics of hood pins on different hoods. or pics of the kind of hood pins you have.

 

you're joking right?

Since when are rollbars, safety harnesses, bbk, and race buckets for look only? maybe for a car like yours that is just for cruising. but they are intended as safety for the track. some people actually use their mods they put into their car.

 

subscribing. That's all.

 

FYI, I just picked up a veilside V2 hood (went with the veilside because I didn't like the V3 replica from Seibon with the middle scoop). I opted to get the fiberglass version because I want to paint and hopefully my bodyshop guy can secure it well so I don't need pins.

 

While VS has had their share of hood fitment issues in the past, I give them props on very well built ridgid hoods.

 

do unpainted fiberglass...JDM AS FCK!!!!!!

 

^ lol... or I can just paint the hood, and keep the vents unpainted.

 

i got a cusco hood pin, probably gonna try to do it today. I'll post some pic when i'm done

 

Each manufacturer makes their latches different. So it would be case by case basis I would think. Also, many hoods utilize the factory latch, so it will depend on their mounting bracket.

I have seen hood skins fly off cars before... so in short, if you buy a POS hood, use hood pins.

 

Edited it for ya

I recommend hood pins with any aftermarket hood, its not worth the risk.

 

I beg to differ, but that's ok. That's what forums are for. Opinions.

I won't name which brands, but I have been in the composite manufacturing business long enough to know which hoods I would personally run without hood pins, and which I would not.

Some companies strengthen their mounting points with Kevlar, use aluminum mounting brackets, etc. Some companies, well I do not know what they are thinking...