Shopping for some hood pins. I am trimming the fat on the underside of my hood (the bracing) so I must run pins. This is to cut weight obviously, not for "looks"...

This is for a track/street car. Two options here...

1) Remove stock latch system and run something like these (any experience with these kind of pins). This would allow me to remove the stock latch and still lock the hood if I'm driving on the street.

NRG HOOD LOCK PINS/PIN KIT REAL BLACK CARBON FIBER NEW : eBay Motors (item 280299438916 end time Apr-29-10 00:46:57 PDT)

2) Go the more conventional way and run real "pins".. I would like to remove my latch system to take some weight off, but again.. it's a street car as well and I don't want anyone to be able to just go into my engine bay.

Aluminum Hood Pin Kit 1/2" Pin Black IMCA Circle Track : eBay Motors (item 350332763556 end time Apr-23-10 21:55:08 PDT)


What would you do?

 

i have pins on my car,on the street,and No one has ever touched them.
(G)

 

I may go for the sparco ones. With the sliding pin...

 

I made my own,way cheep...like $3 in Materials-4hrs time.
(G)

 

meh... I'm all about easy. I'll pay an extra $10 to have them made already... lol

 

See if you can get miata2fast to tell you where he bought his. They are lightweight and much better looking than those oldschool ones.

My buddy just got some really nice looking ones for his CF hood on his 350z. I'll see if I can find them. Much better looking than the ones you linked.

 

You could always run the AeroCatch latches if you are worried about security... They have a locking mechanism in one of their models. They are a little pricey however if you are on the cheap. Are you only pinning the front or entire hood?

 

AeroCatch® - new design of bonnet pin, available in locking or non-locking versions – see how it works.........

Because hustler and I are ballerz

 

The key here is functional and cheap guys...

lol.

 

Functional and cheep, look at our lemons car! Find yourself some 3/4" all thread and drill some holes, weld all thread to radiator support than drill some holes and get a couple of clips off a trailer hitch...done!

 

Haha... well, not that cheap. They have to look somewhat nice.

I`m just not down for paying for aerocatch or anything silly like that. Those are overkill and for the most part street cars and show cars.

 

Don't be a hater!

 

On the cheap I would do it lemons style. But really I want the security and the flush of the aerocatch.

 

Then just get a set of regular hood pins that suit your style... Done.

 

I did the $12 summit racing ones, on the inside of the headlights. You'll have to take out the rubber stopers and drill the holes out a bit. The rivet in the back of the channel is a bitch to get to. Put a small metal bead (as in jewlery bead) on the rivet so it'll reach down there, or go from the bottom if you have the room. Get a set with as much aluminum as possible so it won't rust. Unfortunetly my pins are steel amd have rusted. Meh.

 

Oh, and don't forget the latch system weighs next to nothing. I got rid of it for my intercooler setup, not for weight savings.

 

Sparcos ftw. Mine are going on when body works gettin done if theres a spot to mount the dam bolt :S

 

I just bought the Mr Gasket (or whatever brand they are) hood pins sold at the local parts store (Advanced Auto). They were cheap and made from SS. I mounted them where the rubber stops are located just behind the head lights (NA). Perfect Spot.

I drilled a hole in the center of the existing stops and slid them over the pins. Works great, tested to 130+ MPH (never mind where ) with no problems.

These...
http://www.mr-gasket.com/ProductDeta...ch=hood%20pins

 

I got mine from Autozone. Very cheap, light weight, and fuctional. You want to make sure that the stud is aluminum, some cheapies come with steel studs which will make you have aids.

I like the baller Aerocatch latches.

I do not recommend cutting the bracing on the factory aluminum hood. The net gain you get is not worth the sacrifice. I am all about radical weight savings, but having a floppy flimsy hood sucks. You can find all kinds of weight savings, and still have a car that looks good and is not a rattle can.

 

+1

What I did, and works great.