Well searching revealed **** all about this for me so here goes.

A harwood 4" cowl hood is going to run me $900 for the bolt on and $600 for the lift off style through local sources.

Are pin on hoods a real pain in the ****? How hard is it to mount the pins?

 

Many prefer pin-on for easy access to the rear and for engine swaps. Of course it takes maybe 2 minutes to take off of a bolt on hood. I hear pin on rattle around more than bolt on but I've no experience with it, just from what I hear from friends.

 

If you're doing nothing but racing then yes, pin-on is the way to go, lighter (less bracketry) and more access to ****. If you're putting this on your driver then get a bolt on. Trust me it's worth it

 

I say bolt on. It is stronger. a lot stronger. And where the heck did you get your price quotes from? A Harwood bolt on cowl hood shouldnt cost anything over $600 at the most. I paid $550 from my local speed shop and Im sure he made money on it. I would not buy online since shipping will kill ya and if its broke then you gotta send it back and wait a week or so.

If you like the look of hood pins on your hood then you can still put them on a bolt on hood.

 

I would agree about bolt-ons. Just make sure that if you're replacing a steel hood with fiberglass you use very weak struts to take off the strain.

 

I'm sure the prices he quoted were in Canadian dollars.

Definitely go with a bolt-on unless it's a race car. A pin-on hood is also a real PITA if you have nice paint (because where do you put it when you take it off? Usually on the roof of the car).

 

I wonder if the fitting tolerances of the lift of hood are as close as the bolt on hood?

 

Yes my quotes are canadian $$, they still suck *** though...

Alright, i guess ill save up for the bolt on hood then.

 

If you go with fiberglass hoods that bolt on then use the Strong Arm struts #BK-819-5280 these are for glass hoods and the original plastic hoods that came on the 82-84 Z-28's.. I have the Unlimited Products glass 2 1/2" cowl hood that is bolt on..

 

a lift off hood is a big pain the the ***.i'm a fairly big guy 6'2" 300lbs so i could get it off and on with not that much of a problem.it a good thing i allready needed a paint job because every once and a while a strong gust of wind would kick up or my hand slipped and it would fall down onto the fenders which left scratches.