My body shop simply stated, this hood doesn't have the structural support for hood pins like these and would essentially take away all support and the pins would push in on the hood and eventually crack it...more so sooner than later. I even bought the over the top version with metal plates underneath for even more support like they told me to and still this isn't enough.

I'm curious what this sounds like to you guys. They've had it for nearly 2months and am now telling me (after they originally kept saying no problem no problem) these parts can not be installed. Also looking at dual fans that they just seem to not be able to get done after saying no problem no problem.

I knew I'd have snags and such, but is what I'm hearing true, or just the shop "is sick of this car" and "wants it OUT today".

Let me know guys. I'm looking into another body shop.

P.S. Also if you can, what is the best mounting point for hood pins, I was told more so to the outside of the hood, but I figured more so around 1/4 of the hood inward from the edges. I'm thinking next to the stock bumper area, where there is that flat spot, or maybe the pre-drilled holes a bit more off to the side from that flat spot.

 

AHHH, the body man. No true concept of a time frame. Mine told me "two weeks, if it's the only thing I have to work on" The disclaimer should have given it away. I figured a month, gave him 3. Wound up being 13 months. Dicked me around, never truly finished the job. Parts got damaged in the time it sat there. Overspray and dust everywhere. Going to have to repaint my engine bay because it's so bad. Just can't clay the overspray off in all the intricate curves and around parts. The car looks great, but I curse the guy every day.

 

My mechanic/body guy is super nice and down to earth. I believe the Boss is getting on him since they're "getting busy", the most common excuse a shop gives, so over my head that goes. I'm just curious if this structural integrity problem is true or not with these hoods. As I know many have fiberglass hoods and they're single plane hoods, where mine has the steel skeleton for the hinges, hood latch and the fiberglass overlay.

Why are most shops this way. I even told them they'd have 1 month to do what i needed ahead of time. I gave them another month and here I am 1 week before moving and still the car has barely been worked on.

Let me know guys if there is truth to using Aerocatch pins on these hoods.

 

Do you know the manufacturer? It would help members know what hood you're talking about. Daytona is a style. I would think, and this is pure speculation, (my disclaimer) that with a steel frame you would not need pins. Unless that type of hood is prone to delaminating.
Like I said, I was around the shop here for over a year. I've watched lots of jobs come and go. If you're doing an all over paint job, they all hate them. They prefer a quick flip. Change or repair a fender, door, bumper etc. and paint it, maybe a little blending into adjacent panels. Less man hours involved and therefore more profitable.
Hoods are the worst to work on, because they have to be perfect. Sitting in the car you are at a perfect angle to pick out any flaws, and you are constantly looking over them.
Maybe I know nothing about running a body shop, but the way I see it is if you take a car in there while they're not busy, becoming busy after it being there a while is NO excuse. You take a job on, you do it. Then you work on the next job. I saw a lot of juggling and robbing Peter to pay Paul if you will. (blew through the money for a job then took on another for money to finish it) There will probably be a body man come in and talk about cost of materials, and I get that, but that is built into the price of the job. OK my little rant is over.

 

It's a Hawks Daytona Hood. Daytona/Turbo/IROC Cowl/Ugliest hood ever. I think I got all the names now.

If I can remove the stock latch, that'd be nice. If not, I'd still like the added safety for the just-in-case moment the hood might have that possibility of splitting, it'll have sort of another snag to bite through before the worst happens.

Going into the shop in the morning. Should be picking her up and looking over the install myself. I just can't believe the Boss said "I'm sick of this car." right in front of me, out loud and proud.

Thanks.

 

just did these today on my car. they are not completely done. ill still be using the stock latch.

 

ill be painting them the color of the car

 

I guess everyone has a personal preference, and the ones that don't like something are quick to let it be known, but I personally like the Daytona turbo style hood. Good luck with your body feller.

 

I actually like that hood, I know many don't. I almost bought it, but my body guy said it would need days of work just to get it to fit. 90% of aftermarket hoods (especially fiberglass) need lots of sanding, puttying and sometimes cutting to get to fit correctly. I bought an aftermarket steel hood (from Summit) and it still took him 2 days of work to get it to fit just right.

If they have it fitting right that's a huge bit of work right there. As to hood pins, I thought the reason people put hood pins on fiberglass is because they are not structurally fit enough and might wobble with just the latch. So that part confuses me some there.

Finding the right body guy is harder than a good mechanic. Usually the best body guys take 3-5 x longer than they state, but body work is an art and definitely not a science.

 

heavy_chevy29, would you mind posting under-hood and mounting photos. Please. It looks like I may tackle this job myself in the future, after the move and new garage. I'd like all the reference photos I can get.

Also, any reason you fitted yours with the latches facing the way they are? I once read and was told by Aerocatch they should be installed big end towards the front. I started to see others with them 180*. I'd like mine to have the latches open towards the windshield, so if they do happen to open or were not latched completely, the wind can't get in there as easy and completely unlatch it. Just curious, as I'm, sure it really doesn;t matter much anymore. Thanks again and please if you could, even if in PM, let me get some under-hood photos and some of the mounting area.

Been driving the car the past 2 days and it feels wonderful. After nearly 9 years, yes, I'm very smiley faced.\

Got that right.

 

Exactly my first thought when I saw the way they were installed.

Glad you're rolling again. Damn good feeling isn't it? Mine was parked about the same amount of time.

I demand pics, even if I don't care for the Daytonas!

 

i don't really think there is a right or wrong way to install them. i like having the releases toward the front. im still retaining the stock latch so these are there strictly for back up. also if i had put them the other way it would distribute the load more on the front part of the hood. mounting it the way i did, i feel would distribute the load better. i highly doubt ill ever have any issues with the wind opening them up. its is a drag car only. ive been almost 140mph on just the stock latch with out any issues. ill get some more pics over the weekend. i didnt finish the under side or put the screws in yet.

 

I may try to angle them in the end, but I'll be sure to post when I get this done. Build thread coming soon.

Sounds good, it's why I post here. Solid feedback. No rush. I've reached out to finding out this weekend if I have a body man that can do the job. Otherwise I may become anxious and start the prep myself.

 

I have to pull my pins before I release the stock latch.
That means I walk to the front and pull the pins then walk back and pull the stock latch handle.

That combination creates one strong bond from hood to car.

That's what this thread is about.

Is there to much lift for pins in fiberglass.

Take away the stock "primary" latch and then I can see where there could be a problem.

The mounting holes around the top plate are working against the strength of the fiberglass.

 

My pins are the traditional ones using cotter pins to slide through the top of the post.

I don't think that makes a difference when installing the post in the car so I will add a few photos of where they were installed.

After the posts were installed I placed a small amount of black RTV on top of the post and slowly let the hood down until they barely touched then carefully lifted the hood and there on the bottom of the hood were two small black dots.

Do it several times just to be sure. With my style hole placement is extremely important .

The ones you're installing have a much larger hole.

On my Camaro the holes in the car where the posts are mounted were already there.

If you look at mine those are custom plates on top with no mounting holes. Those plates do not hurt the paint or come off of the car unless I want them to.

Side note =
The large cover over the radiator was only a temporary solution until I could replace it with the proper one.

Honesty I believe your body man does not know where to mount the pins and is clueless to the procedure I have used.
A good bodyman using this tecnec and mounting holes could have it cut out and ready to install the top plate in about 2 hours...or less.
If you look at where the posts come out they are IMO in the perfect spot for my hood.. I don't see why they would not work for yours.

.

 

 

Thanks Ron. That's where I wanted to put them and the "body man" said it was too close to center, they should be further out. You see those 2 holes 1 larger than the other to the right of the driver side bumper? Those were the holes he wanted to use. Well, I may start the process this weekend. I have a bunch of things I need to get done for night driving, first. I'm going to tinker with the hood fitment a bit more, just to get it a little closer to what I feel is fine. I plan to throw this car around a lot, might even bang up the body a bit. So it doesn't have to be 100% exact, just to the naked eye it does. I have 2 small spots on the front fender bumps, where the hood is touching and keeping it from going down into the bumper and fitting flush. I might just grind this area down and use the bumps to even out the spacing on that side.

P.S. Those top plates look nice and thick. Billet? Also, how do they NOT scratch it up, Are they wedged in place?

 

That mounting point looks good . A little wider will be better for a fiberglass hood.

The washers are stainless and have a very thin rubber washer that just happens to be the same exact size as the top washer.

There heald on by a tiny bit of clear RTV and they are on there good and tight.

You take them off by gently twisting them then just peel the RTV off.

The paint looks untouched.

I hated the look of the cheap plates that came with the pins and could not stand the thought of 8 holes drilled into my hood just to hold that gunk plate on.

Sorry that I crowed your thread with my pins.

 

Thanks, thanks and don't be. The pictures provided were beautiful. I'll grab all the information I can from them.

 

sorry for not ready all posts. you can use hood pins on any hood. I use 6 on my lift off hood and no stress cracks yet (been 7 years now) as long as you keep them snug and not super tight you will be fine. ive ran hood pins on all my Camaros with cowl hoods also. if you buy the rod kind like me that uses a slide in pin,i suggest you weld them since after time they do loosen up.

 

ill be honest with you, i used to be a body guy(i would never go back to doing it), but you are over thinking this. it doesn't take a body guy to use a tape measure and drill some holes. the good thing about thse latches is that the cut out is pretty big so there is a little more room for error. just measure everything several time. then look at them and see if you like the way they are. i put the pins next to the bump stops for the hood. if not, adjust them. i used 2 different size hole saws, a hack saw blade and a couple files. its really not that bad. if you still have the original packaging, then you have the templates that have the "cross hairs" for you. i didn't forget, im just not done with them yet. ill have pic after the long weekend for you

 

finished up the install today. hardest part was trimming the underside of the hood so that the retainer plate would fit. i was going to paint them orange like the car but i kind of like them black. i can always paint them later. let me know if there are any specific pics you want.

 

Great photos. That underhood is what I wanted. I'm thinking I'll buy the right angle attachment for my dremel and cut from topside down to keep the opening for the plate and nuts as small as I can. Slowly wideing it from underneath until I can fit whatever socket/wrench I need to tighten the nuts.

Any chance of seeing how close your hood is aligned with the front bumper, where the hood and bumper nearly touch in the center of the bumper, between the headlight buckets. My hood as it is now and nearly perfectly aligned for my taste, sits right on the bumper, almost rubbing, but back about 1/8-1/4" so you can see part of the flat spot of the front bumper. I'll post a picture later today of what I mean, if this wasn't clear enough. It's the last part I really need aligned and would like to see how you guys have yours.
If you look at 'Ron U.S.M.C.', his hood appears to be set back like mine that little bit, and actually sits up, off the bumper.

I'll post later with a picture description.

 

Nice job on those pins.

Heres another photo of the hood.

Its as close as I wanted with the new paint.

 

only one cuestion!! what´s that box in the front?? heavy chevy!!!

 

i run a 4 gal front mount fuel cell. its an alky motor drag car. because its a plastic cell im supposed to have something to protect it. so i build a aluminum box around it