hoodpins on cf hood

[GTSchris]

i have a fiber images carbon fiber hood and i heard you dont need hoodpins for this hood but i see it move up and down slightly when i drive and i keep thinking one day its just gonna fly up haha

so what kind of hoodpins should i get that wouldnt rust and would look the best or do you think i even need hoodpins?

thanks for any help

[Dasher17]

That happened to me when I had hood pins. They aren't too hard to install, you have to drill into the frame of the car but it's def. DIY.

[neological]

i have a fiber images carbon fiber hood and i heard you dont need hoodpins for this hood but i see it move up and down slightly when i drive and i keep thinking one day its just gonna fly up haha

so what kind of hoodpins should i get that wouldnt rust and would look the best or do you think i even need hoodpins?

thanks for any help

The celica (especially without underpanels) has a remarkable amount of hood lift at high speeds. I would get hood pins if I were you.

[mr johnson]

you don't need hood pins 'til the latch breaks. a lot of mechanics tend to slam hoods, like they were oem, instead of the lower then press techinque necessary with carbon fiber hoods. the latch maybe metal but it's attached to the hood by fiberglass.

cheap hood pins at autozone are less than ten bucks. that's a lot less than having to pay for a new windshield if your latch lock breaks.

[duckguy71]

The same thing would happen with my hood when it was put on. I was scared to go past 60 mph because it would start shaking. The only thing I would recommend if your considering purchasing a set of pins is to look for some that are made of stainless steel or have an anodized coating. Many here bought a cheap set and had them rust in a short period of time. I bought a set of sparco pins on ebay a week after receiving the hood, and they have yet to rust. You also may want to look into aerocatch pins which imho are by far the most asthetically pleasing given that they are fush with the hood. The only downside is that the prices start at about 80 w/o lock and key. Good luck!

[hombredelassrta]

if you dont have a big budget get some REAL sparco pins off ebay. the $10 ones on ebay rust quick and are cheaply made so bend easily. I had spaco on my 1st one but now have Bride latches made by aerocatch. They run around $80-100 but you also have to cut a large hole in the hood.

but either way, it is not worth the risk oh having the hood fly up and cracking the window, it has happened a good number of times in the past to celicas

[Blue Bomber]

you don't need hood pins 'til the latch breaks. :werd:

All non-metal hoods need pins, since the latch is not permantly attached (welded) to them. The latch can separate from the composite material, and then hood meets windshield + roof. :thumbdown

[ekindbest]

All non-metal hoods need pins, since the latch is not permantly attached (welded) to them. The latch can separate from the composite material, and then hood meets windshield + roof.

werd

[drewd]

if you dont have a big budget get some REAL sparco pins off ebay


Meh, mine have little spots of rust on them now. You're just paying for a name and a stamping that says made in Italy which is cool I guess, but really who's going to be looking close enough to notice the "prestige" of sparco hoodpins?

[drewd]

The celica (especially without underpanels) has a remarkable amount of hood lift at high speeds


Interesting. You think that aluminum underpanel would be worth it?

I was thinking of just making my own. Sheet aluminum is TeH cheap and Kamispeed wants something like 200 for the d@mn thing...

[GTSchris]

i do have cheap hoodpins i got for free from a friend but i didnt wanna put them in cuz i think they would rust and it uses rivets to go into the hood and i dont have a rivet gun, but thanks for the input guys

[Blue Bomber]

Interesting. You think that aluminum underpanel would be worth it?

I was thinking of just making my own. Sheet aluminum is TeH cheap and Kamispeed wants something like 200 for the d@mn thing...The C-One/Beatrush underpanel would actually make it worse. The stock underpanels extend up the side of the engine bay to fully seal it, but the aftermarket ones only cover the direct bottom. Unless you cut up your stock panels and attach them to the aftermarket ones, you're getting a lot more air in/out through the sides.

[hombredelassrta]

^^ this is what i have done on the passengerside but it was to keep crap out of the pully area

[h8eternal]

if you dont have a big budget get some REAL sparco pins off ebay. the $10 ones on ebay rust quick and are cheaply made so bend easily. I had spaco on my 1st one but now have Bride latches made by aerocatch. They run around $80-100 but you also have to cut a large hole in the hood.

but either way, it is not worth the risk oh having the hood fly up and cracking the window, it has happened a good number of times in the past to celicas

did you install those yourself?

[hombredelassrta]

myself and justin/lowridercruz (automotive progression) he did the cutting as i didnt trust myself ;)

[h8eternal]

i see, so you basically cut a hole in the shape of the locks into the hood?
where did you mount the pin? same location as the rubber bump stops?

[hombredelassrta]

its easier i think to 1st install the pins then install the locks but yea thats the location. i had my pins alredy in from my otherhoood

[h8eternal]

there is like a mark on the hood and rad support right? you can just drill thru the original holes.
did you remove your hood when installing the pins or leave it on?

[hombredelassrta]

leave it on. somone correct me but how i would do it if i did it again, in the bumper stop cutout area on the frame itself (mark using the area with the plastics on) drill and install the pins. screw it far down to have better accuracy of where the hood will hit. Put a small dab of touchup paint/nail polish at the top of the pin, lower hood down to that point so it marks the hood with the pain. wipe paint off pin so it doesnt stay. Drill though the 1st layer of fiberglass undershell with a wide enough hole that when you lower the pin down it goes into that hole and then will hit the top layer of fiberglass/c.f (hood is made of 2 layers, the bottom skeleton and the top shell) do the paint trick again btu use a tiny bit when drilling from underside on c/f or could cause cracking. Now use progressivly larger bits slowly and drill from the top using that small hole as the marker. each time laying the hood down and seeing it it lines up with the pin. Now that metal frame area that the pin is mounted to is actually bendable so you can push/pull on the pin to alter its direction. Once you get it so that the pin can just stick up through the hole, mount the latch setup. if using sparco you place it on over the hole and drill 3 small holes. For the aerocatch you use the template provided, center it over the new circle, trace on the hood and cut away :)