Pin on Vs. Bolt on Hood
 

Im looking at the 3" SS hoods by VFN. I kind of want to get a pin on hood to delete the latch nonsense up front for a custom air box, and its a decent weight difference from the bolt on (~11 lbs.).

Anyway, has anyone had regrets going to a pin on hood for a DD?

Looks like this...
http://www.vfnfiberglass.com/02cuscam.jpg

no stealing

http://static.summitracing.com/globa...e/mrg-1472.jpg

cool for a race car... but for a street car... ehh... do you really want 4 pins sticking out of your hood... kind of an eyesore... but looks cool on a 8 sec race car that getting trailored everywhere... if you catch my drift... other than that though i dont see why it would be a big deal other than youll need 2 people every time you want to pop your hood... unless you dont care about scratching it or your fenders... just some things to think about

Dzus buttons to the rescue, but you still will need an extra set of hands to get the hood off. Do people really steal hoods and stuff anymore? I thought they just took the whole damn car?

i'd do a pin on, wouldn't do it myself though.

arent pin ons a lil cheaper?...id do it i think they look sick

Pin on can get real old fast. 4th gen hoods aren't that big so you can probably take it on & off yourself w/o issue, but still, one slip and something is getting scratched. You can find 11 pounds somewhere else.

Or just make more HP. :)

thats where im lucky cause my paint looks like **** so it doesnt matter if it wood get scratched lol....and im broke as **** so i take weight out rather than make more power....poor mans way to go faster imo

But KirkEvil's car is nice.

You need to hear his big plan for that area... he wants to ditch the latch badly... :wink:

The weight wasnt really that big of a deal. Personally I like the bolt on hood because it is structurally braced better. My main concern is to get rid of the latch assembly to build an air box.

I guess my new question should be how hard is it to modify a bolt on hood to attach with hood pins in the front only? Do pin on hoods come with the pin holes pre-drilled?

Probably not, I've never seen one pre-drilled. But maybe.

Do pin on hoods have extra bracing around where the pin holes should be drilled?

Not really sure, you might need to contact manufacturers. None of them are real strong (not the ones I've seen). They aren't really made for DD use.

my brothers hood on his beater stopped opening so he put pins in the front of his stock hood and they supposedly work good

Its not hard to drill through a stock metal hood. Drilling holes in fiberglass is what Im concerned with.

Easy enough, sharp bit, and a steady hand.

I wouldnt do pin on... just my opinion.

plenty of guys put pin ons on stock hoods. go to a car show.

If the pin on will help you obtain your goal for an airbox, go for it. So what its your DD, how many times do you actually pop your hood? Unless you are having car troubles in which case I would fix those before buying a hood! I have a pin on and can man it by myself no problem and if your body lines are good you shouldnt have any problems worrying about scratching your fenders. I have had both and I didnt mind either one, pin ons are better for when you need to work on your car and normally that happens at home or at the track. As far as security, those locks you posted will do fine, besides if someone wants to steal something bad enough it doesnt matter if its bolted or pinned on.

Issue I can think of:

SOME pin-ons are pretty thin and you need two people to remove them or they'll flex so bad you crack/peel the paint off.

Then you have to worry about what to do with the hood off, put it on the roof of the car? have to worry about scratching the paint or chiping the corners of the hood ect.

So I guess it depends on how carefull you can be?

If using bolt on, everyone recommends removing the hood struts because they can cause stress cracks, dents, and bends in the hood, reguardless how strong or weak they are. Just an FYI.

:werd: +1

Have a pin on hood on my racecar. Would NOT recommend it for a DD. If you need to pop your hood on side of the road it's pretty difficult to do alone without screwing it up.

Why not do the bolt on but put hood pins in the front corners so you can get rid of the latch like you want to. The GM fiberglass crossram hood for my 69 is actually built for the hinges and has the holes to pin it up front in the corners. The biggest risk is if it flies open because a pin comes out or breaks.