Hood mounting

[LS1ow]

So my little build is at the assembly point. Which means body parts must go back on. Some of you may remember i scored a VFN sunoco hood for $100, so now its time to get it mounted.

I ditched all the factory hood latch and safety catch stuff from the start. Before i bought the car home i knew the hood was going to be a pin on style. So lets go over the options.

1. Classic Hood Pins

PRO- Cheapest, simple to install, and i feel they are idiot proof with a minimal chance of failure

CON- This isnt the 70s anymore so they dont look the best.



Aerocatch Hood Pins

PRO-Better Looking, pretty trick set up

CON- Unless you purchase the locking ones(which are even more $) i feel like they can catch enough air under them to open. Maybe im crazy but eh, have to cut out fancy ship in hood.



Dzus Rail

PRO- I think they are the best looking of the bunch, pretty low chance of failure i would think, middle price.

CON- My only gripe with these are install. I dont really feel to good drilling 4 holes in the hood, and then 2 smaller holes next to each larger hole for rivets. And getting everything to line up i would think is a nightmare.






Ive seen a lot of guys run "classic" hood pins with no issues, and i really dont mind running them, but what does everyone think?

[wretched73]

Dzus rails are real race car status and will keep the hood in place the best

- And by keep the hood in place the best I mean while you are driving it shouldn't flex nearly as much as your other options or at all

[BonzoHansen]

Dzus night look real hack, depends on how it comes out.

"i feel like they can catch enough air under them to open" - have you heard of that happening? I know some guys using them and no one mentioned that.

There are modern versions of choice A out there if you search.

[PolarBear]

There are several versions of the Aerocatch latches, all of them are latching, some have keys for the "locking", so I am not sure what you mean. I am thinking about the ones that mount underneath for that flush mount look

[LS1ow]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

There are modern versions of choice A out there if you search.

I saw the "quick latch" ones, and they are $300. So thats out of the question.

Or were you talking about something else?

[LS1ow]

Originally Posted by PolarBear

There are several versions of the Aerocatch latches, all of them are latching, some have keys for the "locking", so I am not sure what you mean. I am thinking about the ones that mount underneath for that flush mount look

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

"i feel like they can catch enough air under them to open" - have you heard of that happening? I know some guys using them and no one mentioned that.

I searched for the past few mins for some examples and it appears the only ones that are blowing open and failing are knock off ones.

[wretched73]

Originally Posted by LS1ow

I searched for the past few mins for some examples and it appears the only ones that are blowing open and failing are knock off ones.

http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/sh...&postcount=354

[LS1ow]

Originally Posted by wretched73

http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/sh...&postcount=354

Clif notes? YellowBullet is blocked on the the work comp

[PolarBear]

this is the response

hatch Quik-Latch update!

Using just the two latches simply wasn't enough, and if you guys remember back to my first race of the season, I had some issues with them not latching in the burnout box. Well I spoke with Quik-latch, and they said it sounds like the internal tolerances opened up (they have a manufacturing spec I won't share, but basically it allows for some lateral movement). Once the tolerances opened up, the retaining balls would no longer hold onto the stud. We talked about using 2 more in the middle, but packaging a mount for the stud looked like more work than I was interested in getting into (though it may have been less work long term than what I ended up doing, lol!). Quik-Latch offered to replace the 2 beat up latches, so I shipped them out Monday. Here's to hoping they honor their lifetime warranty. I could use them somewhere else on the car, or on some other project (they work great on cabinet doors and stuff too!)

I installed some Aerocatch latches over the last 2 days. These are awesome. This is the 4th set I've installed, but the first set I did in a steel panel. They're big bastards, no matter how you look at it. they require huge holes in the hood, and space underneath just for existence sake. Once installed though, they're the best thing since sliced bread. I have about 4 hours total in the install (a solid 45 mins of that last night was talking to Chucky on the phone about his fuel system for the DirtyBird though, lol!!!)

He is using them to hold down the rear deck on a 3rd gen Camaro

[wretched73]

And FYI- This is Matt Walter, Preacher's Kid on YB

[ar0ck]

I am not a fan of DZUS, I have them on one of my motorcycles, personally I'm going with the Aerocatch ones.

[BonzoHansen]

^^^look at the PB fails!

Eddie Motorsports

Hotchkiss

Some other brand i never heard of

Full baller Ring Brothers

[wretched73]

Also notice he has 4 quick latches but added 2 mounts front and center

[BonzoHansen]

so no hinges at all? taking the hood off every time might get old

[sweetbmxrider]

If its a pin on that weighs 5 lbs, who cares. Put it on the roof unless its windy. I'd keep hinges if street hood status.

[LS1ow]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

so no hinges at all? taking the hood off every time might get old

Nah, hinges still there. Just no latching. Front will pin on, rear will mainting normal mounting style.

[LS1ow]

[wretched73]

[Blackbirdws6]

Nice choice.

[ar0ck]

Once you've butchered your car and perfected it, you can do mine.