[gills99stang]

Originally Posted by BWAL09 Originally Posted by gills99stang Thanks... I just wish someone that did this for the '99-'04's would post something. ask matrixpubes (matrixpuba) i know he has hoodpins on his new edge

Yeah, he gave me some help and pointers on the install... I pretty much finished it up last night, all except for the hood pins. They aren't high enough when bolted in, so I'm going to get them welded in tomorrow morning, with a nut on the base. I might do a write-up when it's all said and done so all the '99-'04 guys have a good source of info for this instead of searching everywhere and asking people.

[TheUNZippee!]

Mike, sorry I haven't got the pics up yet. Had a busy day trying to get the lawn cut, blowing up the lawnmower, cruising around, and yadda yadda yadda. I'll snap the pics in the morning and toss em up here.

[TheUNZippee!]

All righty then. Here's a little help tut I'm passing on from NamelessLiar on the FRPP hood pins.

Just so those interested know, there are actual brackets that go under the radiator saddle brackets for the proper install of these. If you're interested, check out the kit used on the Shelby cars, here.

Unfortunately, they've changed the website, and don't show the brackets for the pins, but it's kind of an elephant ear shaped bracket, with two holes on the wide end and one on the thinner end. The two holes go under the rad bracket, and then you would cut a slot in the front edge of the plastic rad cover for that bracket to stick through. The pins would then mount in the single hole that sticks out that slot.

Anyweighs. Hear is how two install them if you want the FRPP pins and don't like the idea of a bracket sticking out of a slot in your rad cover.

Keep in mind, I don't think you can use the factory hood prop rod with the hood pins in this location. I already have the Redline tuning hood quicklift kit on mine, so this wasn't an issue. Check out that kit here if you're interested.

Position one pin just to one side of the rad cover. Once you have that one marked, simply make the other side the same distance. Mine look like this:



Now pull the rad cover. Just pull the black pins out with a flathead screwdriver, and the cover lifts right off. Note that the front lip of this cover sits in a slot in the top edge of the grill, and helps hold it in place. Make sure it goes on the same way.

Once the cover is off, you can drill the two main holes you have marked for the pins. Now the fun begins.
Note: this is a ZERO beer job!! lol

The tricky part is getting the bottom nut on to the hood pin. On mine, I also had to leave the bottom washer off so I had enough height on the pin when it exits the hood. In the following pictures, you will see two holes on the top of the rad support that I numbered. I hogged out a hole with a small grinder wheel in a drill bit, making the holes you see in both numbers 2, which used to look like hole 1. See:




The larger hole is covered by the rad cover and you won't see it. This enables you to work with the nut. I did mine with a friend at his shop, and he has an arc welder. If you have, or can get use of one, this is good. We tacked a welding rod on to the bottom nut, and used the rod to position the nut through that hogged out hole. mmmmm...hogged out hole.....mmm....ohhh yea- oops, where was I. Oh yeah. Position the bottom nut, minus the washer, spin the top nut on to the hood pin, and thread the hood pin through the bottom nut. Snug the pin down. This next step now, is for me, the trickiest part. Once you have both pins snug, it's time to mark the holes on the hood. So take your time, and MAKE SURE both pins are even and aligned properly, as it is very easy to move the pins laterally, as they only provide vertical support for the hood, not lateral support. Just move them around until they are both straight and even with the other.

Once you are ready, remove the insulation cover from the bottom of the hood. Now we will mark the hole location on the bottom of the hood. I placed a small...note: SMALL dab of red silicon on the very tip of each hood pin. Then I gently lowered the hood, touching the bottom of the hood to the tip of the pin. This made a mark of silcon on each side of the hood, with a small dot in the center of each silicon mark that the tip of the hood pin made. This is your drilling location. Now comes the time to pray, if you're so inclined. lol
I started off with a small drill bit, 1/8", to make a pilot hole. Then I used a step bit, and carefully worked my way through both layers of hood, from the bottom. Keep in mind that there are two layers of hood, so don't get all Hulk Hogan on the drill and press too hard on the bit, just take your time. Keep that two layer thing in mind as the bit is about to break through the first layer of hood and hit the top layer. Wait - what's a step bit you say? One of these deals:

Do yourself a favor, don't cheap out on this little sucker, get a good one.
Drill the hood hole the same diameter as the hole in the top stainless plate of the pin kit.

Once you have both hood holes made, it's time to attach the plate hardware. I went to Home Depot, and bought some stainless machine bolts, nuts, & lock washers, as the stainless screws in the kit aren't nearly long enough to do the job. Just like my penis. :sad:

Here's how my bottom plate looks when installed:



As far as aligning them, just take your time positioning the top stainless plate, so that it looks proper. You don't want it sitting all cockeyed with the screws off kilter. I positioned one by eye, and then simply used a tape measure to measure from two of the holes over to a crease in the hood, and then placed the other top plate the same distance. Again, measure, measure, and take your time eyeballing it. Then measure some more. We also put a rubber grommet in the hole, and I used my touch up paint to cover up the bare metal edges in the hood holes. It's tough to see without really looking, as the sun is really bright this morning, but if you look close at the picture of the bottom hood bracket, you can see the grommet there. Just work the proper size one in to the hole. (I can't remember the actual size we used, sorry man)

Once you have the top hood plates properly positioned, mark the 4 holes in each plate, and drill, this time from the top down. What can I say here. Use a VERY sharp bit here, and be VERY fucking careful. lol
After the holes are done, position the brackets, drop the bolts/screws through, and put em all together. One thing I would suggest, that we didn't do with mine, and I am going to do, is to fill the gap between the two layers of hood somehow. This is because when you tighten the hardware, and adjust the pins for proper tightness so that they are actually holding the hood down, it will slightly pull the top layer of hood down due to the gap between the two layers. I have yet to come up with an idea to fill that little gap, and if you get one, lemme know. lol

Once you have the hood pin plate hardware all snugged up, it's time to adjust the tightness of the pins. This is a matter of closing the hood, putting the clips in the pins, and seeing how it feels. You should have to push down on the hood slightly, say with one thumb on the top plate, to insert/remove the clips. Obviously, you don't want the clips sliding around in the pin hole. Just adjust the tightness by backing off the main nuts on the pins, and threading the pin up or down. Use a screwdriver, or anything else you can get through the hole you hogged out to hold the bottom nut in place as you tighten/loosen the top nut on the pin.

Once that is all done, all you need to do is put the hood insulation cover on, mark the holes for the pins, and then make the holes in the cover.

It's up to you whether or not you want to use the lanyards on yours. I personally didn't like the look of them, so I left them off mine. If I've left something out, or you have another question, or I didn't explain something well, feel free to hit me up again.

Voila, hood pins:

[06RedfireGT]

good right up Zip

[TheUNZippee!]

thanks bro

[stanglifemike]

Very nice Zip, thanks man. I think I might do this soon. I saw a car once with pins(I'm gonna try to explain this, but I have no idea what I'm saying) that had a circle loop that popped over the pin and locked in place around the pin. Looked nice and clean, and eliminated the need for the lanyards

[TheUNZippee!]

My pleasure, Mike

With these pins, one doesn't need lanyards. They are merely a dress up item, although I guess one could say they serve a purpose in that they could keep you from losing the pins. Personally, I don't like the look of them, and I like taking the pins right out and keeping them in my pocket before sending the car in for service, eliminating the chance of an oil jockey scratching the hood with the pins.

Here's another style of hood pins, also from Shelby: Click Meh! I'm guessing these could also be used without the lanyards.

[07gtmustang]

can the pin be put of to the sides of the body lines like the orange one at the top

[TheUNZippee!]

Yes.

[07gtmustang]

I like the pins zippe have you had any rusting problems you drive rain snow whatever comes your way right

[TheUNZippee!]

The rings on the pins will rust if you don't take care of them, yes. But they're stainless, and they clean up nice & easy.

Nah, I don't drive it in the winter, I use an old pos for a winter beater, and the Stang gets put away come winter up here:

[07gtmustang]

nice I like the windows zip lol

[TheUNZippee!]

lol thanks. That way I get to stare at what I can't drive all winter. *cries*

[07gtmustang]

I know how that goes but you can start it up every weekend and listen to her though

[TheUNZippee!]

lol yeah. I actually start it every 2 weeks in the winter, and once a month or so I crawl her down 2 blocks to the gas station and throw 10 bucks of fresh 91 octane in her.