Hood Pins?

I left my lanyards off, Kemp, for a couple of reasons.

One, I have a bug deflector on my car as I commute 240 miles one way on the highway to work every week. So I didn't feel the lanyards would look right with them, and would in fact make the bug deflector stick out even more.

Two, I was also wary of the lanyards scratching the paint, although I have not yet seen another member speak to this problem.

Three, I like the ability to pull my pins out and stick them in my pocket when the car goes in for work anywhere, thus reducing the chances of a drunk/stoned/maniacal/schizo mechanic accidentally scratching my hood when taking the pins out or putting them in. Just the thought of them even putting their digits on my paint to put them in makes me shudder. (When installed & adjusted correctly, you have to push down on the hood slightly to get the cotter in through the pin; that's what holds the hood down firmly) If that makes me anal, than call me Captain Anal Pants, but the hair stands up on the back of my neck if someone even touches my paint. lol

Kemp"Da_Chit"08GT said:

I hear you there. So you actually have functioning pins? I was only thinking about getting the ones for the appearance. But since you have real ones, how hard were they to install? Just some drilling?

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I do indeed have functional pins. My hood was flapping at the corners when I pushed it over 90 mph, and it was real ugly when I buried the needle. Uhhh, I mean it would be real ugly if I were ever to go that fast. Heh.

Anyway, yes I went with the functioning pins from Ford Racing. There are also a few other cool options out there besides the basic, stainless pin look.

Difficulty of install? I wouldn't call it difficult. A little tedious, as you want to make sure you measure 3259324 times before you start drilling holes in your hood. It's definitely a 0 beers job. lol

It also depends on the kit you purchase. Some kits come with a flat bracket that bolts to the factory rad support bolt holes, and the pin then bolts to that bracket. The FRPP pins I purchased, and some others, do not come with a bracket. So I wound up augering out one of the factory holes, underneath the plastic rad support cover. I then drilled a hole in the top of the rad support, just off to each side of said plastic cover. I utilized the augered out hole to work the bottom mounting nut over to the bottom of the pin. Once the pins were installed and straight, I took the insulating blanket off from the underside of the hood. I put a small dab of red silicon on the tip of each pin, and gently closed the hood, just touching it to the pins. That gave me my location for where to drill.

The rest is measuring, marking, drilling, and adjusting.

If you decide to go with them, myself or NamelessLiar can give you pictures ad more detail on how to do the install.

Of course, as I say, some kits come more well packaged with better brackets and instructions.

Just keep the beers put away until the drill is unplugged and the screwdrivers are in the tool box. lol