I just thought of another important question. Once I get the pins installed, how will I close the hood? My hood is so light right now that I have to drop it from about 2 feet for it to latch properly. Once I put those pins on, I don't think I'll want to risk dropping it from that high or the pins may not be perfectly aligned and damage the under side of the hood. Is there a way to disable the latch once I put pins on? Will I still need the latch once I put pins on? Does anyone else have this problem?

 

Very good question and I'm glad you asked. I NEVER drop my hood to close it, what I do is just lower the hood all the way down where its just sitting on top of the hood latch and then I just gentility press down on the hood center right over where the hood latch is and it locks into place.

 

Exactly!!! Looking good B.

 

i cant drop my hood cause of hood struts, so i just lower it to where the hood and latch meet as said by cutterwolf, since my scoops are more foreward then your guys i just press down on the bridge of the nose between my 2 scoops, works fine, i wouldnt want to drop a fiberglass hood. youl get the hang of it. and i dont think cutterwolf mentioned it, but yes, you do need your original hood latch, the hood pins are more your backup, the original latch should be the main support keeping it down...

On a side note, when you install your pins, make sure when you open and close your hood, you ALWAYS take the pins off first, before you pull the latch release.

ontop of that, you may notice that on the pins themself, how the ring around it sort of snaps open and snaps down, i was told by numerous people that if you are constantly opening the pin ring all the way, you will wear it out until they become loose and no longer stay down, so when you take the pins out, only open the ring so you have enough clearance to pull the pin out of the hole without completley putting the circle ring back. Im not sure if that was clear or not, i dont know how to explain it in any other ways, sorry if this was confusing.

 

I installed my pins in the outer bump stop holes, it wasn't easy and time consuming but I'm happy with the results. I used cut down sway bar bushings as my new bump stops. I installed the flat stainless steel scuff plates so I could bend them to fit the hood contour. The stainless scuff plate really do get scuffed btw.

I also adjusted the hood latch mechanism, there are two bolts and the latch has slotted holes, so my hood would latch easier. I can drop my hood from a little more than a foot and it latches. It is also much easier to press shut.