I'm about to put a fiberglass hood on my car, and I think I need hood pins. The left rear corner of the hood won't sit flush, and both corners vibrate at high speed (normal for composite hoods). I use the car as a weekend driver and for track days.

There are a lot of different hood pins available. Which style do you like best? Please explain if your selection is based on looks, performance, past experience, etc.

 

i think the locking looks the cleanest out of all of those but i do not think you need hood pins since it releases from the firewall side.

 

biggest problem with the normal ones is that there is no place to put the hood pins when you open the hood!

something captive is good just for that reason

 

I agree. Some of the muscle car crowd uses lanyards to keep from losing their hood pins, but I think a captive design makes more sense.

Need more input -- anybody else?

 

Those Aero Catch ones are interesting looking... Though I think Captive would be best, locking if you really don't trust people.

 

Use a piece of hose and a washer to set the height of the hood on the pin, that will control the flapping.

 

I don't like the look, so if it was necessary I would want the look as discreet as possible.

 

now that i look at it,my favorite is the captive sparco one, they are kinda busy on the hood though

 

AeroCatch are the best choice seeing as they flush mount and they also have a locking model. and they work very very well.

 

Thanks for the input -- I'm leaning towards AeroCatch. Anybody have any first-hand experience? I'm always concerned about the long-term durability of plastic.

 

that's not a bad chocie

 

I personally like the earo ones also, i have seen them on the track on some cars and look good. The other ones look a bit more a jimmy fix.


I would personally get the locking aero ones as you know there will probably be some little ***** thats going to pull your pins out or something stupid.

 

also the AeroCatch where made for use on airplanes 1st

 

Yes -- I was thinking the locking version would be the way to go. The nice thing about them is you have the option to lock or not. If you don't, they function like the non-locking version.

 

Thanks everybody for your ballots and advice. I'm going to give the locking AeroCatch a try.

BTW -- AeroCatch was the winner, with 10 out of 19 votes; next was Captive with 4 out of 19.

 

I voted quick release for no reason. Aerocatch ftw.

 

i would say aerocatch is the best choice, but i would stick to regular hood pins