when do hood pins become a "must-have"? i have read about some people not liking them, so they dont have them. i have also read about people putting them on anyways and having cracking problems with their nice expensive CF hoods. so my question, which i couldnt find the answer to by searching, is when do hood pins become a necessity?
when you put them on, is there a way to prevent cracking?
are locking hood pins actually good for something, or are they almost completely for self-assurance?
if you have a thread that i missed, please post it

 

I say you don't need'em. I had a knightsport cf hood and have taken my FD up to 120mph with no problems whatsoever.

Contrarians, please chime in

 

anyone else?

 

I think the hood pin thing is when you have a CF hood, the skeleton *could* seperate, depending on the quality of the hood and how fast you drive and how rough you are with the hood.

Sometimes the fitment isnt quite "oem" on the cheaper ones leaving slight uneven areas along the front of the hood when closed thus vibration at high speed.

 

Search? Necessary.

 

I don't really care for the look of hood pins, but I strongly believe that they are necessary. I've seen quite a few post on here dealing with CF hoods flying up and smashing the windshield/roofline. Usually only the hood is damaged, but the CF finish is very hard to repair correctly.

 

i said i searched and couldnt find anything that answered my question. now if you ca find me a thread with the answer or that question in it, be my guest. dont try to insult me by telling me to search when i posted in my first post that i searched and couldnt find an answer and to point me in the right direction if i missed something.

 

If you are routinely doing VERY high speed stuff (well over 100mph, hopefully on a track) it's a good idea to get hood pins. Most people get hood pins because they look cool, IMHO.

If you do go with hood pins, do NOT remove the factory hood latch. EVERY SINGLE PERSON I know of with hood pins who removed the factory latch forgot to reinstall the pins and some point, the hood flew up, and it destroyed the hood, sometimes the windshield and the top of the car. Hood pins should always be a supplement to, not a replacement for, the stock hood latch. Remember, a hood flying up isn't just damage to the car, the hood will keep you from *seeing* which could be the difference between having a wreck and getting home safely. BIG safety issue there.

Dale

 

The Stock Hood (Aliminium) Has more weight, and more structual integrity than CF, or FG .... I didn't like hood pins either, but sooner or later I decided that at 80 mph I would see the hoos flutter, and I wasn't 100% sure that the stock latch on the FG hood would hold should there be an unusual gust of air... so I opted, for the hood locks. they have a Round Disc, and a barrel style key. Which also worked well, since Nobody could just pop the hood, they had to have the key.... and they looked better IMHO

Bottom Line, it's a peace of mind kind of thing...


Kind of like this, but mine were just silver.... sans rice...

 

I would say necessary for safety. Cracking would most likely have to do with improper drilling/install, or too tight/too loose.

I used to have a KS cf replica and I didn't use hood pins, BUT it would only take 1 instance to make me wish I had them on from the beginning. My stock latch loop was reinforced, but I dunno if they all are (or even have the loop).

For something that costs less than the price of a tank of gas (sparco hood pins = ~$25), do it just to be safe

 

Here ya go:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ight=hood+pins

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ight=hood+pins

In short, while some ppl think they can get away w/ it, I personally don't think that's a smart approach. Just like DCrosby said, I've seen how much my CF hood flutters at 80mph and above, and mine has virtually perfect fitment, and uses the stock latch very well (it's a VIS CF hood). WITH the hoodpins, my hood still raises from the edges at least a good half inch, if not more.

When you're going really fast, you would be surprised at how much air is entering the engine bay via the front air dam. Sure, a (functional) vented hood should allow this air to escape, thereby reducing lift on the underside of the hood (which is what you'll see as people referring to *functional* vented hoods creating downforce), but there's still a considerable amount of lift being applied to the hood. Leaving the entire hood (which is very light to begin w/) to be stressed from a single locking point (the stock latch) just isn't smart. It is entirely possible that the area around the stock latch can break, and the rest of the hood can come flying up. If that doesn't scare ya, I dunno what would.

IIRC, I've seen GT cars running FOUR hood pins on their CF hoods. That kinda tells me something...

 

thank you FDNewbie and everyone else for the helpful posts.