Safe to use Shine Feed replica hood w/o pins?
 

Was wondering if anyone was, or if it was known if it is safe to use shine autos feed style hood without using aftermarket pins? Ive always been told that with aftermarket fiberglass or CF hoods, the latch attachment point was not strong enough and it was recommended to use pins. Im interested in the hood, but Im not willing to put hood pins on my car. If its not safe to do so Ill just stick with the factory hood.

I think the measure of "safe" is subjective to the owner. Many have used aftermarked CF and FRP hoods with success without pins. Many claim to use pins "just in case" and some claim to use them to stop the hood from lifting at certain points.

If you have air coming into the bay and causing lift on the hood at speed, then I would say yes, use pins for safety. If your hood fits great and you don't see lift at speed then I'd say maybe you are ok and don't need pins.

I don't think you can tell until you get your specific hood. Despite a solid mold and good fitments from Shine, each hood is different, each will have variations in attachment to your FD.

In short, only you can answer this question....but going by numbers, I'd say most use pins despite fitment.

Well Ive noticed even the factory hood "wobbling" a bit at higher speeds. I just dont want to have a suprise latch failure at 120+mph. I can understand your answer, but Im wondering if there is actually a recommendation from the vendors/manufacturers to use them? Ive emailed Ken, waiting for a response.

I think they're recommendation would be to take the safe way out. Use pins, "parts for off road use only" kinda thing

I have had 4 aftermarket hoods, none of them with hood pins without any problems. It definitely moves around at high speeds though.

I thought about developing hidden hood pins that used electro-magnets...

I have the Shine CF Feed hood. It lifts without pins... So for
"just in case" I installed hood pins.

I suggest not using hood pins... That way when you're traveling 100mph + (as if you don't have enough on your mind) you can ponder as to whether or not your hood will fly up and completely obstruct your view of the road; or at the very least rip off and go flying in the air possibly causing other cars to wreck. I hope you're picking up on the sarcasm, because I'm laying on pretty thick. :icon_tup:

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1282536601
This genius decided he didn't need hood pins

http://memimage.cardomain.com/member...18_34_full.jpg
Dzus fastner turned "hood pin"

If you are buying the hood for additional cooling and the weight savings that accompany it for the performance + to go fast, I recommend using hood pins. Aerocatch makes nice ones. If you are a show car fag and bought it just to look cool and putt around town with, don't use pins. But, judging by your signature, you like to go fast, so I DO RECOMMEND using pins just to err on the side of caution.

i have the shine feed replica in fpr. without hood pins or hood struts, it vibrates - a lot. even as slow as 60mph it made me nervous...forget higher speeds. my rule for aftermarket hoods is to always use pins. i just installed some aerocatch and struts and now its ultra stable at any speed.

great idea!!

The only hood i've heard of being "safe" to use w/out pins is the genuine Mazdaspeed CF hood.

I hate the way pins look... maybe i'll ask to get a stronger skeleton on the hood when I order it...

You have to stop and think about what is the latch attached to. Usually fiberglass... and fiberglass not a typical load bearing material.

Hoodpins are a real good idea.

You could get the pins painted/anodized/whatever to match the hood and you will barely see them.

-Taranis

:scratch: How does this affect the strength of the latch precisely?

Attachment 759192

err just stole this from my facebook album and resolution = owned...

anyway, aerocatch FTW. regular pins look like sh*t :lol:

My hood latch just tore off my car the other evening. To say the least it was not a fun experience. I was cruising down the express way 65ish and WHACK. Thank god it didn't brake the windshield. You get my vote for hood pins ;)

yeah aerocatch kick ass. you know you mounted yours backwards though, right? they are supposed to be oriented so that the smaller end is facing forward...

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1282610131

anyway, i have aerocatch latches also, but i installed them as angry eyebrows...lol

installed on my shine feed fpr hood:

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1282610007

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1282610007

lol i know but it doesnt really matters and I've seen many ppl installing them the "wrong way" according to the guide! Maybe they think wind could levitate and break the handle of the actual pin...

I took them thru 280km/h highway runs, drifting nights, auto-x. My hood never moved and the aerocatch were rock solid every single time :)

Personally I do not have an aftermarket hood. I am starting the search... BUT the reality of it is if you really want a fiberglass or cf hood and drive this car the way it was designed to be driven, hood pins are a must. I totally agree with you that hood pins are ugly. But like suggested above, just have them painted to match your hood and it will minimize their appearance as much as possible. It is not worth wrecking the car for dislike of hood pins. Consider them a "Necessary evil"..

are all 4 hoods cf? just curious.. also START MAKING THE MAGNET PINS!! seems like a good idea

electro-magnets sounds like a bad idea extra drain on the battery and they would pick up all the metal shavings if strong enough might even turn the front of ya car into a mini magnet pick up all the little metal crap off the road. :uh:

The reason why hoods fly off at high speed is because of the differences in pressure due to different wind speeds above and below your hood . If you hood is well vented, the opening on the hood will not allow for pressure to buildup. If your hood seems flimsy, it's most likely because your hood bumpers are not adjusted correctly, causing your hood latch to move. Has anyone here on the forum with a well vented hood fly off?

Well, from experience of stupid people, even OEM hoods can go belly up from a good tap,
For the price of hood pins $20-100, would save you a lot in the long run. But for FRP would highly reccomened them. Looks like a wet tissue on the highway.

I've got about 8 years of CF & FG hoods using no pins. Not once have they gone bad.

One FC3S.org CF TII hood
One SexyStyle FG Vent hood

I have seen people forget to put the pins in all the way and destroy a hood and windshield though.

Just look at the framing and thickness of the material around the latch. The sexystyle one is VERY thick. I'd have to crash to tear the latch from it.