Hood Pins??

[1moretoy]

Hey all, is it ok to to use hood pins without a latch? I'm trying to make room for my condenser and heat exchanger for the supercharger. It would give me a lot more room switching to hood pins and no latch. I could remove the center bar behind the grill.

Thanks in advance.

 

[6PKRTSE]

Yes, you can. Just have to adjust pins to hold hold down at desired height. However, the pins will hold the hood down and the pins will scuff the chrome round pad over time being adjusted so low. With a latch they are more decorative, and are adjusted higher and don't have to touch the stuff pad.

 

[1moretoy]

Thanks for the quick reply. I may opt for the ring brothers hood pins. Doing this will give me much more flexibility on mounting all the coolers a hellcat requires. I just didn't want the hood to fold in the middle while "cruising" at high speed

 

[ItsJustMe]

Thanks for the quick reply. I may opt for the ring brothers hood pins. Doing this will give me much more flexibility on mounting all the coolers a hellcat requires. I just didn't want the hood to fold in the middle while "cruising" at high speed

As you know, I’m in the same situation. I just ordered the Quik-latch pins. Knowing myself, I’ll take off and forget to put the pins in. I also like the minimalist look.

I’m going to keep the safety latch in place for obvious reasons.

I wish I decided to do this swap in my challenger. There is zero extra room behind the grill for all the extra coolers in a ‘Cuda.

 

[1moretoy]

I can make it fit with the hood latch but in the end I think it would be a cleaner install with it removed. I don't really like the amount I'd have to space the radiator off of the core support.

What are the quick latch pins?

 

[TomIGo]

You can find them at www.quik-latch.com, but they sell them on Amazon and eBay as well. Huge range of pricing, so it is probably wise to be cautious about quality.

 

[1moretoy]

I noticed the price differences last night. Seems like there are a few knockoffs. I like the locking style pins.

 

[TomIGo]

They do look nice!

 

[1moretoy]

This is what I'm trying to package. With the middle support bar it pushes the radiator too far into the engine bay. I was going to use some angle iron to close the sides and mount the radiator to. But it just doesn't look that great to me. I definitely have the room but think it would look cleaner closer to the core support.

 

[Katfish]

Definitely don't need the latch, AAR and T/As never had a latch.
But you do need to be careful, many hoods have flown off when the hood pins were forgotten.

 

[1moretoy]

I removed the center support bar & latch after work today. As you can see it looks much nicer up against the core support. It also gives me better clearance for hose routing. I'll try to come up with something to add a little extra support to the front grill area since I had to remove the extension from the support bar.