How to attach fiberglass hood

-
RockinRobin

RockinRobin

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 15, 2013
Messages
1,251
Reaction score
911
Location
Corsicana, Tx
Thinking about switching to fiberglass hood this winter. What is the easiest way to secure it to the car? Dzus? Hood pins? Looking for no weld installation.
 
RockinRobin said:
Thinking about switching to fiberglass hood this winter. What is the easiest way to secure it to the car? Dzus? Hood pins? Looking for no weld installation.
Click to expand...
Easiest is pin it, Dzus a bit more planning & welding
Also, I'm not sure the weight difference between bolt on type but you could remove the springs behind the fender and drill out some cool race car holes in the hinges and it will make things a bit easier as you can still pin it but you won't have to stress about lining up or welding rear pin mounts, plus you can easily lift the hood up by yourself
 
Last edited:
If your fiberglass hood is more “robust” we got away with four pins at the corners, which simply required drilling holes. I later went to a lightweight race hood (1/2 the weight of the old one) and have 8 points of attachment with that one. That deal required welding some tabs for the additional mounting points. Originally on the lightweight hood we ran Quik Latches which were great looking, but a pita to set up and align. I just recently chit canned them and now have ugly pins again…. but its so much easier!

IMG_4583.jpeg
 
A body said:
If your fiberglass hood is more “robust” we got away with four pins at the corners, which simply required drilling holes. I later went to a lightweight race hood (1/2 the weight of the old one) and have 8 points of attachment with that one. That deal required welding some tabs for the additional mounting points. Originally on the lightweight hood we ran Quik Latches which were great looking, but a pita to set up and align. I just recently chit canned them and now have ugly pins again…. but its so much easier!

View attachment 1716147546
Click to expand...

Where did you get your hood?
 
Why not use a bolt on?

Pin on hoods on anything other than a race car with a pin on nose as well never made any sense to me, but neither does life since 2020, so......
 
roccodart440 said:
Why not use a bolt on?

Pin on hoods on anything other than a race car with a pin on nose as well never made any sense to me, but neither does life since 2020, so......
Click to expand...
Agree ,^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ especially in narrow garage , where to put it is a pain ,especially in a narrow garage ,16x38 .
I started to build a ''race'' street car , hence the lift off hood , am now looking at diff. hinges to I may adapt to it , racing days are pretty much over now...
 
I have a fiberglass lift off hood with 7 pins on my street car. Hood is from Sled City. I love being able to easily remove it to work on anything. Occasionally a PITA when it is on the roof on a windy day, but tuning days, leave it off in the garage and work away. The front center is thru the core support, front sides bolt into inner fender mount hole, back rear a tab welded on the J Bar.

20221120_224650.jpg


20221120_225316.jpg
 
I use a bolt on hood with light weight springs and pins in the front.

IMG_0037.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Heavy weight glass street car hinges and pins in front.
Race weight equals all pins
 
Four pins on my A12, stock, but a very heavy duty glass hood.
Four pins on my Cortina, on a gutted steel hood with a scoop. Worked fine.
No hood on my Opel, won't clear the valve covers.
Imo, A-body nailed it. A heavy street weight glass hood can use four pins. A race weight hood needs more pins, more dzus fasteners, or whatever it takes to hold it on. A hinged glass hood, can sometimes use stock latching mechanism, sometimes needs two pins, and either lighter springs or a pin thru the hinge to hold it open. (That's what a friend did with his Fairlane, and another friend did with his 351 pinto)
Personally, if I'm getting a glass hood, I wanna save all the weight I can, and I don't want dzus fasteners, so..... as many pins as it takes to hold my lift-off.
 
roccodart440 said:
Why not use a bolt on?

Pin on hoods on anything other than a race car with a pin on nose as well never made any sense to me, but neither does life since 2020, so......
Click to expand...
I broke the hood hinges about 2 months ago, So I've been racing with no hood, which weighed about 75 lbs. It might be coincidence, but E.T. picked up significantly. Might be weight, might be breathing better, might be both, don't really know. There's gotta be some wind drag though with no hood.
 
In your case, considering a race car, I'd run a race-weight hood, four pins on the corners, one more pin in the center front, one in the center rear if the scoop isn't in the way, one pin on each side of the scoop if it is in the way.
(And don't ever forget to put the pins back in after opening the hood. Double check before every pass.)
 
Dzus fasteners is all I have ever used, regretfully. Always a "come loose" culprit. Probably my fault on install... Had track officials twist the "pop ups" before entry to staging lanes. Had the hood partially let go mid qtr mile as well. I never lost it but very notable. : ) To be safe after that I used a small strip of duct tape over the fastener so I could concentrate on the drag race with no worries. After that, always thought I should have pinned it.
 
I have Herb Beer modified springs on the stock hinges with the latch, safety catch and two hood pins. The 6 barrel style hood weighs maybe 25 lbs. Much faster to pop the bonnet if I have to check something in the lanes, etc.

FB_IMG_1695615466400.jpg
 
RockinRobin said:
I broke the hood hinges about 2 months ago, So I've been racing with no hood, which weighed about 75 lbs. It might be coincidence, but E.T. picked up significantly. Might be weight, might be breathing better, might be both, don't really know. There's gotta be some wind drag though with no hood.
Click to expand...
Did you figure out who you're going to buy from ?
 
Never heard of Glory Days. They may be great. Just be Careful. if you are not familiar with them do some research. Don't just go for the cheapest price.
 
RockinRobin said:
I broke the hood hinges about 2 months ago, So I've been racing with no hood, which weighed about 75 lbs. It might be coincidence, but E.T. picked up significantly. Might be weight, might be breathing better, might be both, don't really know. There's gotta be some wind drag though with no hood.
Click to expand...
The claim has always been (at least that's the way I heard it) a tenth for a hundred pounds. So theoretically, you should have picked up . 075. More than that, maybe due to more cold air. Less than that, maybe look at your mph, drag from not having a hood might show up there.
(I'm curious what "significantly" is?)
Edit: did they make you run something over the carb? I was told that since I also run with no hood, I have to run an aircleaner or scoop or something, assuming for a carb backfire, I guess.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top