HastaLaVista

He answered that in his July 31st post. Put paint on the top of the pins and lower the hood gently till it touches. Anything that could leave a mark would work.

derynf

I see that now, thanks.

darrennye

Steve,

My 06 GT Vert should be here in about a week. I already have a new GTR Ram Air Hood (instead of the California Dreaming Hood) in my garage - which I'll be having installed as soon as the car comes in.

Yours is the best description and looking relating to adding hood pins to the California Dreamin Hood. I'm going to pass your descriptions and pics to my body shop, hoping that will help them.

What I'm not sure, is if the Ford Racing pins will be long enough. If not, I wanted to have those 4"ers from Pep Boys ready for them.

Unfortunately I couldn't find anything at Pep Boys that looked like what you used. Heck I don't even have the Ford Racing Pins yet so I'm not sure what their diameter is either (they should be here in a couple days).

Did you ever get back to Pep Boys to get the manufacturer and part number of the pins you used? Any chance you could let me know what they are this week sometime?

Thank you!

SC67Stang

Pins are P/N 4256
Here is a picture of them.

Steve

Vegasjay

You can also use the 1/2" dia.x 4" long, Moroso pin's from Summit Racing.

darrennye

Steve,

Thanks for your help. I can't believe it - I had those in my hands today but thought they were probably too big. I'll have to swing by tomorrow again.

Pony was born 9/1/05... getting real anxious for her delivery!

pony_up

After reading everyone's write-ups about the hood shake on the CD hood, I was going to put the pins on to play it safe. My wife and I took a weekend trip down toward Philly and with speeds in the 70-80 mph range, there was no hood shake what-so-ever. We still love the look and functionality of the pins so may do it at some point but we also love the clean looks of this hood...

Thanks for the great write up on installing the pins Steve...

backafter20

Big thanks to Steve. My RKS CD hood shakes like a leaf at 65. I am going to try to see if the bodyshop can do some adjusting, especially since one back corner is rubbing anyway, but I'll probably have to add the pins. Your writeup will give me the confidence to do it myself. Is the weight of the front pieces what makes it a 2-man job, or do you just need someone to hold up one end while you attach the other?

derynf

Not to take away from steve on his pin instullation.

I had my body shop lower my latch, adjust the fenders and adjust the hood stops and no my hood doesn't move at all.

I've gotten it over 90 and there is no more fear of it landing on the car behind you. Now I've got a completely clean black car. the only thing shiny on it are the gt emblems, the wheels and the badge.

SC67Stang

Thats good news derynf.
I did lower the latch on mine,adjusted the hood stops and also raised one of the fenders to try and avoid doing the pins, but mine still moved too much for my taste. My latch is so low that it's almost hard to reach.
I had 2 body shops try to adjust it and one other friend of mine that has done alot of body work. I guess it just depends on the fit of the car and the hood.

SC67Stang

The front clip isn't heavy, but it is easier to do with 2 people.
Also it's good to have someone hold the hood when you start drilling the holes in it.
Good luck.

Steve

SC67Stang

Post some pictures. I would love to see what this hood looks like on a yellow Stang.

Steve

derynf

me, too

hippiehead025

Hey man, i have my hoodp ins towards the outside too, and i actually put mine where the bump stop was, and then modded the bumper to slip onto the hood pin, and its the correct height to make the hood align perfectly. - Roger

Burke0011

It sure is.......
Cause then that person can hold the hood while you after the first time you see a drill bit come through the fiberglass.....

I also had the latch lowered and all that but still had the hood shake - thanks to the pins and the insualtion install trick from Steve, I am good to go now.

I also painted the scuff plates and the screws black before intsall so the only real silver part is the pins themselves. I think it looks pretty good. I am real careful taking the pins out but if the plates get scuffed (as they are meant to) a little touch up paint fixes that.

backafter20

The bodyshop couldn't do anything about the hood flex. They say lowering the latch would just put excessive pressure on the fiberglass, requiring me to slam the hood to close it, and they showed me how the corners still flexed even while pushing hard in the center of the hood. I picked up what look like the same pins that Steve got, in stainless steel, but I am nervous about the install. Do I need special drill bits (metal, fiberglass)? Any special tips on drilling fiberglass? Can I take the front end off without special tools? I have your standard sockets and wrenches, but removing the whole front end scares me. :shock: I am not a dumb enthusiast, but not a mechanic, either. How long will this take. I have a car show Saturday that I'd rather not miss, but I can't drive long like this.

derynf

I'm changing my story.

I went on a cruise on Sunday with 4 other mustangs (2-05's, 99 cobra, 03 cobra and an 01 gt). We went through a toll plaza and I got stuck behind granny looking for pennies in the bottom of her hand bag. When I finnally got through there wasn't a black mustang to be seen. so, I floored. (probably my best 1/4mile time). I finally caught up to them, at the time I was doing well into the triple digits and my hood was flexing all over the place.

So, if I'm driving this thing to Vegas for the Bright Lights show Oct 21st I'm going to have to pin it.

Autotooner

I put hood pins on my T'bird last night... does it look ok?

Burke0011

Derynf/Jim,

Lemme give you MY insight.....

I LOVED my hood without the pins - my brother was the same way - wasn't hot on them and wanted to keep the car clean.

WINDY weather and doing 78 on the Xpressway here taught me otherwise......

You gotta consider it.......

Once I resolved myself, my bro and I went ahead and did it (THANKS to Steve and his instructions- yes BOW to the guy cause he is trailblazer on this front! :worship: )

NOW- funny thing is, I actually grew to dig the pins and the look - plus the fact that they WORK certainly goes a long way too right?

After the pin install (taking the front fascia off is actually QUITE easy and detailed in Steve's instructions - no special tools required) the front corners stayed locked down but I noticed a bit of flex in the center portion of the hood up near the windshield due to the lightweight fiberglass - again, thanks to Steve's help, a bit of adhesive insulation from Pep Boys placed in the same spot as the insulation strip on the stock hood and you are good to go!

Hood is solid and locked down AND the filter is breathing better than it did with the stock hood.

Trust me - I wasn't into going this route at ALL at first - but it truly wasn;t overly difficult and once you are done, you will be SO happy......

derynf

I definitly agree. I'd rather have the pins then a complete redo of my cab top, my trunk, a new hood and whomever it might hit behind me.