well i have heard alot of varying arguments back and forth for it but i still really can't decide. what made me even more confused is when i talked to a friend of mine about it that runs domestics. he says he seen 9sec mustangs going down the track with fiberglass hoods and they rip rite off with hood pins on n everything. he contends that they will not do you any good, if the hood wants to come off it WILL come off no matter you have hood pins or not. now me, i really do not want to put hood pins on cuz i think they look totally tacky. but i had originally thought that having these would offer you some sort of protection against it flying off. but after hearing my friend on this bit, he makes it seem as if it will do absolutely no good, so now i am totally confused anyone with experiences or comments please help me out. thanks!!

leo

p.s. mine is a fiber images one if that makes any difference

 

You have to understand though that fiberglass is much more brittle. Also when customers of mine decide to go with hood pins I always suggest still using the stock OEM lock combined with the hood pins. So not only will that be holdin the hood down, but the locks will help as well. That will distribute even pressure on both sides of the hood helpin it lock down tightly and against the rubber stoppers on your upper radiator support. If you plan on going 9 seconds then I suggest that you tape the gap between the fenders and the hood with some sort of tape, and also the gap in the middle. This will help prevent hood lift, and let the air exit the back of the hood. Hope that helps. Peace.


[Modified by BodyKits NW, 1:56 PM 7/16/2001]

 

A local Civic Si had his CF hood come off at about 70 MPH, denting his hood...the "frame" of the hood was still on the car, it seperated from the CF part, and the CF part went flying. He did not have hood pins, probably wouldn't have happened if he had. 2 would be good, 4 even better (one at each corner.)

 

I'd say you are about 400 HP away from having to worry about your carbon fiber hood flying off.

 

he was just speaking from his experience of seeing those types of cars with their FG hoods flying off. doesnt mean i will ever be that fast i am just looking in respect to daily driving, with some weekend tracking

 

I have fiberimages on my car, and no pins,,,,,I drive like a maniac, racing etc....over 100mph and never had a problem,,,,,,,other brands of hoods are thinner, and the frames aren't as secure would require hoodpins in my opinion,,,,with the fiber images is optional.......
http://www.diabloautosports.com http://www.fiberimages.com

 

The hood that flew off the Si was a fiber images. i've never seen anything like it, the epoxy that holds the "hood" to the structure just seperated, not even that fast...had been in the sun alot. Beware, take the precaution would be my recommendation.

 

wow that sux

i just finally gotta hold of FI, according to them if you dont take it over the "speed limit" then you dont need it. i guess this means i better get them

 

Wow, I finaly here another Fiber Image hood flying up. I'm in aww. I hope your friend or whoever that happened to is okay. we always recommend hood pins to our customers. It is our obligation to make sure they know that these are still off-road items. I leave the decision up to them after I have told them what we suggest. It is not really if the hood is thin or not. It mostly has to do with the bottom frame. The bottom frame is what holds the latch assembly. A lot of manuf. IF YOU NOTICE use very little resin to bond the hoods and also don't use any RTV Silicone. Here is an example what I am talkin about. You want to reinforce the hood and keep the bottom frame so there is equal support throughout the whole hood. You want to also attach the bottom frame to the top frame. So we use a high temp silicone throughout the whole hood, and cutouts like pictured here. We now use black silicone and the silicone is not visible. But this pic will show you what I mean. Also it is not just silicone that helps reinforce the hood. If I told everyone what we did then we wouldn't have our secrets lol.




[Modified by BodyKits NW, 2:21 PM 7/16/2001]