Now that I have eliminated the hood latch, I needed to install hood pins. Of course, the idea of this is a little awkward, as the pins that one usually sees are fake. Or just there for show. Or they are stick on. It also required drilling through my perfectly good hood. But in the name of performance, I did what I had to do.
I purchased the hood pins through Mach III Motorsports in San Francisco, and it comes complete with the slotted pins, locking mechanism, screws, washers, and nuts.
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You need to find 2 spots on the radiator support that are level and have room for the hole. I began by placing the hood pins on the car to see where they would look and function best. I guessed that the best location from a loading standpoint was about ¼ of the way in from either side. This way, the left pin would take the load from the fender to the center of the hood, and the right pin would take the other side. Of course, logic and feasibility in the Blue Bomber do not necessarily go hand in hand. At those locations, the radiator support is actually angled. I tried drilling a hole at this location, but the pin ended up being angled as well. No good, folks.
I ended up having the pins about 1/3 of the way in the hood. I started on one side, and drilled a hole in the radiator support large enough to pass the threaded pin through. Using a nut and washer on either side, I temporarily set the height where I thought it would be. Make sure that you align the slotted opening on the pin in the direction that you intend to use it. For instance, to lock the pin from either side, make the flattened portion of the pin run the length of the car. Run it the same direction as the axle if you want to lock the pin front to back.
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I then dabbed some grease on the top of the pin, and slowly shut the hood until it contacted the top of the pin. I lifted the hood up, and saw the grease mark. This tells you where you need to drill the hole. If you are unfortunate like me, then the pin will end up being located right in one of the thickened braces under the hood. This means you are drilling through a layer of sheet metal, an airspace, and the top layer of hood. If this also happens to you, be sure to drill through ONLY the first layer of hood, starting from the underside. You will have to constantly start and stop, and test fit, to determine how much you need to remove in order to clear the pin. Once you get all the way through the first layer, then readjust the pin so that it will strike the upper layer of hood. This is the scary part. Slowly shut the hood until it strikes the pin. I applied gentle pressure until the hood had a little dent where the pin was trying to poke through. Then I raised the hood, lowered the pin, lowered the hood, and drilled through the hood. It helps if you use a small punch to dent the hood at the location to keep the drill bit from skating and ruining your paint.
Once you have drilled through the hood, raise the pin until it is just below the hood. Again, this allows you to determine how much and which direction you need to remove material. You will notice that you are creating more of a "slot" as opposed to a hole. Once you have removed enough material, you should be able to shut the hood smoothly and have the pin stick out without interfering with anything. File away the opening, and use some touch up paint to protect the newly exposed areas.
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Now, with the hood shut, place the locking pin in the car, punch the 3 areas where the screws need to go, and drill away. You can then install the 3 stainless steel screws and associated locking tabs to hold it in place. If you had to drill through multiple layers of hood like I did, then you have 2 options. What I did was drill a smaller hole than required, and basically "Self tapped" the screws securely in place. You can also blind rivet at those 3 locations.
Now repeat on the other side. All done!
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