(Click images to enlarge)
Since it's somewhat nerve-racking to drill through a new $600 carbon-fiber hood, I thought I'd write this tutorial to show you what I believe is the right way to install hood pins. I, like many people, would prefer to not have hood pins, but most carbon fiber hood manufacturers recommend them since it is possible for your carbon fiber hood to fail and fly off your car! (Don't laugh, it happens!) I chose the Sparco hood pins since I didn't want to deal with any separate key that I'd forgot or lose, and it seems that many of the race cars I saw at Road America this summer used 'em too.
Car:All A3 Golfs and Jettas.
Cost:$25 for Sparco-style hood pins.
Required Tools:
- Cordless drill
- 1-1/4" hole saw w/ arbor bit
- Drill bits of various sizes
- Phillips-head screw bit for drill
- Dremel drill
- #117 Dremel bit (or similar)
- Wrenches to tighten hood pin posts
- Bright colored paint
Required tools. (Click images to enlarge)
Time: 30 minutes.
Safety:
If you have a carbon-fiber hood, the structural part of the hood may be fiberglass and will become microscopic glass particles when you are drilling holes for the hood pins. Make sure you wear proper protective gear!!! I wore glasses and an air mask, but neglected to wear anything on my hands... and they were itching for weeks afterwards!!!
- Safety goggles
- Air filter mask
- Latex gloves
Instructions:
Location of hood pins. (Click images to enlarge)
- Find a place to put the pins:
Thanks to a poorly designed hood latch bar on my Fiber Images hood, my hood didn't rest any where near the rubber bumpstops that are right above my headlights (the round ones that you can height adjust.) So, I removed them and put the threaded posts for the hood pins there. Not only did that save me from drilling 2 holes and wondering if they were symmetrically placed, but it was one of the few spots that was level enough to mount the threaded posts. Note: Make sure you have enough room BELOW the place where you choose to put your threaded posts. The posts are rather long, and may hit your headlight assembly. You may have to cut the posts so they are shorter. The image below shows how close my Hella dual-round lights come to the threaded posts.
Passenger-side hood pin post, note the headlight assembly. (Click images to enlarge)
- Loosely install the threaded posts:
I hand-tightened the threaded posts onto my car and tried to make sure they were vertical... you don't want them at some goofy angle when your hood closes. Also, don't worry about the height of the posts at this time, make them stick-up pretty high so your hood rests on the posts before the hood latches.
- Mark your holes:
Gob some white paint on the top of your posts, then set your hood down on them and apply a small amount of pressure to make sure the paint gets on your hood. The white spots are where you should drill with your 1-1/4" hole saw. Note: Make sure the arbor bit in your hole saw isn't sticking-out too far... you don't want to cut through the top layer of your hood at this time!!!!
- Cut the large holes in the hood frame:
Cut the 1-1/4" holes in your hood from the bottom of the hood... you should just be cutting through the structural support of the hood at this time, which is most likely fiberglass. Use the Dremel to clean-up the hole when you are done.
Drilling hole in hood frame. (Click images to enlarge)
- Repeat step (3):
Make sure your threaded posts are still vertical, and gob some more white paint on them to mark the hole which will actually go through your hood.
- Make the "scary hole":
From the underside of your hood, drill a hole through where the white paint was. Don't make it too big! Once you make the initial hole, put a light in your engine compartment, then close the hood. Your threaded post should be visible through the hole, so you can see where you need to cut away more material. I used the Dremel tool to shape the final hole to be just a tad wider than the threaded post, and to finish the edges of the hole.
Hole in hood frame and hole in top sheet. (Click images to enlarge)
- Repeat on the other side.
- Test fit your holes:
Set your hood down and hopefully your threaded posts are still mounted "too high" so they go through your hood before it latches. Make sure everything is okay and that the posts slide into the holes easily. Note: If the posts don't go through the holes perfectly, you can just move them a little by just grabbing them and pushing them in the direction you want them to be.
- Adjust the posts for the correct height:
This step takes a little while. Take out one post, then adjust the other one so that it is WAY too low (so your hood will latch.) Then open the hood and raise the post so it will be the correct height when the hood is closed (Trial-and-error... never force your hood down too hard though!) Once the first post is at the right height, the second one should be easy.
Driver's-side hood pin post, note the removed bump-stop. (Click images to enlarge)
- Tighten down the pins:
Get out your wrenches and tighten down the threaded posts at their correct height. They will probably get miss-aligned once tight... just bend them back to where they should be. Then slowly close your hood again to make sure all is well.
- Test fit the pins and drill pilot holes:
Shut the hood and put the pins on the hood as you'd like them. I drilled small pilot holes for the screws that hold the pin-plate on the hood. I then used a cordless drill to drive the screws in. Make sure the drill is set on a "weak" setting if it has an adjustable clutch! I was not able to get the small screws started by manually screwing them in, so I resorted to brute-force :)
Impressions:
The hood pins take some getting used-to, but I don' t mind them any
more and at least I have the peace-of-mind knowing my hood won't fly
off! They do make opening your hood a bit more of a pain though, because
you have to release both pins, then pop-the-latch.
Todd Taylor - '97 GTI VR6
