VFN hood odds and ends, need advice...

Deep6

Registered User
Hey guys,

I'm having the 97 Style VFn hood painted and fitted at the shop right now. So far the hood's dimensions are correct, it fits great front to rear but the problem is in the hood latch area. The OEM latch is a bit further foward than VFN's cutout for the striker plate.

Does anyone know how to solve this problem, is there another striker plate that I can get from VFN or does something need to be custom built??

I'm going to call VFN and try and get some additional help, but I was just wondering what to do from those who have "been there, done that".

Also, where can I get lighter weight hood struts? I told the shop NOT to hook up the OEM T-bird struts because I don't want to break the hood.

I also asked the shop if they can fit the stock hood liner to the fiberglass hood and there are no holes or attachment points, what solutions have you guys come up with?

Thanks for any and all of the help, once this is done, I'd like to take some shots......
 
Hood pins fixed that problem with my Age Classic hood. Also Autozone can get lighter struts for you. You'll probably have to order them though. I'm using stock struts for mine becuase I don't think anything lighter would be able to hold the hood up.

Micah
 
I thought...

Aren't Hood pins more for the "Pin on" style hoods? This VFN is a "Bolt on" style that has the underskeleton to provide it with the support. I really would prefer to not have to "Ugly it up" with hood pins. There has to be a better way....

I got off the phone with the VFN guy "armando" and he was telling me that I could probably get lighter hood struts from a place like NAPA. They are apparently color coded so by getting a Strut in the same length with a lighter weight rating would solve my concerns in that area. I'll investigate it shortly.

He also told me that the Striker plate Area on the hood actually has a metal core impregnated in it and they lay fiberglass over it. None-the-less he told me that if it made me feel more comfortable to install a striker plate, that I could go ahead with that.

He also suggested that If I want to re-use my stock hood padding, that I could use some industrial strength Velcro to attach it on without having to drill into the fiberglass supports.

Anybody have any other ideas?
 
Regardless of what anyone tells you....use hood pins. You could easily have some wind catch the underside of your hood.....that latch area will not hold.

Dont say no one warned you. :)
 
AEDM8 said:
Regardless of what anyone tells you....use hood pins. You could easily have some wind catch the underside of your hood.....that latch area will not hold.

Dont say no one warned you. :)

Yes...pin it or you will be sorry.

David
 
Pin it for sure. Although on a different car the theory is the same. My buddy was driving his RSX when some wind caught under the hood and flipped it up. It smashed his windshield and wreaked the hood. It was some cheap CF hood.
 
Let me get the thing to fit first....

I went to shop and got some measurements. According to a tape measure from the back of the steel hood to the rear of the striker plate it was 42".

The same measurement on the fiberglass hood was 42.25". So I'm pretty sure we can get it to fit.

I'm pretty confident that if I were to use some steel plate in the striker plate, that it would be as strong as stock.


BTW, anyone know what the stock steel hood weighs?
 
As for the pins....I know a handful of Mustang guys who have "unpinned" Cervini hoods with no problems. However, I know at least as many who have had hood fly open by the latch failing. For me, I would not be comfortable only using the latch. And on our cars, it's not just the windshield, but you'll damage the roof too. For moon-roof guys, it can really screw up the track too. Basically you'll be looking at $2K worth of damage....so be sure you get that latch to where you have all kinds of warm fuzzy feelings.

Stock hood? I dunno...60lbs maybe?

Micah
 
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