Hood Locks Installed
 

The pictures I posted of my car don't really show how bad the hood still sticks up in the front corners, and that's because of the angle that most of them were, but it was definitely bad enough that it bothered the heck out of me.

So, I decided to install some hood locks, because they're smaller than hood pins and they look a little better IMO. I just didn't want to have the big washers and cotter pins showing on this car. Anywho, here's some pics of the install and ending results. Oh yeah, I didn't start till after dinner, so the pics are a little darker than normal. AND, I had the camera set on a higher resolution, but they turned out Blurry, and Big. Sorry....:o




**EDIT** Ok, these "SUCK".......and this is why I don't use the high resolution setting. I like to be able to see the whole picture within the screen. :mad:
.

That takes guts to drill holes in a freshly painted hood Arch. Major Props man. I like how that looks better than pins too. How exactly do those work?

X2 i would worry about drilling holes in a hood i just put on but it looks really good WAY better than some huge hooks and washers :D

eh... im not really digging it, but at least its aligned now.

I can assure you Justin, there's no one that would rather not have anything on there, but the alternative was actually worse. :( As I mentioned, I made sure the previous pictures didn't really show how bad they were, but I'll show you now that it wasn't pretty.

To be honest.....I think they take too much attention away from the car. BUT, if you remember how big the washers were under the hood, the other style pins have that big a washer on the outside of the hood. (Ehch) Oh yeah, once I finally got the hood aligned.....it was even worse, on both sides. GRRRRRRR

They do take alot away from the hood, but your car still looks amazing!!

I give you that it is better but its still out of place. I dont believe I have ever seen that style before. Where did you get them?

That was way off before you installed those!

Looks amazing. Those pins dont really look that bad ... Car is lookin fantastic.

Actually, they have 'em at just about every auto parts in the area where I live......which would be: Schucks, Autozone, Napa, GI Joes. They're about 20 bucks, and at least in this area.....they're the absolute smallest and best looking locks/pins that were available.

I think someone asked how they work in a prior post......well, it's actually pretty simple. You have the lower pin/latch which you mount in the Radiator support area, and then the lock mechanism that's in the hood. After you close the hood, you take the key that has a round end on it, and insert it into the circle on top of the lock. As you push down on the hood, (in the corner that's up) there's a horizontal pin that fits into the lower latch, and once it's down, you just turn the key and that twists the pin into the locking position. Pull the key out and your hood is locked down tight.

Some people install these just to lock their hood, so if someone climbs under your car and cut's the hood latch cable, they still have these locks to keep them out. :) Of course if anyone really wanted to get in, all they'd have to do is take a hammer to the fiberglass hood. :rolleyes:

Man oh Man......now that I see those pictures again, I'm never using the high resolution setting for posting pictures again. If someone wants a H.R. picture of my car, or when it comes to taking pics for a possible Calander shot, then yeah, I'll use it. But until I learn how to resize pics, it's the lower setting for me.

really arch, ive never seen them before. Oh yeah that was me wondering how they work.'
You can download an image resizer for free. I cant remember the name of the one I got but I think I got it from Microsofts website.
Its really easy to use.
Just do a google search and Im sure you could find one that would work for ya.;)

Well, the thing is you never know when youll get a good one... Id always keep it on high resolution anyway... Id say try to download an image resizer, use a website, or some sort of program... I keep hi-resolutions of ALL my pictures, and I have like a billion, trust me.

well the easist and freest image resizer...paint. just go to image, then stretch/skew, and put like 33 for horizontal and 33 for vertial. or 50 or whatever.

but i am actually very into those locks. they have the sporty look of pins, but arent too gawdy. very nice.

When I first got mine it rose like that in the corner, but what we did to emphasize the corners less was drop it in the middle a tad and that lowered the corners. I was going to do the hood pins/locks also, but was afraid of the stress they would cause pulling down like that would later on cause cracks in the hood.

The locks look nice. Nicer than the pins.

haha, i suppose you could use the poor mans photoshop, I didnt even think of that.