Hood pins? Good idea or bad?

Debating on installing hood pins on my '72 Mach1. Anybody have personal experiences with having them on their ride? I guess my questions are more toward...Besides the fact of how they look, are they worth installing? Quality and/or brand to go with (not sure if there are several or not)? And finally, I live near the beach in CA. so I would be wanting to find some type of rust-resistant product to coat them with, so they last a long time. Currently the hood is clean with no existing pins. The other thing too is, I will sometimes loan it out for film related gigs because I am close to L.A. so another hesitation is installing something that may hurt the cause in terms of keeping the car clean for on camera....BUT I'm the owner and caretaker lol, so I feel if I want them and they look good, than who cares...Suggestions? Here is a link to equivalent ones on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/71-72-73-MUSTANG-MACH-1-STYLE-HOOD-TWIST-LOCK-/130927746660?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1972%7CModel%3AMustang&hash=item1e7be6de64&vxp=mtr

Thanks.

In my opinion. go with the twist locks instead of the pins. A bit more work but well worth it.

What we really need are hood pins/twist locks in order to lock the hood.

yup those ones

Twist locks are the bomb. They do a very good job securing the hood.

I'm with Don on the twist locks. They do a great job of securing the hood. The hood latches on these cars are not that great. Back in the 80's I had my hood latch fail at 50 MPH in traffic. The hood came up and all the way back over the windshield. Messed up the hinges and bent the corners of my hood. Fortunately, I got pulled over to the side of the road without hitting anything. Twist looks would have prevented that plus they look nice too. If you get them, make them functional by getting the underhood plates that mount to the radiator support so you can actually lock that hood down.

I agree with everyone else on the twist locks, to me they are the best

Every brand of hood pin we have tried eventually rusts

We have the Ford racing ones now

Hood twist locks do look the best on 71-3s

The hood pins have to go WAY up on the hood to hit the core support and don't look right to me.

ALSO DO NOT RELY ON TWIST LOCKS TO HOLD THE HOOD DOWN

THEY ARE DECORATIVE ONLY

I have a twist lock kit

http://www.ohiomustang.com/store/order_page.asp?itemid=1861

Item #71HDLCKSET/R

71-73 HOOD LOCK KIT, COMPLETE 32 PIECES - Reproduction twist lock set up. Includes two hood locks, two radiator brackets, two original tooling catches, two original tooling retainers, AMK fastener kit F-1351 (12 pc kit), AMK fastener kit F-1631 (8 pc kit) and AMK fastener kit F-1630 (4 pc kit).

Complete 32 piece twist lock set up, everything you need to install.

Price: $219.95

Qty:

Awesome! Thanks for all the info. It helps.

Every brand of hood pin we have tried eventually rusts

We have the Ford racing ones now

Hood twist locks do look the best on 71-3s

The hood pins have to go WAY up on the hood to hit the core support and don't look right to me.

I have a twist lock kit

http://www.ohiomustang.com/store/order_page.asp?itemid=1861

Item #71HDLCKSET/R

71-73 HOOD LOCK KIT, COMPLETE 32 PIECES - Reproduction twist lock set up. Includes two hood locks, two radiator brackets, two original tooling catches, two original tooling retainers, AMK fastener kit F-1351 (12 pc kit), AMK fastener kit F-1631 (8 pc kit) and AMK fastener kit F-1630 (4 pc kit).

Complete 32 piece twist lock set up, everything you need to install.

Price: $219.95

Qty:

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I didn't know you had these Don. Good info. I've added them to my master list of things to buy for each car when I get to that point.

My hood locks make me feel safer when I drive over 100mph on the German Autobahn. I know that no matter what, the hood will stay down.

I have the pins, not the twist locks, but that was intentional as I wanted them for the looks. They look more "classic musclecar", especially with the cables that hold the pins and go around the front of the hood into the grille.

But I do know that those were never original on our cars. I just liked the looks.

The twist hood locks are good for holding the hood down, but they don't lock the hood. A simple twist and the hood is open.

We really need a lock that locks the hood to prevent SOB's from opening it.

Don, you said dont rely on the twist, or are you saying that the kit you have works? Because id really like to put them on my car. Heard more than one hood flying story. Might look weird on my white plain hood, but better than looking weird with a hood over my windshield at 60mph.

Don, you said dont rely on the twist, or are you saying that the kit you have works? Because id really like to put them on my car. Heard more than one hood flying story. Might look weird on my white plain hood, but better than looking weird with a hood over my windshield at 60mph.

Click to expand...

What I am saying, per manufacturer warning

They should not be substituted for the factory center latch / catch system.

The ones I have are just like the originals

I also have the same kit with OE Tooling twist locks it is about 50.00 more

Don, you said dont rely on the twist, or are you saying that the kit you have works? Because id really like to put them on my car. Heard more than one hood flying story. Might look weird on my white plain hood, but better than looking weird with a hood over my windshield at 60mph.

Click to expand...

What I am saying, per manufacturer warning

They should not be substituted for the factory center latch / catch system.

The ones I have are just like the originals

I also have the same kit with OE Tooling twist locks it is about 50.00 more

Click to expand...

Anything with a lock on it.

Don, you said dont rely on the twist, or are you saying that the kit you have works? Because id really like to put them on my car. Heard more than one hood flying story. Might look weird on my white plain hood, but better than looking weird with a hood over my windshield at 60mph.

Click to expand...

What I am saying, per manufacturer warning

They should not be substituted for the factory center latch / catch system.

The ones I have are just like the originals

I also have the same kit with OE Tooling twist locks it is about 50.00 more

Click to expand...

Anything with a lock on it.

Click to expand...

Sorry but no

What I am saying, per manufacturer warning

They should not be substituted for the factory center latch / catch system.

The ones I have are just like the originals

I also have the same kit with OE Tooling twist locks it is about 50.00 more

Click to expand...

Anything with a lock on it.

Click to expand...

Sorry but no

Click to expand...

Surely there must be some aftermarket hood lock out there.

I thought this would do it, but the shop said there's nothing in the front of the car to really mount the latch.

http://www.amazon.com/Megatronix-Mechanical-Cable-Ignition-Interrupt/dp/B00375R0N0/ref=sr_1_5?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1371608407&sr=1-5&keywords=hood+locks

I remember seeing small locks on a set if good pins. Similiar to luggage locks. It didn't look all that cool but I suppose it works.

I personally like the look of the hood pins, they're very classy, and I do like the function. I agree that there needs to be some way to lock the hood itself down, maybe I'll make that a project.

I say go for it!