Honda Civic DIYs and Civic Tech ChatHonda Civic DIYs and Civic Tech Chat - for the true gearheads! Bring your wrench, it's time for some Honda Civic DIY projects! Questions about problems with your car do NOT go here.
These hood pins can be installed on any hood. Be that CF (Carbon Fiber) or OEM (Original Equipment from Manufacturer). Although the CF hood must have an underskeleton modeled after the OEM hood. This is the kind of CF hood that I have. It is made by Fiber Images and it is of good quality. I have been up to about 110mph without any hood pins and there were no problems whatsoever. Someone had an incident with the DG Motorsports CF hood where it separated into two layers when going above 85mph when no hood pins were used. Anyway, on to the DIY...
First you need to buy the right materials. I bought my hood pins from Stock Car Products. You’ll need two four inch hood pins (Part No. 384), two scuff plates (Part No. 387), and two hood pin clips (Part No. SCP386). Then you’ll need eight stainless steel Phillips head screws that are the right diameter for the scuff plates and that are long enough to fit through the scuff plates and one layer of CF. You could also use some stainless steel nuts for these screws with teethed washers already on them. Then you will need four washers (3/8 inside diameter), four rubber washers (3/8 inside diameter), and four jam nuts 3/8 inch in diameter and with a fine thread (24). This is the threading of the hood pin. The hex nuts are called jam nuts because they are thinner than the regular hex nuts. You will need this type of nut to be able to adjust the hood pin properly. Finally, you could use two rubber grommets that are large enough to go into the hole that you will drill out in the underskeleton of the CF hood. You can get all of this hardware from an online store such as McMaster.com, but they tend to sell things in larger quantities. I bought most of this hardware from such stores as Home Depot and Lowel’s.
The first thing to do is to open the hood. Then decide where you want the hood pins. You can mount them in two places without drilling any holes in the frame. Look for the little rubber stoppers between the headlights and the grill, that’s one place. Look for the other set of rubber stoppers further out to the sides. This is where I decided to mount my hood pins. All you have to do is unscrew those rubber stoppers (revelation, they are used to fine-tune the way the hood closes) and put in the hood pins, the washers, and the nuts. I used rubber washers so that the whole assembly will be able to swivel a little bit to solve any fitment issues. You put on a nut and screw it in all the way. Then you put on a steel washer and then a rubber washer and you push them all the way up. Then you put that assembly through the rubber stoppers’ hole and finish it off from underneath the same way as on top. The passenger side is easy enough, but the drivers side is harder to get to underneath. You might have to take off the headlight for easier access. I did. That takes care of the hood pins, now it’s on to the scuff plates…
Now it’s time to drill the holes in the hood. It’s scary to drill in something that’s worth so much money, so just make sure that you know what you’re doing and that you’re extra careful. You’ll need a drill and a 3/8 inch drill bit that has a self centering design (the ones with the little bit on top). If you don’t have this kind of drill bit, then just drill a pilot hole first and then be careful not to get off center. First you’ll need to mark the area to drill on the outside of the CF hood. Just use a pencil and masking tape to mark off the spot where the hood pin will hit when you close the hood. You’ll have to look at the center of the hood pin from the front and then from the side as you draw lines on the masking tape through your line of site. The place that the lines cross should be where the hood pin intersects the hood as it is closed. Just make sure that the spots you marked off are mirror images of each other; this will assure you that your measurements are correct. Now just drill the hole through the outside layer of the CF. DO NOT pierce the second layer of CF!
Now it’s time to drill out the hole on the underside of the CF hood. You will see two raised areas on the CF hood if it’s under skeleton was based on a mold of the OEM hood. Just pick off the center of this raised area and drill a hole. Now enlarge it with a sanding bit. I made mine about an inch across. I then used a large rubber grommet that is typically used in household fuse boxes to go into this hole and hide the frayed edges of the CF. The first picture was taken before enlargement to one inch. The second one shows what it looks like after enlargement and after putting in the rubber grommet and after several months of time has passed.
Now it’s time to put on the scuff plates. Score the CF hood using a center punch to mark the places for the little screws that will hold the scuff plate. Then use a drill bit that is smaller than the diameter of the little screws and drill the holes in the marked areas. Finally, put the scuff plates on and screw them down using the little screws. The little screws seem to hold the scuff plates pretty well by themselves, but you should screw on the little nuts from the other side to have a really secure connection. This is very hard to do since there isn’t much space. So far I have only been able to screw on two of these nuts on either side. I’ll get to the other two someday.
A few questions for u Grey.
(Keeping in mind I do have a CF hood and I did my own pins without the DIY)
1) The fiber images hood, do you see any smearing of the 3D? I have a VIS stock cf hood and it's smearing, and I do wax the car atleast once a month. The smearing is under the clear coat, so you can't touch it, you kno what I mean if you have a hood. I dont kno what to do about it, any ideas?
2) The rubber gormmet, how big is your size and where did you get it? Home Depot carry em?
Thanks man.
Lou-
EDIT- (crap I forgot)
3) WHen Im driving I can hear the metal rod rubbing aganst the scratch protector disc. What can I do to make it stop? Its not hitting the CF itself, jus metal to metal, the rubber thing prolly wont work because theres not a lot of clearance.
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[hr]The fiber images hood, do you see any smearing of the 3D? I have a VIS stock cf hood and it's smearing, and I do wax the car atleast once a month. The smearing is under the clear coat, so you can't touch it, you kno what I mean if you have a hood. I dont kno what to do about it, any ideas?[hr]
No, I have no idea what you mean? Mine looks the same as the day I bought it (which was over a year ago). I wax it every now and then too.
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[hr]The rubber gormmet, how big is your size and where did you get it? Home Depot carry em?[hr]
I'm not sure of the size? 3/4"? Something like that. I bought mine from Lowe's. I guess Home Depot might carry them. Look in the electrical department. You might also want to try to find that kind of stuff online. McMaster.com might have it. Jameco.com probably has it. PartsExpress.com might have it. One of those three should carry it.
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[hr]WHen Im driving I can hear the metal rod rubbing aganst the scratch protector disc. What can I do to make it stop? Its not hitting the CF itself, jus metal to metal, the rubber thing prolly wont work because theres not a lot of clearance.[hr]
Hmm... Mine doesn't do that. Did you transfer all of the rubber stuff from the OEM hood to the CF hood. That probably keeps the CF in place and might help a bit. Do you have the same sort of pins that I do? If so, then do you have to press down on the hood to get the hood pins in? They should be taught (tight) when they go into the hole in the "metal rod". Also, did you make the hole in the CF larger than the metal hole? I made mine slightly smaller. If it would rub (which it doesn't) then it would rub against the CF and wouldn't make as much noise. The rubber grommet also cussions the "metal rod", so that it doesn't get a chance to move around. Also, does the CF hood not move atr all when latched down or is there some play? If there's some play then you may have to adjust the latch mechanism (move it downward) to prevent the movement. Hope that helps...
the smearing effect your tlking about is from using a cheap form of resin when they layed the cf down. whats happening is the heat from the engine and sun light is cooking the resin causing the blur effect or hayz...they should have used epoxy resin...wrks the best and stronger then b or c lam resin, take it back and tell them their product sucks...
Excuse my ignorance but what are hood pins for anyway? Do they make opening the hood easier/harder? For security or speed opening the hood? I'm lost here.
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[hr]Originally posted by: Player1
Excuse my ignorance but what are hood pins for anyway? Do they make opening the hood easier/harder? For security or speed opening the hood? I'm lost here.[hr]
They are for safety reasons. If you just use the stock latch on a CF hood then it might not be enough. At high speeds the hood will flex and feel like its about to peel right off the car. The Pins are a surefire way to safely hold on the hood. Also, sometimes in a car accident, the hood will flex and not bend like a regular stock hood. This sometimes sends the hood flying back into the windshield. Very dangerous. Can you say "decapitation"?
the hood.
