C.F. Hood Problems

Well I was excited to install my new vis hood today in MI, it was a nice day for once anyways I swapped hoods and I have 2 problems

1. The heavy duty original spring on the stock latch system is to strong for my C.F. Hood to fully engage so I took it off and it fully engages now however this means I have to push the stock latch back every time before I close the hood anyone ever had this problem?

2. There is a little short of a half inch gap between the fenders and the hood on both sides exposing my green engine bay !!! Has anyone had this problem?


I am installin the hood pins on the next warm day I get any suggestions?

this should be posted in non performace

this should be posted in non performace


is there a way i can move it or should i just start a new thread in non performance, sorry about this

no dont start a new one pm jake or joewagon and ask them to move it for you

Ummm.......Isn't this the non-performance section? I think you mean problem diagnosis.

no a cf hood isnt performance

Ummm.......Isn't this the non-performance section? I think you mean problem diagnosis.


I was in the prob. diagnosis section and was told to be moved to the non performance

no a cf hood isnt performance


I was not aware the thread had been moved to non-performance already. Ofcourse a cf hood isn't labeled as a performance topic, come on man give me a little more credit than that :) Also it kinda is a performance upgrade because of the weight reduction, just a thought. :)

bureaucracy's a bitch. 7 posts, and not one attempt to answer the question.:disappoin

The latch problem, try getting hood pins if it becomes too much of a hassle, and eliminate the latch all together. OR add a metal hardplate, or another tough compund right where the latch hits the hood.

As for green engine bay showing, it could be an alignment problem, or maybe you got a bad hood and the form isnt right.

[QUOTE=Shpyder]bureaucracy's a bitch. 7 posts, and not one attempt to answer the question.:disappoin

Yeah, sorry about that, to bad you have to answer other peoples questions before you can answer the post starters questions :disappoin

Anyway spyder is right the hood might have been formed wrong, where did you get it from? Is the gap on both sides equal or is there a little more gap on one side or the other? If not you maybe can adjust it so the gap doesnt look as big, just a thought. :smile:

I have heard from alot of people that the stock latch is to strong, maybe you can just take it off if its not holding anything? Definitley get hood pins you dont wont to be going 65 down the highway and your hood fly open and slap your windshield and cause you to wreck!! :eek:

I agree with the hood pins idea. They're tough as nails, hold your hood shut without issue, and look cool as hell too ;)

Ok well that is a good idea why not just eliminate the stock latch in the center and use hood pins, I have the hood pins but it is to cold outside to install and I am installing them the next warm day I get, but heres the main issue. The rubber stopers under the hood had to be screwed down more in order for the stock latch to fully engage, this means that the fenders are higher than the lower part of the hood... Ugly in appearance, so are you guys saying I should just install the hood pins and totaly eliminate the center latch locking system? Also the latch spring was heavy duty and had to be removed in order for the hood to lock into place...


As for the gaps the one side is bigger than the other and they are both around a quarter of an inch...

eliminate the stock latch put hood pins on thats why they are made the way they are is becuase CF hoods are so light they get caught by air and fly right up. get hood pins, eliminate the latch.

I wouldnt suggest eliminating the latch, but try and bring to somewhere see if they can fix it. If you have no latch and just hood pins, ppl can break the hood pins and open your hood no problem, then with the right tools, theyll be parting out your car, just my two cents

I agree with smicaa72... you know how young jealous punks can be!!! Is there a way to extend the latch so you don't have to put the hood down so far? or is it formed right into the hood? I've never seen the underside so..... If it wasn't formed into the underside maybe "shim" it with washers or something of the like...or possible have them cut and lengthened...

There are two types of hood pins ... the pin type, which anyone can open, and the lock and key type, that have no protruding parts and requires a key to unlock.... the latter could help against theft, possibly.

Well I got a less heavy duty spring so that fixed my latch problem, I re aligned it so thats good, and I took out 2 of those rubber things and played with some other ones so now the hood looks great, hood pins and all are done! I will try to get some pictures... thank you guys for your responses! =]

Usually when you install a aftermarket hood you will have tomove the latch up about half an inch, You have to get self tapping screws for that