Fiberglass Hoods and Body Panels
So here is what the underside of a VFN pin-on hood for a '66 Dart looks like:
You can see I've added some bracing and doubled up the center two hood pin hole reinforcing plates:
And I had to move the center two pins forward 5" from where I had them on the previous hood:
The previous hood mounted with 4 pins in line across the radiator support this allowed the front 7"-8" of the hood to start to flapping up and down 6" at around 133-135 and despite my attempts to curb that with some quick zip-tie fastened anchors at the track (worked for two race weekends then let me down) eventually tore the left front pin through the reinforcing plate and hood and folded that corner of the hood back flat, shearing the the left center pin and one I had (removed in this install) about halfway up the hood on the left side.
What the previous arrangement looked like:
I will say I also have a VFN Hood on my '66 Barracuda, that one is a "Bolt on" and has an abbreviated (leaves the center portions out) fiberglass version of the factory hood frame, and that only requires two pins and the hinges to locate it solidly. Everything bolted up and fit perfectly in the first try with that hood. I'll note however that you cannot use hood springs with most (nearly all AFAIK) fiberglass hoods.
Dave
So here is what the underside of a VFN pin-on hood for a '66 Dart looks like:
You can see I've added some bracing and doubled up the center two hood pin hole reinforcing plates:
And I had to move the center two pins forward 5" from where I had them on the previous hood:
The previous hood mounted with 4 pins in line across the radiator support this allowed the front 7"-8" of the hood to start to flapping up and down 6" at around 133-135 and despite my attempts to curb that with some quick zip-tie fastened anchors at the track (worked for two race weekends then let me down) eventually tore the left front pin through the reinforcing plate and hood and folded that corner of the hood back flat, shearing the the left center pin and one I had (removed in this install) about halfway up the hood on the left side.
What the previous arrangement looked like:
I will say I also have a VFN Hood on my '66 Barracuda, that one is a "Bolt on" and has an abbreviated (leaves the center portions out) fiberglass version of the factory hood frame, and that only requires two pins and the hinges to locate it solidly. Everything bolted up and fit perfectly in the first try with that hood. I'll note however that you cannot use hood springs with most (nearly all AFAIK) fiberglass hoods.
Dave