120-2000 Above Panel Flush Locking Hood Latch and Pin Kit - Black

The Aerocatch hood latches and pins have been as reliable as a rock for me for almost 8 years. They withstand the test of time. They never failed and still work as perfectly as new.

This is the set you want. Everything else is a waste of time and money.So there you are, looking for an inexpensive set of hood pins that don’t need a piece of wire to hold a cotter pin and don’t look like they’re going to turn into rusty circles in a month and a half. You’re not restoring a classic hot rod, and you’re not into old school. Perfect. Your car, your canvas.Maybe you’re looking at some of the push-release type pins to get that “mustang” look.Maybe you have your eye on the small toy looking ones that are the size of a quarter and actually belong on a go cart and not a car.You may have even been tempted by the significantly cheaper version of this exact model.Don’t do it.I’m telling you, this is the set to get. If you don’t want to replace your pins every three months and you actually want the release mechanism to function, you shouldn’t be looking at anything else. Yes, they’re more expensive than the knock off versions. They’re even a bit pricier than the well built push-release style pins.But come on now. Are you really thinking about putting cheap plastic pin catches on your car? Remember how much you paid for that car? And since these are meant to be a functional portion of a performance upgrade, are you really going to trust the cheap plastic ones to hold down your hood as you’re hitting the go pedal? Are you actually going to drill a big fat hole in your hood just to put a set of unreliable catches in it?You’re not saving any money if you’re buying crap.These are the ones you want. Can’t say it loud enough or enough times. Want functional catches that are actually backed by their manufacturer AND look good? These are them.Picture is mid installation on a fiberglass hood right after initial fitment, without the mounting screws installed. Took me about an hour, and I’m by no means a body expert. However, if you’re a little unsure on how to measure and cut, please get these installed by a pro.

I had an aftermarket hood on my 2001 Ford F250 that broke at the hood latch ring. Not good! Hood flew up and smashed my windshield. Hood wasn't really damaged much, but there was no way to easily repair the original center latch ring. The hood is plastic. It simply broke where the ring attached to the backing metal. I didn't want or need to replace the entire hood just for a broken latch. I saw some Aerocatch videos and pictures and decided I'd give it a try. It looked tricky and I wasn't thrilled about drilling and cutting into my hood. But what the heck! At this point the hood was "damaged" anyway. I couldn't really make it any worse. Watching installation videos helped a lot. First up was finding a suitable location under the hood for the pins, as well as a corresponding area in the hood - in two places - to mount all the hardware. The frame rail across the radiator area was hollow, but not really accessible for getting to the underside nut of the aerocatch pin. I finally settled on the edge "lip" of that frame for the two pins. Getting symmetrical locations is critical for the installation to look right. And this is a "get it right the first time" project! There is no room for error! I was lucky to have a generally easy to work with plastic hood. Locate your pins, then use them to locate the underside of your hood for penetration. My hood is two layers, so I used a small drill followed by a hole saw to make the first under layer penetration. Use the pins again to mark and locate the underside of the upper layer. I used a small drill to locate that position topside. I then made a paper template using the aerocatch retainer ring. I masked off the hood areas and VERY carefully located and marked where the cut outs for the catches would be. I used that same hole saw to make two holes at each end of my cut out area, then used a rotary tool to cut out between those holes. I smoothed and finalized the teardrop ovals with a rotary tool drum sander. It was a slow trial and error fit process. The catch had to fit the hole, and the pin had to line up with the slot just right. Get all that adjusted and set before drilling holes for the screws. The aerocatch comes with a bunch of little lock nuts. These will snap into the retaining ring and stay there, so you don't necessarily need full access to the underside of the catch. I didn't want to cut out the underside of the hood any further, so I used two 4mm treaded rods (made from long screws) to insert into the retainer and hold it up while I set the catch body into place. Then I installed the screws. Once all that is assembled you can test the latch. It is tedious, but I got it done. They work and they look good! My hood is back down and probably more secure than ever. Having now done this, I'd probably do it again with a little less anxiety.

I bought these years ago from Amazon, and never had the need for them, really. I bought a G8 to supercharge recently and because I went with the biggest heat exchanger possible, I deleted the latch so it could sit farther forward away from the rad/condenser (you G8 owners, loop hood closed wire and ground wire together so your remote start still works). Golden opportunity to use these! While install wasn’t *hard*, it sure was *tedious*. Emphasis on tedious, but I guess it’s my own doing for trying to get it as perfect as possible by human eye. I had some old GTO rubber hood stops that I used to add more to the hood, and used them to position the hood along with the rubber surrounds from the pins. This also allowed me to “drop” the hood into place without a sound (you have to “drop” the hood at a low point because otherwise it’ll smush your fingers - tip for G8 owners if reading). All in all, solid price, solid quality, rewarding finish to the install as they look phenomenal. I recommend!

Very nice, sturdy latch setup, glad I went with it. It took some time to install (it's an odd shape), and I had to fabricate some brackets for the aluminum studs it fastens to, but it's not chintzy and it works great. Looks pretty cool too.To help the hood pop up a bit when unlatched, I sourced some springs and plastic toppers to put around the stud/catch/thing and push up on the latch body; gives it a very positive, solid feel when shutting or opening. I also replaced all the hardware with stainless to prevent rusting, and two years later they're still working great as the day they were installed.Edit: These have been on my vehicle just over 2 years now, never garaged, and they still look great! I was worried about plastic degradation after being in direct sunlight for so long, but so far, so good.