Opinions about Billet hood hinges

• silverblueBP
• Gigantopithecus
• AzPete
• JAYS70
• Kats66Pny
• 66benchcoupe
• Ponyman66
• 68EFIvert
• janschutz
• KBMWRS
• blue65coupe
• cmayna
• 6t6red
• AtlantaSteve

[ko67]

I have seen some really nice billet hood hinges on fleabay and other places. Mine are stock hinges that  are sagging and sad. I have to prop the hood when I am working on something, which sucks and cramps my otherwise unspeakable coolness.  I know how to take them off, tighten the rivets and refurbish the stock hinges, but as long as I have the hood off.... Anyone have any experience/opinions about particular makes/types of billet hood hinges? Are chrome hinges too "ricey" in your opnion?
Thanks in advance.

KO

[RyanG85]

I was considering them but the price scared me away. I agree with the chrome being ricey

[janschutz]

I also like them but the $$$ is too much.  I have repros (from NPD) and they are working fine for me.

Maybe you just need new springs.  That would be a cheaper try at fixing the problem and you would have to go thru the pain of hinge re-alignment.

PS. Nice Vert - Wana trade .

[gwstang]

"I have to prop the hood when I am working on something, which sucks and cramps my otherwise unspeakable coolness."...  This really did make me laugh.  Very good.  I like them...but like said above, the price is ouchey.   

[Horseplay]

If you can afford it I say go for billet. I caught a good deal on a set of Ring Bros when I was just about to pull the trigger on a set of powder coated originals. Cost a fair but more (but way less than list $) but I think worth it in the end. VERY solid. Oh and yes, they look very nice!

I too think the chrome not nearly as nice and I suspect the finish would not hold up all that well.

[ko67]

Maybe you just need new springs.  That would be a cheaper try at fixing the problem and you would have to go thru the pain of hinge re-alignment.

I have actually heard that many of the billet hinges are easier to align than stockers. They also open much wider. I am pretty sure that I saw the type of hinges I am considering covering the beast that powers Darreld's man eating 68 vert, so I hope he will chime in.

Kev

[daveSanborn]

Yes, Darreld is running the Ring Bros (or equivalant style) hood hinges.  I was expecting to see a response from him.  He's stated in the past that he does like the hinges and he had nothing bad to say about them other than the price.

[mach514]

I tried a set of the Ring Bros hinges on my car  but the hood did not open as high as the original hinges and they would not hold up my hood without a prop rod, now my hood weighs more than a stock hood but it bugged me that I would need a prop rod after spending that kind of money, plus with the hood not opening as high as original it was hard to work on the motor. I took them off and returned them to where I purchased them and went back to stock hinges. They were really beautiful but did not work well for me.

[68EFIvert]

As everyone has said already I have Ring Bros hinges.  They are great quality but a bit expensive.  They don't open as far a originals so watch your head.  I have scalped myself a few times on the latch.  If you need more space you can simply disconnect the shocks to yield a larger opening.  I have considered getting shocks with about 1/2" to 1" more travel to see if it would help out with the opening issue.  They hold up my hood with a fiberglass spoiler easily.  Would I buy them again.................. without a doubt.  The positives out weigh the negatives easily.   

My original hinges were shot so I needed new ones.  I heard horror stories about repo hinges so I decided to bite the bullet. 

[B67FSTB]

I still need to mount my orig hood hinges which I had to fix.
There was too much "play" on each rivets so i pressed them again and welded the rivets on the "pressed" side.Hopes it helps. The "play" is gone , now i hope the hood can be aligned properly.
If not .... i will look after some billet ones but they are expensive .

[ClassicRecreations]

The Billet hinges look great but we had some problems. After about 6 months of opening and closing the hood it wore out the brass bushings. We also had to replace the shocks once. Maybe we had a wierd set but I dont reccomend.

[buening]

Are they the same as Autworks sells?  http://www.autoworksparts.com/Hydraulic_Billet_Hood_Hinges.htm

[68EFIvert]

Wore out the bushing?  I hate to ask but are you sure they were adjusted properly?

[68EFIvert]

Are they the same as Autworks sells?  http://www.autoworksparts.com/Hydraulic_Billet_Hood_Hinges.htm

That looks the same as mine.

[KBMWRS]

Choosing depends on what you want.....
Price....as noted they are more expensive
Reliability.....noted as not as long as the 40 years the originals have endured
Usability.......doesn't have the range of opening nor weight holding
Style......subjective, chrome = bling, aluminum = subdued bling, painted = updated mechanics but trying to blend in

My likes are original or a painted version of the new hinges.

[65coupei6]

I have a set and love them.  The hood was much easier to align and it upons up really wide.  If I had to pull my engine the hood would not even have to come off.

Note, I did not get the Ring Bros. set.  There are many other companies making these now.  Don't remember which pair I bought since it was so long ago. But, will snap a picture of them when I can.

[hivewax]

I'm waiting for Mark to purchase his billet hinges before I make a decision.

[daveSanborn]

and it upons up really wide.  If I had to pull my engine the hood would not even have to come off.

Really?  It opens that far or is there some exaggeration in this statement?


The reason I ask is that I normally R&R engines alone and not having to remove the hood.... and re-install it..... by myself.... would be a BIG plus!

[68EFIvert]

Here are some hinges on Ebay that open much wider than the ring brothers do.  There is a pretty good picture of them installed.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Billet-Hood-Hinge-Mustang-Shelby-Eleanor-1967-1968_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem33583c2b2cQQitemZ220523670316QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

[ko67]

Thanks for all of the advice and input. Now, I just need to decide if I really want to spend more on hood hinges than I spent on my first used mustang in 1978....

KO

[65coupei6]

Finally snapped pics of the hinges I have.  Sorry, crappy pics. I used my camera phone. But, you can see how wide the hood opens now.

Opinions about Billet hood hinges

Opinions about Billet hood hinges

[RyanG85]

Finally snapped pics of the hinges I have.  Sorry, crappy pics. I used my camera phone. But, you can see how wide the hood opens now.

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You have the Jullians hinges. I just saw these this past weekend on a 65 at a car show. Some better pics....

Opinions about Billet hood hinges

Opinions about Billet hood hinges

They list for over $500 on their website. The owner of this car said the pop up on ebay from time to time for less than half that....

[Horseplay]

Here are some hinges on Ebay that open much wider than the ring brothers do.  There is a pretty good picture of them installed.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Billet-Hood-Hinge-Mustang-Shelby-Eleanor-1967-1968_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem33583c2b2cQQitemZ220523670316QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

These are plain billet pieces. Not polished. You can see all the machining marks. In time, these will not be very pretty and difficult to clean. Most of the nicer pieces are polished and worth the extra bucks (although these carry a polished price tag).

I've also seen some that are made out of stock that is on the thin side or with decorative machining that would appear to make some of the stress points weaker. It's not surprising given the price people are willing to pay for billet items that there would be people trying to crank things out cheaply to grab a piece of the action. Just do your homework.

[M66Stang]

I too have the Julian's hinges on my '66 and they do open up exteremly far.  I got them about a year ago on Ebay for about half the retail listing price. 

Mark

[ClassicRecreations]

Wore out the bushing?  I hate to ask but are you sure they were adjusted properly?

I really dont know. The hood looked ood and fit right. Didnt feel like it was in a bind. Who knows probably the fiberglass hood we used.