Yesterday I tried to mount a molded hood pad on my 400 repro hood, using the hood pad from Ames and a correct looking fastener kit from Classic Industries...



Although the molded hood insulation fits and the pre-cut holes in the hood pad match the fastener holes in the repro hood the clips didn´t stay inside the holes, they were popped out again after a few seconds. I have three of these molded hood pads from three different sources; they all look the same so I don´t believe they are the reason for my trouble...


When looking closer at these OER fasteners I wondered why they stayed inside the holes even for a single second, they are produced VERY poorly... The pin only shows a slight slub at half length where it should prevent the clip from sliding out again... It doesn´t give any real resistance against the tension of the hood pad... It´s a set of 20 clips for USD 19.95, so 1 dollar a clip, that´s not quite cheap...



Now I´m looking for better fasteners or a better idea to keep this hood pad on the lower hood side...

Any suggestions? I can´t be the only one struggling with these subpar clips...