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...

You might want to try the square clips to see if they are any better. Most of them worked for my none molded pad. They are a pain in the rear. Try modifying the clip so it spreads out more when it goes into the hole of the hood. Just my 2cents.

Brian,

thanks for your reply. I´m afraid they won´t differ THAT much from the set I have. Probably the same manufacturer but half the price... You mentioned it: the problem is the middle part of the pin where the slub doesn´t spread out enough to hold the hood pad. What did you do for modifying your´s?

Thanks

Thomas

I used the square clips, and they worked very well on my 69 holding the pad in place. I didn't have the molded insulation though, just the basic one.

I don´t think the molded hood pad is the problem; could be it creates a little bit more tension on the clips but not so much more than the regular pad will do.
The tension on the clip is more a matter of weight and I can´t imagine the molded hood pad being so much heavier than the regular one.
Even when trying the clips without(!) the hood pad they slid out once again very easy, only minor force requiered... It requiered some force to get them in but once when in they nearly fell out again on their own...

BTW - Snow Cruiser, do you still remember where you´ve bought the square ones?

They came bundled with the hood pad, which was manufactured by REM (http://www.remautoinc.com ). As i recall, I ordered it through NPD.

if you cant get it to stay up (forgive the pun)..get froma help section (assuming you have that in Germany too)...some liner clips...they have lareger "thing" going thry the hole ane expanding...

I too wasted good money on these OER fasteners. I have the standard insulation and those clips would pop out within 30 seconds of pushing them in.

I sourced some generic round fasteners form the local Auto Parts store. I think I payed $2.00 for a boxes of 5. Not one has budged in two years.

Looking good, these fasteners... Only have to find them anywhere on the web or here in Germany...
BTW - I just compared them: they look like the drawing Ames shows in its catalog, part# FD452. Have to ask them if they really sell the ones mentioned above...

Thanks for the hints!

the one listed abv by G Whiz looks like the ones I had in my 94 Eldorado trunk probably available at some GM dealer...

Try this link http://www.thecliplink.com/index.php?target=products&product_id=44752

Price seems good.

Whaaa -- that´s it! Thanks for the link!

Did you try pushing the clips in really far? Sounds crazy but I have the square ones, and when we installed our moulded pad, even the square retainers would pop right back out. Then, our Daughter's b/f came along and pushed one in really far/hard and you could here it "pop", they have not popped out since.

Until he came along and tried pushing them further in, I was ready to throw the whole thing in the trash as I had just replaced the totally worthless "soft" hood insulation with the moulded one...

Also, when you push the fastner into the whole, you have to push right in the middle of the fastner, not out around the edge as they give and do not force the center prong thingy through the hole far enough to grab and make the pop/click sound...

68Firebird400, be assured I pushed them in really hard... I even used a screwdriver that I´ve inserted in the central slot, then pushed carefully...
Nevertheless, that wasn´t a good idea: pushing this fastener with a screwdriver and using more and more force eventually resulted in pushing me the screwdriver IN ONE FELL SWOOP ACCIDENTLY THROUGH the back side of the central adapter, nearly punching through the metal sheet of the hood... That was a close shave... I think I would have gone berserk in case I´d have punched through the freshly painted hood...

I had the same problem with the standard pad and the round clipos from Classic. The pins would bend over when trying to push them in. I gave up and didn't use the pad. Im sure I will be sorry some day.