Hood brace kits?

Who carries the best hood brace kits? LMC has one that ties into the hood hinge for $20. Before I order it, are there any better options out there? Pic is an exame from the LMC catalog.

I have the LMC kit for my 73. Don't know if I'll install it. The hood supposed has a built in fold point (duh!) so the hood will fold there on a frontal impact. My hood is slightly bent.

Don't know what I'll do.

I have the lmc set on my 78 and i used them because my hood was already folded. It stiffened a bit but it dont fix the fold. If you dont already have the fold id say you could add them then spray the hinges REAL good with pb and work them.

Heres what mine looks like

78c10bigten said:

Heres what mine looks like

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Thanks for that post. Mine had a homemade brace that was very short on the passenger side. We took it off for the repaint but as soon as we shut the hood I began to get nervous. Mine is still pretty straight but it would only take one dodo that doesn’t know what he’s doing to ruin it. I think I’m going to go for the lmc kit. I like how long it is, and the hinge tie in looks like a plus.

I'd never heard about the "intentional fold in a crash" component. That may be true, but the things crumpling in use has always aggravated me. I try to keep the hinges well lubed. I've never added stiffeners, but now I'm thinking about it.

I have the LMC brace kit, and when my hood hinges got stiff one winter it was not long enough to stop the hood from bending right at the end of the brace. Now I have a crease in it that makes it look like someone ran into the hood. I tried making a longer brace and screwing it down to bring the hood back to a straight position, but it really didn't help much.

If your hood is straight now, I would make a brace that is as long and stiff as possible. And make sure your hinges are well lubricated with light lubricant that does not stiffen up in cold weather.

Bruce

I ended up going with the lmc kit. It didn’t take the small crease that I already had out, but I feel better knowing that I have something in place. They’re not quite as heavy duty as I though they would be, but at $28 shipped I still think I came out pretty good.

I also have LMC. I think I am going to add an L brace beside it.

Has anyone had a problem with their hood manufactured after 1980? I was going to add braces to mine at one point but since the kits are listed as 73-80 it seems GM fixed the problem for '81 and later.

skysurfer said:

Has anyone had a problem with their hood manufactured after 1980? I was going to add braces to mine at one point but since the kits are listed as 73-80 it seems GM fixed the problem for '81 and later.

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After 1980 they changed the hinges, and they don't seem to cause the hood to bend like the earlier ones.

Lostranger said:

I'd never heard about the "intentional fold in a crash" component. That may be true, but the things crumpling in use has always aggravated me. I try to keep the hinges well lubed. I've never added stiffeners, but now I'm thinking about it.

Click to expand...

Yes, the hood is designed to fold in a crash, keeping it from going thru the windshield and injuring the passengers. Keeping the hinges lubed helps, but they still tend to bend if you are not careful. There was post a while back about a body shop that was sued because they didn't fix a roof on a small car properly, and it didn't fold like it was supposed to during a crash, and the occupants were injured.

I'm also thinking of using the LMC kit when I replace my hood, if I can't find anything else. I don't think it would be too stiff to keep the hood from folding in a crash, but should keep it straight under normal use.

I have seen people use angle iron and such (my current truck, but not my doing), but I am afraid that would be too stiff in a crash.

waste of money ,if hood is bent already those cheap braces will not help the hood