Turnin20s

iTrader: (12)

I ordered some Racecraft Dzus rails for my '95 Camaro a couple weeks ago and finally got the stock hood off the other day and test fit the rails (held up to the fender) and it doesn't seem to clear the fender bolts. I can move them forward and back and they don't seem to fit anywhere. And they sit very high on the fender and they didn't come with mounting hardware, unless they mount with rivets and I thought that was ill advised because they can pull out easier than bolts.

I figured it would be a pretty straight forward install of the rails, but it seems to be turning into the opposite.

I know that the pin-on hoods aren't very thick, but the rails when they are sitting on the fender bolts are only about 1/8-3/16" from the top of the fender. Do I need to trim the washer on the fender bolts or space out the rails?

Anyone have some help mounting them up? I have seen a handful of LS1 guys but no LT1 cars.

Thanks

Turnin20s

iTrader: (12)

Sorry I was pretty tired when I posted that last night and rambled on haha

Basically do the racecraft rails for the 93-97 Camaros rivet onto the fenders & do I have to trim the washers on the bolts for the fenders to get the rails to sit right?

If the rails rivet on with aluminum rivets I think I'm going to toss them out and get some small bolts, washers, and use lock nuts.

subhumanzz

iTrader: (46)

My race craft rails came with small allen head bolts and lock nuts.

Turnin20s

iTrader: (12)

But is your car a '98-02?

TurboStangJON

iTrader: (27)

Judging from Racecraft's picture on their website I'd say they go on with rivets or bolts. You won't have a problem with them pulling out because it's a one piece rail. I wouldn't space the rails out just go ahead and trim the washers so you can get the rails down enough. On my 98-02 rails I ended up having to trim the lip off of my hood to get the hood to sit flush with the fender.

subhumanzz

iTrader: (46)

My car is an 02' although I dont see how that would affect the mounting procedure. I also had to trim the lip on the sides of the hood in an effort to get it to sit flat on the rails. I dont really see how you could rivet the rails down as they will need to be adjusted up and down to match the height of the hood and fender.

studderin

iTrader: (28)

did you get the 1piece side rails?

TurboStangJON

iTrader: (27)

It's a one piece rail just like their Mustang or early Camaro version. It's pretty much like having your 98-02 top rail without the lower portion and less adjustment. A couple of the holes are slotted for mounting purposes then the rest are fixed. The ones that really suck are the weld on rails, talk about no room for mistakes.

Turnin20s

iTrader: (12)

Yes, I got the 1 piece rails. And there is a difference between the 93-97 and the 98-02 rails. The 98-02 have allen head bolts and the 93-97 come with aluminum rivets.

I'll grind the washers on the fenders bolts and see how everything fits then. And I need to trim the lip off of my hood too, I'm not really looking forward to that or drilling all the holes haha

Thanks guys

SuperSlow02

iTrader: (16)

Trimming the lip is a must, idk about the 93-97 but 98-02 is much easier then it looks. When it comes to body work, I don't even need to WASH a car let alone mount a hood lol.

studderin

iTrader: (28)

ya get the lip off there, I messed with flitting it with the lip, thinking it would be stonger.... F that wack it off and fit it.
Its been 4-5 years and no cracking or anything. Lots of street miles, been on and off 100s of time (in the cold NY winters too) cant be good for it. 99% of the time its by myself, so it dose twist a bit RnR it, even lived in a aptment a few years so take the hood off and just put in the grass for the day to work on the car, hope no kids stepped on it. lol
I posted some hood mounting pics and someone else did on page 4, 5 or 6..?? or something early on in my build thread, I know that helps alot of guys mount there rails. check that out for sure. think I listed the tools, and supply stuff that helps



https://ls1tech.com/forums/drag-raci...ch-diet-3.html
post 59, and more info the next few pgs

Turnin20s

iTrader: (12)

I had to go back through your post a couple times and read what you did. It was a big help for sure. I just need to get my brother to come over and give me a hand getting everything lined up.

I don't know if I will get a chance this weekend to fit the rails, but I plan on taking some pics to help the other LT1 guys since I haven't ever seen any instructions or how-tos for mounting the rails and a pin-on hood

orange88ls1s-dime

is your hood pin on carbon or fibreglass? Carbon hood will be about 0.065"-0.075" depending on layers and fibreglass will be 0.125" roughly should wait till you have hood to mount rails. and use rivets for ease of installation, dont worry about them pulling out, the force lifting the hood at speed is perpendicular to the way the rivets mount so they will be good.
Beaudacious

studderin

iTrader: (28)

you think you could just drill the hood to just mount 3 dzues a side (end and one middle). thats somthing I thought about doing, But I already drilled and mounted all 5 so stuck with this hood. But I think just 3 per side would be fine, unless the car start trapping 140+ or somthing. It feels fine when I just do 3 per side and the fronts, maybe 2nd just 2 fronts not that I had some alum brace to hold the front nose on super stiff, without that and no bumper support the hood kinda holds the nose tighter, but still soft.


It would look cleaner, and just be a little easier and faster to work on the car. If not you can drill the hood and mount all of them.
check into that

Turnin20s

iTrader: (12)

I have a fiberglass hood and I know it's thin, but its hard to tell how thin because the hood still has the lip on it. I need to get it cut off and do some test fitting before I start cutting off stuff.

I don't know about that haha I already bought all of the fasteners and I plan on using all of them. I'd rather use them all and not have to worry as much. Maybe after taking the hood on and off a bunch of times I'll wish I would have only put in a few but I'm not too worried