Billet Hood Hinges

[WallaceMFG]

I wanted to see if anybody had seen these or used them before. I came across them on the internet from Rusty Nutz & Rodz. They have several different models, I'd be getting 69 Chevelle.

https://www.rustynutzrodz.com/catalogs/special-offers.html

I'm part way though designing my own, but at that price it's almost not worth my time to build them myself. Wanted to see if anybody had experience with them. My worry is that they are Chinese knock-offs of Eddie or Ring Brothers hinges and wouldn't work right.

[Build-It-Break-It]

Why not email them and ask where they're made?

[dhutton]

I think it is pretty safe bet they are knockoffs based on that price.

Don

[WallaceMFG]

I talked to the company and they admit that they are manufactured overseas. The claim that they do extensive quality control when they receive the parts and that they are as good as Eddie hinges. Since they have a 60 day return policy I may buy a set and see if they are any good. If they're bad I'll send them back haha.

[Paraman1]

I have a hard time believing a set of CNC'd hood hinges can be worth any more than a couple hundred bucks . I know many companies are selling them for a small fortune but at the end of the day do they really perform any better than the old stamped steel versions ? I was a machinist for 10 years and the costs of many of the CNC machined parts for Hot Rods just boggle my mind .

[Build-It-Break-It]

I have a hard time believing a set of CNC'd hood hinges can be worth any more than a couple hundred bucks . I know many companies are selling them for a small fortune but at the end of the day do they really perform any better than the old stamped steel versions ? I was a machinist for 10 years and the costs of many of the CNC machined parts for Hot Rods just boggle my mind .
Because all the cool kids have them. It's no different then ANYTHING sold on the market.

You think Levis should be $75 for a pair of jeans? Do they really cost that much to make? Maybe $5 to make?

If people are willing to pay high ,companies are willing to sell high.

But all things aren't made to the same quality. Keep that in mind.

[ford396]

Cannot be much worse than the hinges purchased for my 71 Nova. Ringbrothers hood hinges that I had to rework fender mounting holes to get the hood to sit far enough back to close, or my Fesler trunk hinges that did not fit the hinge pin and I needed to modify.

At least at the reduced cost, if you need to finish engineering them, you may not mind so much.

Bob

[minendrews68]

Does this company make trunk hinges?

[califconstruct]

A friend of mine bought a set of these. One of the shocks was leaking out of the package. Took a while, to get supplier to get a replacement. Overall work well and look good. They Hold in any position. But did notice they don't open up quite as far as a stock ones.

[Paraman1]

Because all the cool kids have them. It's no different then ANYTHING sold on the market.

You think Levis should be $75 for a pair of jeans? Do they really cost that much to make? Maybe $5 to make?

If people are willing to pay high ,companies are willing to sell high.

But all things aren't made to the same quality. Keep that in mind.

I get that all the cool kids have them , it just doesn't do much for me . If it doesn't make it accelerate faster , handle better or stop quicker then I don't have a lot of use for it .

I am also a huge proponent of "Buy Quality , Cry Once" as I shot competitively for years and own firearms that border on the ridiculous price wise but they are all function over form . If a set of 650 dollar hood hinges (or a 400 dollar set) offered some sort of competitive advantage I would certainly be trying to figure out how to own a them .

[WallaceMFG]

I have a hard time believing a set of CNC'd hood hinges can be worth any more than a couple hundred bucks . I know many companies are selling them for a small fortune but at the end of the day do they really perform any better than the old stamped steel versions ? I was a machinist for 10 years and the costs of many of the CNC machined parts for Hot Rods just boggle my mind .

From my experience with a friend's car, yes they work better. They operate really smoothly because of the bearings. In my case, my hinges must be worn out because I have to jerk my hood down very hard to get them to move back down. Nothing seems to help them so I was planning to make my own, but these are cheap enough that it's probably not worth my time to design and build my own when I can just order these.



Does this company make trunk hinges?

I don't think so, they don't have many models if hinges available yet. Maybe in the future.



A friend of mine bought a set of these. One of the shocks was leaking out of the package. Took a while, to get supplier to get a replacement. Overall work well and look good. They Hold in any position. But did notice they don't open up quite as far as a stock ones.

Good to hear some firsthand experience. Sucks about the shock, I contacted the company that RB buys their struts from and can get them considerably cheaper than RB or Eddie sells them for. I think the limited opening angle is the same as the Eddie hinges, which these appear to be a copy of. The Eddie hinges on my friend's Camaro do not open as much as the stock hinges, I think it is the length of the gas strut that limits the travel.

[Nicks67GTO]

I have a hard time believing a set of CNC'd hood hinges can be worth any more than a couple hundred bucks . I know many companies are selling them for a small fortune but at the end of the day do they really perform any better than the old stamped steel versions ? I was a machinist for 10 years and the costs of many of the CNC machined parts for Hot Rods just boggle my mind .

As much as the price sucks they are worth the money. I had chinese stamped repop hinges and they were absolute junk. I broke 2 of them in the last 5 years. The rivets give and the metal is thin. The only way to stay stamped is to source old ones at 100 bucks that made of good material and have them rebuilt at $250+ No thanks. I have 0 regrets on spending $575 on my Eddie motorsport powder coated billet hood hinges. I went from having to baby closing my hood trying to not break the repop hinges, to looking away and slamming it in 2 hours.

[TrevorG_FeslerBuilt]

There are a couple other things to consider when deciding if you want to risk Chinese hinges over American-made.

- Generally comes with a warranty. (Our hinges are covered against defects, we rebuild for a nominal fee and the struts are covered for two years)
- Different strut strengths for different hood styles. (And we will take the time to talk to you and figure out what you need.)
- More selection in terms of finishes
- Customer service from people who actually build cars with their parts and know to tell you things like "Hey, don't send the car to paint with the hinges on it - the dust ruins the bearings!" (We take the hood off and send separately or use stock hinges)


There are a lot of American options and the price difference generally isn't more than a couple hundred dollars, but the performance difference over time is like night and day.

Check out our '69 Chevelle hinges! http://www.shopfesler.com/chevrolet-chevelle-1969-1972-billet-aluminum-hood-hinges-pair/

[icemanrd19]

There are 2 sets of fesler hood hinges and 2 sets of ring brothers hood hinges for 1st gen camaros at the shop. All might require a slight tweak here or there but overall AMAZING quality. The hood smoothness is perfect and holds up. The chances that these will be perfect right out of the box is rare but they will all work. Some of us what are hood and everything else to be perfect so everything requires a slight tweak.

Want to learn something about rebuilding a OLD car? Nothing is truly bolt on.

Theres also a pair of eddie motorsports hood and trunk hinges in the shop on a 69 camaro. While they look nice and the finish is nice the hood and the trunk dont open near as far as the ring brothers and fesler units. Remember it only cost little extra to go first class. Every part that I've bought from fesler, ring brothers, and dse has been top notch.


There are a couple other things to consider when deciding if you want to risk Chinese hinges over American-made.

- Generally comes with a warranty. (Our hinges are covered against defects, we rebuild for a nominal fee and the struts are covered for two years)
- Different strut strengths for different hood styles. (And we will take the time to talk to you and figure out what you need.)
- More selection in terms of finishes
- Customer service from people who actually build cars with their parts and know to tell you things like "Hey, don't send the car to paint with the hinges on it - the dust ruins the bearings!" (We take the hood off and send separately or use stock hinges)


There are a lot of American options and the price difference generally isn't more than a couple hundred dollars, but the performance difference over time is like night and day.

Check out our '69 Chevelle hinges! http://www.shopfesler.com/chevrolet-chevelle-1969-1972-billet-aluminum-hood-hinges-pair/

[WallaceMFG]

There are a couple other things to consider when deciding if you want to risk Chinese hinges over American-made.

- Generally comes with a warranty. (Our hinges are covered against defects, we rebuild for a nominal fee and the struts are covered for two years)
- Different strut strengths for different hood styles. (And we will take the time to talk to you and figure out what you need.)
- More selection in terms of finishes
- Customer service from people who actually build cars with their parts and know to tell you things like "Hey, don't send the car to paint with the hinges on it - the dust ruins the bearings!" (We take the hood off and send separately or use stock hinges)


There are a lot of American options and the price difference generally isn't more than a couple hundred dollars, but the performance difference over time is like night and day.

Check out our '69 Chevelle hinges! http://www.shopfesler.com/chevrolet-chevelle-1969-1972-billet-aluminum-hood-hinges-pair/


I've seen all of the options available, and my absolute favorites are the Ring Brothers airframe model. But at $685 that's a very hard purchase to justify. I've seen the Fesler hinges, and the ones I saw only opened as far as the Eddie hinges on a Chevelle. And at $720 for the cheapest option plus I live in AZ so I have to pay taxes, I cannot afford these ones. The Eddie hinges are the most budget friendly at $550 and will work just fine, so I will probably get them unless one of the other companies can magically come down in price haha.

Also I found out the Chinese hinges come with 230lb springs, all other companies come with at least 260lb springs for steel hoods. I'm not sure if the 230lb springs would hold up my heavy ass cowl hood.

[icemanrd19]

i have the rings brothers airframes that i think i paid $630 for off of summit with a price match. Love love love love them

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

And at $720 for the cheapest option plus I live in AZ so I have to pay taxes

Haha, I'm the same way. I'll buy stuff from out of state just to save the taxes. I try and support SoCal when I can, but something big like Dakota Digital gauges, I don't want to pay Uncle Sam any more of my money.

[WallaceMFG]

Just thought I'd put one final post. I bought Eddie hinges, they looked great until I put them on the car. I've had to extensively modify them to make them work. I had to mill several parts to get the hinge to go low enough to allow the hood to close. Sucks that they couldn't make simple observations when they were designing them.

[ford396]

I think it comes back to the 80/20 rule. 80% of these companies do not care. They are making a product because there is a market for it; does it fit or work as designed? Who cares, is their philosophy just so long as they can sell them. The end user ends up redesigning the item to get it to work as designed.

in my opinion: they just do not care.

Bob

[pittpens24]

I bought Summit Racing brand hood hinges for my 68 camaro. The fittment is great - Quality is top notch is both looks and how smoothly they work

[parsonsj]

Yes, they work better than the stamped steel versions. They don't rust, and with the Ring Brothers hinges you can swap the shocks to get the exact right pressure you need... they use shocks straight out of the McMaster-Carr catalogue.

Most manufacturer's prices are based on material costs plus labor plus required profit to support a distributor network. If nobody makes money selling them, then nobody will make them.