Standard hood latch with RS grill - 1st gen Camaro

[davidk68]

Hello guys and gals,
I am converting my 68 Camaro standard grill to an RS grill (67 specifically). I have 67 RS fenders with the appropriate brackets. I also have all the RS grill parts. I saw on a YouTube video that the 67/68 RS hood latch is activated through the drivers side opening in the lower valance. However, I will be closing these off and grafting in 69 turn signals in the lower valance and not running a front bumper.

Any ideas on how to set up a hood latch? I know Screaming Performance used to make a remote cable activated set up but I think they are out of business, plus they were kinda pricey. There’s a thread on using VW Thing parts and a Lokar cable but I think it involves welding on the underside of the hood and I’m running a fiberglass hood - I can weld though.

My thought is to use a standard 67 hood latch and cutting a hole in the upper RS grill trim like a standard 67 grill has. I can modify the 67 latch if needed. Has anyone done something like this before? I’m open to other ideas though and looking for any thoughts or suggestions.

Thanks in advance,
David

[davidk68]

BUMP - still looking for thoughts or ideas guys. I’ve looked at tons of 67/68 grill pictures, and upper trim pictures, and I think a 67 standard hood latch might work. I think I would lose the “inner” chrome ring of the RS grill but I’m fine with that - I was gonna paint that anyway. I do have some fab skills and could modify or cut/weld the hood latch if needed. Thanks for any input!

David

[Camaro68+69]

I used a 69 camaro hood latch on my 68 camaro RS, I also closed out my custom lower valance opening, I used the Lokar HR-1100HT cable and latch, drilled a small hole in the part where you pull to activate the latch and stretched the spring on the latch to make it a little lighter to pull the handle,203257 just make sure you cut the hard cover on the cable the correct length

[davidk68]

Thanks for the reply and info 68+69. I do like the Lokar cable and I have the matching Lokar window crank and door handles. Can you provide more details on the installation? Did you also use a 69 hood latch support? I know it is a different part number than the 67/68. Any pictures of how the cable activates the hood latch would also be great. A remote/cable set up is my first choice so thanks so much for your help!

Love the look of the front of your car!
David

[Camaro68+69]

Here’s how I hooked it up

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I still have to fabricate a bracket to mount the pull handle

I used a 69 camaro hood latch and the bracket is from a 68, I’m pretty sure they mount in the same locations
Let me know if you have any other questions

[2ABodies1FBody]

Love the front valance. Any pics of it? Like before paint. Was the rectangular cut out custom, or "borrowed" from another car?

[Camaro68+69]

Love the front valance. Any pics of it? Like before paint. Was the rectangular cut out custom, or "borrowed" from another car?

Thanks

I used a regular 68 RS lower valance and did some metal work to shorten the opening then used a black metal grill material to close out the opening

[davidk68]

Thanks for the great pictures 68+69 and sorry for the delayed response I have a better understanding now and really like the use of a cable activated latch and the Lokar cable. Did you cut off or remove the part of the hood latch that goes through the grill? Still not sure how it activates the latch but I can probably figure it out.

I keep going back and forth on having an opening between the turn signals. The way you did yours looks awesome! Maybe I’ll flip a coin ...