Installing quarter turn fasteners

Getting ready to install quarter turn fasteners on my fiberglass hood. From pictures I've seen, it looks like a lot of you make the mounting brackets out of rod, then weld the quarter turn plates to the rod. What size steel rod is normally used? I bought a Jegs kit that has 90 deg tabs which will work for the sides and rear of the hood, but gotta come up with something different for the front edge of the hood.

Also, if any pictures could be posted up so I can get ideas, I'd sure appreciate it.

Depending on who you talk to, & the weight of the fiberglass panel, & the amount of air it will be pushing, (like the leading edge of a hood vs the trailing edge of a front fender) Dzus tabs are usually welded to 1/4, 3/8, or 1/2 OD tubing. The tubing wall thickness is usually either .049, .058, or .065 wall. And both 'moly tubing & m/s tubing can be used in this application.

what size/type of screw do you use to mount the faster to the hood itself?

HorsinAround wrote:what size/type of screw do you use to mount the faster to the hood itself?

1/8" rivet.

cool40 wrote:

HorsinAround wrote:what size/type of screw do you use to mount the faster to the hood itself?

1/8" rivet.

use stainless steel the aluminum ones don't hold up to vibration good and the steel ones will rust after awhile

Thanks guys. I'll pick up some stainless rivets, and get the holes drilled through the hood, then after paint, I'll get them installed.

There is a thread on the "other" site that is about this same issue. They even have pictures of installed tabs for the front edge. Good luck.

Thanks, I rarely visit the "other" site. Found the info. http://www.460ford.com/forum/showthread.php?t=198473

I have rails for mine for the hood that runs along the side, and then the "brackets" for the deck lid and for the front of the hood.  You can see them here next to the blue tape on the fenders.  I added two brackets off of the radiator (not pictured) after I mounted the rails first. Then I drilled holes in the hood, used smaller drill bit first so if I was a little off I could still adjust.  Measured twice also before each hole.....





Then the typical brackets for the decklid:

It looks like you used screws to secure the fastener to the hood and trunk lid? Were they machine screws or sheet metal type screws?

IMO if you're using pop rivets (instead of the solid smash/hammer type "Dzus button rivets") to attach the Dzus button, the best pop rivet material to use really depends on the application & the material being riveted to. At first glance the stronger steel and/or Stainless steel pop rivets might sound like a better idea than the weaker aluminum pop rivets.

But depending on the situation it's sometimes better to use the softer aluminum rivet & allow it to fail over time from vibration/abuse (& have to replace the rivets over & over) vs using a stronger rivet & risking the increased chance of fiberglass, aluminum, or carbon panel damage.

Into the body (for the rails and brackets) sheet metal screws. For the dzus fasteners to the carbon fiber hood/decklid, machine screws. I didn't want to use rivets into carbon fiber. On the decklid picture you can see I did use rivets for the rear wing, but that rear wing is aluminum.