Project Boss 302…

Update 2;  Installation of Hood Hinges W/Gas Shocks

     Welcome back…The standard Ford way for several generations of late model cars, been it comes to holding the hood open, has been to use a prop rod.  While this is a very minimalistic (efficient and or cheep) way to keep the hood open for route maintenance, it is not the best way, or in my mine, not even in the spirit of the new Ford Mustang.  We have a very well thought out car, with state of the art Electronics, Navigation, Lighting, and even the  new Coyote or Roadrunner Engine package, which has been award as one the ten best engines in the world…But we still us a two dollar prop rod to hold open the hood.  This isn't just about the Boss 302…, it's ever Mustang or Ford product for that matter, and it's not just that it looks bad.  The Mustang in particular, has a very long low slung hood, and the prop rod only lifts the hood open a percentage of what it can open and should open to.  Under hood work is easier with the wider opening, and that annoying prop rod, which just so happens to always be right in the way is gone.  While I can see the mind set for this money saving device on the Ford lower end Models or packages, it has no place on the higher end cars or trucks, especially the Boss 302.  At a minimum, it should have been an optional choice when building the car.  While this may seem small potato's to some, those are generally the ones that never have to use this system, they simply do not make under hood checks (as all owners should do), or they have others do the work for them.  Well good for you if you fall into that category…I don't and I would suspect neither does 99% of those that would read this scribble I write down.  We are tinkerers, racers, modifiers, and some just good owners looking for a little better system on their Ford car for when they do make those important Oil, Coolant and other maintenance item checks.  This isn't just a small complain by a simple minded guy, it also about striving for a better solution to an old problems, and about safety.  Yes, Safety!!  I surely could not be the only one that has knocked the flimsy prop rod out of its slot and had the hood drop on me?  I have seen many use small thin boards, sticks, broom handles and any other number  small light device that could be used to hold the hood open wider than the prop rod would allow, just to get access to those new headers bolts, replace the plugs, or install an aftermarket accessory that needs more room to access the engine.  I mean gezzzzz, if Ford engineers could sit down and re-design the modular engine from what it was in a 3-Valve version to the new 4-Valve Coyote, they surely could come up with a better hood prop then what they have given us up to this point.  I mean several of the larger accessory suppliers for our sport have done just that, so I am sure they could come forth with a better system, that did not cost nearly as much.  Or, at least they should be able to.

     I chose the Ford Roush Hood Hinge kit for our Project Boss 302….  I like the look of it and the fact that Roush, a major player in the Ford market built it, stood behind it, and even used it on their Mustang conversions.  Besides that, with our Yellow car color and silver /black accents, the satin Black went extremely well with the character of the vehicle.  So I pony'ed up the roughly $109.00, and in less than a week later I had the kit in hand.  Speaking of which, the parts came very well protected and boxed.  Instructions were well thought out, but cheap printing made the pictures less useful then I would have wished for.  Basically, you only have to have the right and left upper and lower brackets and two gas shocks, all the OEM hardware is re-used and one small piece modified.  Really nothing more than basic tools are needed to install this kit, something I think most all would have on hand and could accomplish.  Personally I would recommend a buddy just for the extra hand needed when installing the R/L upper brackets that require you to loosen the hood mounting bolts and install the new brackets, other than that one very small and quick area, you can do this by yourself in ten minutes.  It is that easy.

Step 1.   

      As usual, properly park the car and be safe.  There are no electrical issues to deal with or even getting under the vehicle, but still take the time to do things right and in a safe manner.  Probably you will spend the most time, protecting the car from accidental scrapes, whether it be by tool or installer.  I always , always remove my belt, clip-on-knife, gun and any other clothing or accessory, that might leave a scratch if pressed upon to hard…yes I had to learn the hard way.  I would protect the hood area right under the hood hinges, just in case the hood slips and hits the windshield or surrounding area.  And I would also protect the area where the lower support brackets mount to the top of the finders.  It is very easy to scratch the fenders with a ratchet or regular wrench.  Just take your time and think about what you are about to do, before you do it…a sort of trial run in your mind kind of always works for me. 

Step 2.

     Install the lower support brackets.  On both right and left fenders, we are adding a small support bracket to the very back portion of the fenders that will support or hold in place the bottom section of the gas charged shocks.  The instructions do a great job of pointing these bolts out to you, just the picture is blurred.  Loosen and remove the bolts, install the appropriate lower bracket and reinstall the bolt, just snug for now. Do both sides. 

Step 3.

     Next we have to modify the Sound tubes chamber.  It is located on the Driver side, just at the top of the fender in front of the lower support bracket you just installed.  The OEM way to mount this part, was to use a rubber base, with a dimple on one end for location and a small bolt on the other for attachment.  You will have to remove the sole bolt that secures the part, set that aside.  The original way to mount that part was up on top o the fender, but because the new gas charges shock will swing down and take over that spot when the hood closes, we have to make room by mounting the part in the same spot, but this time under its fender mount not on top of it.  The instructions give very clear details on how to disassemble the rubber pad, where to cut it and how to re-attach the piece for the new under mount process.  Yes I said cut.  Don't worry you have to make two small straight cuts across the rubber mounting pad, so that when it is mounted under the mount, it still works as planned by the Ford designers.  This fortunately is clearly shown in the instructions I had, I used some Handy Multi-cutter Pliers from Craftsmen, that allowed me to make the two cuts very even and straight with one easy motion.  If you don’t have a hose cutter or Muti-cutter like I used, simply use a sharp razor blade and make the cuts.  It is very obvious where the two piece go, the dimple pushes into the part so it can once again push into the mount for alignment, and the other side goes over the hole for the mounting bolt, for attachment.  There is a metal bushing on the hole piece that needs to be removed and returned after cutting the pad, this simply pushed in and out with little effort.  The reason for the cut, is that the rubber pad mounted up to a smooth side (bottom) of the Part, but when we installed it under the mounting bracket on the fender, that side (top) has a rib in it, which means we have to remove about a 1/4" of matter from the pad to account for that.  Re-installation was straight forward and the opposite of removal, but you will have to remove the small push-on threaded nut from the fender mount and hold it against the bottom of the part when re-installing the mounting bolt.  Just hold in place until the threads catch and tighten securely.  Really, that was the hardest part of the this whole install, and that was really nothing.  Now we have the lower support installed and have moved the sound tube canister out of our way for the remainder of the install. 

Step 4.

     Here, we are going to install the Upper support brackets to the bottom of the hood.  The hood is held in place to its hinge, by two small bolts on each side.  Located at the very back and extreme corners on both sides, I would first loosen the back bolt and slip the upper support bracket over the loose bolt head.  This bracket hole is really a slot, so it will simply slide on, then snug down and loosen one turn so we can alien the top hole with the next bolt we are about to remove.  This is the only time you might need an extra set of hands, as the hood might move.  Before I touched any of the hood hinge bolts, I marked the hood in relation to the hinge bracket.  The thinking was that if the hood did move, I would have a reference point to re-alien it to, so it closed right and the gaps on each side were the same width. Many older cars and trucks have huge adjustment slots built into their hoods for alignment purposes, and it is always wise to mark the location you have before moving it.  The Mustang really doesn't need this, but I feel better doing it anyway.  Old habits die hard…

     With some help, support the back of the hood so it does not move, and watch that hood prop that it too does not drop on you when the hood and hinge allow some separation misalignment, while doing this step.  The front bolt has to be removed from the hood, the upper support bracket we just installed in the rear mounting hole, has to be rotated over to alien with the front mounting location, and the front mounting bolt re-installed and tightened down.  It is not a hard step, and sounds worse than it really is, you simply have to keep an eye on the prop rod, make sure the hood does not hit the car, and swing the upper support into position and re-install the front mounting bolt.  Now if everything went as planned, simply tighten those two upper bolts and the single lower bolt to the specs written in the instructions, when move to the other side and repeat the process. 

Step 5.

     The only thing left to install is the gas charged shocks….  Here use your helping hand to hold the hood up higher than the hood prop would allow, in fact you should go ahead and re-position the hood prop in its stowage position.  Start on one side and work with the helping hand, to lift the hood till the two mounting location on the support brackets we just installed, alien, then push the gas shocks onto the rounded ball like mounting points, they should snap in place.  Do the same on the other side, and your hood should now stay up by itself, no prop rod or helping hand needed.  You will also notice that the hood is held open much more then when we had the prop rod in place.  This makes the car easier to work on, and easier to see the nice engine when on display.  I thought the time and money was well spent….How about you?  Before fully closing that hood, I would slowly lower it and look at the hood side gaps, make sure they are even on both sides and straight, before closing it all the way.  It should be OK, but an "ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", this was drilled into from a very young age…one of the few pieces of good advice that stuck.  Also, don’t expect the hood to shut as before the hood spring installation.  Basically you would simply drop the hood from about 1/4 the way up from the closed position, and it would whack shut in one swift motion.  Not now, the gas shocks will keep the hood from slamming shut with the same force it had before the install.  So now you must assist the hood to shut.  I do not like to close the hood and then press down on it from the top, till it locks.  I just think there is way too much of a chance to dent the hood.  Instead, I lower the hood to the same point as before, but now release the hood and press down in one fast motion to carry the momentum through the process to avoid the dent.  Just practice a few times and you will get the hang of it.  The finished product is functional, stylish and much easier to get around then the factory prop rod that came with the car.  I suppose you could remove the prop rod completely from the car if you wanted to, I simply stored it in the normal un-used position and called it a day.  It would be a good idea to take the time now to record the gas shock number, length and diameter, so when it comes time to replace them you have the data. I hope this helps someone out there.  We did this installation on a 2013 Ford Mustang Boss 302…, but the system would install the same on any Mustang of that year, and many of those of an earlier model.  Good luck and happy motoring.