Front-opening hood vs. rear-opening hood: Which is better?

"Widget_Master" (Widget_Master) 02/10/2015 at 14:57 • Filed to: front opening hood, rear opening hood, hood

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I've always thought that the rear-opening hoods looked cooler. Also, a rear-opening hood will not fly up into your line of sight and possibly smash your windshield if there is a latch failure at speed. As far as working on things under the hood, I haven't noticed a significant difference between the two. Please weigh in if you are a mechanic or otherwise have strong opinions/insights on this topic.

Will with a W8 races an E30 > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 14:59

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Front hood tends to be easier to to remove completely, at least for me. Don't have to worry about bouncing it off the windshield or fenders. Although it can be a pain when working on the front of the engine.

Cap'n Jack Sparrow > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:00

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Rear hinged for the love of all things holy! Working on a front hinged hood is a nightmare.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:02

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I can't picture things at the front (radiator, water pump, etc) being easy.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:02

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The engine should go back here.

Übel > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:03

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Working on a front-hinged hood is the bane of everything ever and it sucks giant donkey balls. If you're worried about it opening at speed, get hood pins.

MonkeePuzzle > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:03

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front hinged sure woulda been handy when this latch failed

jariten1781 > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:04

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Flag hood.

Way easier to remove or replace. Can come in many custom styles so you can 'make your car yours'. Light weight for better fuel economy and lap times.

Show your pride.

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:04

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Clamshell?

/unpredictable

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:05

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Having owned both front and rear opening vehicles, I have to say I prefer the front opening hood. I think the rear opener looks infinitely cooler, but I find from a functionality standpoint they seem to be more of a pain to work on. Unless the hood pretty much gets out of the way and takes the fenders away completely, like this.

or this

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:05

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I don't have strong opinions, but I *am* converting my Ranchero to front-hinged, because I am a raving lunatic. Also because the engine is so far back a "normal" hood would get in the way, and because TR6 and BMW.

Steve in Manhattan > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:05

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My answer:

Funktheduck > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 02/10/2015 at 15:06

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It's not hard. The car is so small and there's so much room compared to modern cars. Don't have one of these but do have an 89 325is

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:08

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It all depends how far the hoods open. With the 02, it goes up about 80 degrees so they is plenty of room for 4 people to be working under the hood at once. You are not cramped in between a hood and engine to do any work.

Textured Soy Protein > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:08

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I'll just leave this here.

505Turbeaux > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:08

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this one. Whatever opening you call this.

Mangusta, me gusta

Widget_Master > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 02/10/2015 at 15:08

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True. I haven't had to do anything to the radiator or water pump on my E34 yet. (luckily)

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Funktheduck 02/10/2015 at 15:10

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Yeah, I guess it can't be any worse than trying to pull things off the front of the engine in a FWD car.

Funktheduck > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 02/10/2015 at 15:13

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I know when people change timing belts on them some take it off. I left mine on when I started but couldn't get the fan off. Eventually gave up and had a friend of my stepdad who's a mechanic do it. Don't know what he did but he got it done pretty quick. he took the hood off

Mercedes Streeter > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:13

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I'm going to go with "neither".

dogisbadob > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:13

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rusted steelies

dogisbadob > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:14

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ooooo a 90s Suburban or crew cab

RallyWrench > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:14

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I've always liked BMWs & Saabs with front hinged hoods. They don't impede working on them at all. The hood of an E30 comes off in a couple minutes, easy. It's the first thing I do for a timing belt or water pump job. In the Saabs' case, the hood moves well out of the way on compound hinges and the engine is backwards anyway so it doesn't hinder you there either.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 02/10/2015 at 15:16

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I'm using an E30 hood hinge for this, but as you can see, there *might* be some extra space in front. Possibly.

RallyWrench > Steve in Manhattan 02/10/2015 at 15:16

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I defended the forward hinged hood above with BMWs & Saabs, but in fairness, E-types are a total bastard to work on. Beautiful, but difficult.

RallyWrench > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 02/10/2015 at 15:17

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The hood comes off in a couple minutes, and the hinges are slotted for easy fitment. No prob.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 02/10/2015 at 15:20

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Yeah, that should be enough to work with.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 02/10/2015 at 15:22

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It's going to be even more absurd than that looks. In service of cooler air to the engine and some other things, the battery box isn't going to be on that fender - one of two radiators will be. So, I could probably do part of an oil change *reaching through the nose*, until such time as I put a screen in place.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 02/10/2015 at 15:23

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Haha, yes! What kind of project are you doing that you'll need that much cooling?

BigBlock440 > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:25

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Neither. Lift-off FTW

Jonee > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:26

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Front hinges, baby. All the cool cars have them.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 15:26

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Having done the timing belt and water pump a few times on my E34, I have to say that the forward opening hood isn't too bad at all. The best part is that the hood is nearly vertical, unlike rear-hinged units, and hangs out over the bumper. It also makes a good sun shield on those hot days. Only if I was pulling the engine would I need to remove the hood, but this would apply to a rear-hinged unit as well.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 02/10/2015 at 15:27

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I won't need *quite* that much, but I want to change the nose in such a way that it will emfucken cooling through a normal radiator, so between that and the cold-air-to-intakes benefits, I'm going DoubleCool. This is my '63 Ranchero with a 4.2 Rover V8 project. You will notice the engine is moved back 4" - between that and the 3-4" center of gravity change from going from a six to a V8, and the weight balance will be much improved (engine weighs ~ the same).

472CID > jariten1781 02/10/2015 at 15:33

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It's a Windstar zombie

NaturallyAspirated > Mercedes Streeter 02/10/2015 at 15:52

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Wow, I had no idea that the Smart's engine was in the back.

Manic Otti > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 16:00

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Part of many reasons why I hated working on my old beamer was the front hinged hood. Only having access from the sides was a pain, and it always seemed to be in your way.

Jobjoris > Widget_Master 02/10/2015 at 17:30

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There can be only one.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Widget_Master 02/11/2015 at 07:09

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Front-hinged are funky and I like them, but there's more of a danger of it being pushed through the windscreen and straight-up cutting you in half if you get into a high-speed front-on collision.

Probably over-exaggerating, but hey-ho :)

M > Widget_Master 02/16/2015 at 02:54

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Front hinged is definitely safer in case the latch fails while driving, but it's always made it harder for me to access the front of the engine bay. I've never owned one, only worked on friends cars a few times, years ago.

This needs a comeback.

Next > jariten1781 02/17/2015 at 20:11

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OH SAY CAN YOU SEE BY THE STAR HM hm hm. OH SO PROUD TO BE!