The Mighty Stick of Justice

Behold the Mighty Stick of Justice, righting wrongs around the world!

The wrong in this case is the hood on the Viper.  Like many Gen I and II Vipers, the hood springs on my car aren't the greatest.  They will hold the hood up ok as long as the car is level and there is no wind.  Jacking the car up or having the slightest breeze blowing from the front will cause the hood to come crashing down.  It definitely can't be left unattended at a car show or cruise night for fear that the hood could slam down on somebody.  So, I decided to make a prop rod.  Traditional prop rods going from the cowl to the hood look bad.  It's a Viper, no matter how fancy the prop rod is, it always looks out of place.  Mine is much less obtrusive.  It's made from a 1 1/4" wood dowel, and is 24" end to end.  The top side is notched, the bottom is ground at a slight angle, and it was primed/sanded/painted so that you really can't tell it's wood.  The top end hooks into the hood hinge like so:

The bottom end wedges into the conveniently bare spot of the frame seemingly left open for just such a devise here:

When it's installed, it blends in with the rest of the engine compartment and is virtually invisible to "regular" people.  At the last cruise night I went to, I asked everyone who looked at the car if they noticed it, and the universal answer was "No."

It holds the hood rock solid and is wedged in such a manner that it can not come out on it's own.  The only drawback is that you need to remember to take it out before trying to close the hood.  I've found that it's not much of an issue because the hood doesn't budge with it there.  As soon as you touch the hood and it doesn't move, you remember that the Mighty Stick of Justice is in place.  It also stores conveniently behind the seat.