I had the same problem with my hood on my 02. The fiberglass around the striker plate on the hood started cracking all the way around the plate. It always scared the hell out of me driving because i knew it would give one day and the hood would come up into the windshield. So i did hood pins about 6 months ago too. I was thinking about the ford racing pins you got but heard way too many arseholes that like stealing the pins and you dont notice and the hood comes up on the hwy. So i got hood pins with captive pins so nobody can steal them. The pins that came with mine are plenty long and fit perfect. I dont mind the look of hood pins, i always thought it looked cool on the old school stangs, but the wife hates them on my car. Oh well, at least i dont have to worry about the hood anymore.