It is winter here in Buffalo NY. The Miata is sitting in the garage until at least late March or early April. My brain stirs thinking of small, inexpensive & somewhat simple ideas for the car this spring.

One idea I have stirring is to get rid of the OEM hood latching mechanism and replace it with a different system. Mini Quik Latch is the preferred system I'd like to use. Not a huge fan of the look of the Aerocatch latches or hood pins.

The ugly OEM hood latch rubs and gouges my Garage Star machined panel. I'd prefer a latch-less panel.

I've seen plenty of people using Aerocatch but no Miatas utilizing the Quik Latch system. See Link below for what I am looking at. I would mount them in the spots next to the headlights.

http://www.quik-latch.com/quik-latch-mini-latch.html
http://www.quik-latch.com/white-mini-quik-latch.html

This is the Mini Quik Latch system. $24-27 each. So for around $50 it'd be an inexpensive project (add another $50 for new panel). I would get the 1.5" diameter ones. Would these be strong enough to hold the Miata hood? I read online somewhere (IG) that they have 150lb holding power. Think it would be fine to hold the Miata hood? The white finish would blend well with my white car. Polished ones would match other chrome/polished bits on the car.

My Miata is a 1.6 1990. Sees the occasional drives to and from work, nothing too spirited. No track use or high race speeds. Slow speeds until SC or turbo eventually. Also have the RSpeed lift rods installed, not sure if those have any effect on aftermarket hood latch systems

The normal sized Quik Latch are 2.5" in diameter but run $250 minimum. Too much $$ for my idea. A bit overkill for the Miata. This is not what I want to do. Mini Quick Latch or no Go.

Now what are the MR opinions on removing the hood latch mechanism? Anyone ever have any issues not having it? I've seen it done plenty of times on all types of Miatas but no Quik Latch...just trying to see if this would be a dumb idea or something worth the small cost and effort for a weekend street driven car.

Talk me into this or talk me out of it! haha

Any info on Quik Latch experiences, latch removing how to's etc would be greatly appreciated.

Paul B