73-80 Hood Security

[ToughBowtieTruck]

More and more I start getting concerned about my '77 Chevy. The hood opens from the outside, unfortunately. I have only ever seen one 73-80 Chevy with a factory hood release cable, it was a 1978 I had. Since I have now racked up plenty of money in goodies (which, under the right hands, are quickly stolen off the engine) I am now brainstorming ideas to lock the hood.

Currently my ideas are:

1. Find a source for the factory style hood release cable for the 73-80. Easier said than done.

2. Install a pin on the release lever that can be locked with a padlock or using one of those trailer pin lock setups

3. Install pin near the center of the hood itself to be locked behind the grille, preventing the hood from coming open.

4. Retrofit a hood release cable to work with the factory primary/secondary latches. Sounds possible with some fabrication . . .

Pertaining to #1: LMC truck has some parts for the factory hood latch. Unfortunately, the entire freaking core support is different because of the primary/secondary latch setup difference between the two. Hmmm. . . .

Ideas? Thoughts?