HELP Gas Struts for Hood

[81camel]

I got myself a steel 2" cowl hood that I will be installing on my car and was thinking it would be nice to have gas struts.
In the past the only thing I've come up with in a search is from Ring Brothers - https://www.ringbrothers.com/1978-1...-kit-air-frame-natural-finish-fiberglass-hood
As nice as they are, I can't justify spending that much.

Was doing some more looking yesterday and found these https://www.ebay.com/itm/2946508605...d=link&campid=5335822911&toolid=20001&mkevt=1
They have a video in the description too

Has anyone here tried these before? How did you like them?

I'd maybe prefer if the bottom of the struts weren't so far forward, but probably not a huge deal. The price seems pretty good and I'm very tempted to get them.



Thanks

 

[85442/86buick]

could you not use the hood shock system from a Buick Regal on your car ?

my Regal is an hour away , but swear I have though about doing this on my Cutlass .

 

[Malihoochie-]

Motormite #3000 ballstuds
And stability lift-o-mat struts are what I have.

 

[Malihoochie-]

Motormite #3000 ballstuds
And stability lift-o-mat struts are what I have.

The hood struts are #4031 on mine.

 

[MakeMineaMonte]

Looks like they have them maybe with non-stainless struts too for less- https://www.motocam360.com/products/product/39-1981-87-montey-hood-strut-kit

If you get them I’d be interested to hear how you like them.

 

[81camel]

I ended up ordering the stainless version. I will post back when I get them and install them!

 

[Sweet_Johnny]

I looked into doing this on my El Camino and these are the notes I wrote down that I could find for you. I might have more somewhere....

Mount the gas strut to the rear hood hinge bolt hole on the fender if implementing a fiberglass or aluminum hood. Use the front fender hole if mounting a steel hood. Physics at work: Mounting the strut incorrectly or using the wrong strength of strut can result in you folding your hood in half.

Position the Regal hood bracket and attach it to your hood (they're a little longer) prior to this of course. If you want to weld Regal brackets to your current hood hinges, they should extend about 2" in front of the hood bolt holes.

To mount a fiberglass hood I decided it would be best to go with a 96# strut, part number 4491. For steel, 130# seemed to be the ticket but I don't have a part number handy. A Regal owner just might have that info. I was aiming for around 10" compressed length because the factory Regal struts come in at 9.73" compressed and 15.34" fully extended.

You can do all of this without the Regal hood brackets if you want, it just doesn't look as "factory". It still looks pretty cool though. When using hood hinges from another G such as an Elk, Bu, etc., remove the springs but reinstall the hinges in their factory location. Mount one end of the strut to a hinge bolt hole on the fender utilizing a ball stud instead of the usual bolt. I don't have that number either but they're easy to find where the struts are sold. The same rule for which fender bolt hole to use still applies. The other end bolts to an open hole on the hinge- I believe it's where the spring used to mount. For this setup I wrote down that I would use part number 4031 for a fiberglass hood, as 88# hit the sweet spot of support vs resistance.

I know it's not a complete guide, but I hope it's helpful in some way.

 

[mikester]

I tried gas struts on my wagon. Since its a wagon and the A pillars are on a different angle it wouldnt work. The geometry was wrong.
In the end I wound up modifying a set of factory hinges.
This is the original mock up set. Works like factory now and plenty of clearance to the glass.

 

[81camel]

Thanks for the notes!
I'm hoping to get some time to work on it this weekend

 

[mikester]

Thanks for the notes!
I'm hoping to get some time to work on it this weekend

If you decide to use struts I have a set of mounts already made and the ball studs you would need. I'll sell them for what I have into them.