pearlvette

This is the second time I have had someone at a shop improperly close the hood and bend the folding hood support out of wack. The only reason I took it to these guys was to replace the transmission filter ( I don't like crawling under the car that far with just jack stands.) My hood has always been a beast to open so I figure the two struts are bad. Anyways, I was wondering if I replace the two small hood struts, would you need to use the folding support anymore?

martymcfly

My hood support is missing. The 2 little struts won't hold the hood open. The hood is heavy. I need a new hood support too.

lange

this happened to me too... a friend decided to close the hood by himself. I was able to find one here in the parts for sale section but places like ecklers sell them for about 100$ and you can get a good looking chrome one for 300$. But it will just break your heart more next time someone breaks it.

mikeb

Talk to the store mangler, aahhh, I mean manager and ask if they'll pay for the replacement part.
If you keep calm and friendly about it, they may pay for the part.
Replace it yourself, or if they offer, tell them you'd rather have a chevy dealer do it.
The struts won't support that 5000 pound clam shell.

lange

had to change it alone... took a lot of ability to change the part while holding that hood with my back and my head.

PAINTER MAN

I have a hood support for an 86 if you need one. I replace the folding bracket with the hydrolic strut.

Cruisinfanatic

I have a hard time believing those two little struts do much. I'm the original owner of my 85 and the hood has always taken quite an effort to raise.

IndyVette84

They broke mine also on an '84. Replacement part ended up being $114.00 and the oil people sent me a check in the mail..plus a coupon for another free oil change-which I will NEVER use!

mikey whipreck

I replaced the two mini struts on my '85 with a new pair from autozone (mightlift brand). They will hold the hood up by themselves.

sami85L98

I have 85 too, and broke those things about 2 times, so i upgraded to later style hydraulic, costed me 125 bux and 1/2 hr job, best thing i ever i did, and i can open the hood with just 2 fingers thats it, effortless. Right now one selling on ebay check it out. But u need extra piece to upgrade ur's u can get it from CC or madvet.com or last detail. Dont buy another scissor style hood prop again.

pearlvette

Talked to the manager and they totally deny they did anything wrong. I showed them the latch, and he couldn’t understand what the problem was. I had already bent it back into shape good enough to hold it up, but not trust it. The guy who shut it denied there was any problem when he shut it. The manager actually asked me why I didn’t let them know at the time it happened. I gave up, getting nowhere with these idiots. Next time, I will get under the car myself. Be sure to watch them or shut it yourself when you go to these places.

84number2083

If you keep calm they MAY pay for it??? A Valvoline place did this to mine a few years back. The store manager immediately told me to go get a quote and we'd work something out. He didn't want to report it to corporate so I got a quote from a chevy dealer, brought it to the Valvoline guy and he gave me 7 free oil changes (which didn't take long to use with 3 cars), the hood prop cost roughly the price of 4 oil changes, and I got the prop installed at the dealer and all was well.

84number2083

I wouldn't give up quite yet. If it's a national chain, write to the corporate office....and mentioning the BBB really does work well with most of these places.

kdf1986

I have an 86 with a strut rod and a little button at the top. The hood is EXTEMELY heavy to lift up. How hard is the conversion to the gas charged cylinders to do on this.

For the 84/85 models with the scissor support it would seem like this would be the way to go also.

kdf

Bob CTS

Same on my 86, there is no weight on the folding rod at all when the hood is up. But, who knows how long this will last. Mine has lasted a year thus far and is still holding.

Bob

CREWZIN

I replaced my 87 with the gas strut rod from Superior Chevrolet (info from guys on this forum) and it fit right in, no extra parts needed. Best thing I've ever done. As someone earlier said; the hood goes up with two fingers now, or one very strong finger.

85 500 horse

One of the first things I did when I got my 85 was ditch the scissor style hood assist. I replaced it with a hydraulic unit and it is fantastic. You really can open and close the hood with one hand. My advice is to see if they will pay for the damage and take the money and replace it with a hydraulic unit.

topgunvette

i bought a replacement for my '86 off ebay from redline corvette parts i believe and paid about 40 bucks shipped