got84in13

My 84 came without a hood prop, so I need to install one. I got the detailed Shop Manual (Factory Service Manual) off eBay (woohoo, my 1st eBay purchase!), but I don't see anything in there about installing this part. A local parts store claims to have the right part for $18, but before I buy it, I'd like to know a little more about how and where it gets installed.

Could someone please give me 3 pix of their C4's hood prop in the prop'ed position (a zoomed out shot showing the whole part with both ends, then 1 pic of each end zoomed in--particularly the end which is permanently affixed as the pivot point)?

Also, if anyone has done this before and could summarize the steps, that would be great too, but I'm hoping that pix will suffice as long as the part I buy appears to basically match the OEM part in its structure and attachment method).

Thanks!

BSenzina

I have an 84 also. What do you mean a hood prop??? Are you refering to the scissors kinda thing that keeps the hood open??? Or are you wanting to ADD a stick or rod sort of thing?

383vett

I'm away from home so I can't shoot you a picture of the scissors prop on my 84. I recall seeing replacements on ebay for close to $100. I'm not sure what you get for $18 unless it is the pressurized hood assist strut.

ccrazor

Only picture I have but I've seen others installed..


Here's one..
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-t...d-support.html

got84in13

I wasn't sure if the OEM prop was the scissors type or the rod / strut / pump type. I guess it doesn't matter to me as long as it does the job (my car has neither currently). Sounds like the scissors type is the OEM design. I suspect the parts store has the stut type. $18 sounds much better than $100--has anyone installed one of those strut types? If so, tips and pix of the installation point would be great.

PS: Thanks, ccrazor, for that link. The link shows the scissors type and where it goes. It's hard to believe something so basic would be $100 though; wow.

Thanks.

Cliff Harris

The scissors type was used until around '87 or '88. Then they went to the strut type. The holes for the strut type are already there.

Personally I think the scissors type is on the wrong side of the car. I replaced mine with the strut type about 15 years ago. MUCH easier to get to.

gerardvg

Wrong side for some
Perfect for us with r/h drive corvettes

vetteoz

You have to lift the hood slightly past it's normal opening point which means disconnecting the one end of the scissors
( which you don't have ) or the hood strut; whichever the case may be so the hood can be lifted higher
and they then just slip on their mounting pins

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1568048010-post3.html
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1546608264-post6.html

'87 at least had a main strut but it was a spring loaded unit with a latching button ; not the gas strut with the offset lock used on the later cars

Grandsportfan78

My 84 was missing the hood support also when I got it. I put a want to buy add on the forum and had several people respond with both the factory style and the later strut style. Ended up paying much less then I would of from ebay and helped out someone from this forum. You may want to try that first.

got84in13

Once I learned where to look from this thread, I found that my car actually has the lower portion of the scissors. This pic shows that in the lower-left corner (lower scissor portion in vertical position) and the upper attachment point (2 fasteners in hood where flashlight is shining):

So, I have 1/2 of scissors, or perhaps a scissoR.

CREWZIN

On my 87, I went from the OEM sturt to the gas-charged strut of the later model and it made a 100% difference. Can lift the whole hood with 2 fingers. Shouldn't be too hard to retro-fit the struts on the earlier models.

Believe it or not, I also replaced the smaller struts in the middle with $15 dollar new ones from NAPA. Turned out, it was too much pressure going up, the new gas strut and replacement small struts took the hood and slammed it up against the stops when opening up. Took the new short struts off and returned them to NAPA.

peyc2

Crewzin, could you maybe take a pic a little lower, where the support attaches to the frame, and the wheel arch area? I have an 85, and I was able to get on flea bay, a 88 strut, but, I dont see how I am to attach to the frame area. I found the location on the wheel area, but the frame area has piping and lines in the way. Not sure, I may have to drill. For sure, they goofed with the unit on the passenger side, everytime I raise the hood in the garage, its a nightmare to go to passenger side, to drop the hood. very tight garage. So, I am converting to later style. Thanks.

CREWZIN

Probably too close up. Bottom piece is just an "L" shape held on by two bolts (one at each end) and the strut in the middle with the big bolt.

Upper piece is just two small bolts into the hood for support of the upper part of the strut.

CREWZIN

Found a nice clean shot of the lower bracket.

peyc2

Crewzin,

so close, the last pic, where the bracket attaches to the frame at the bottom is what I am interested in. Was the hole already there? with a bolt in it? Thats the attachement point that escapes me. My 85 has those lines, I think they are hard lines, maybe 1/4 " in diameter in the way, and the bolt doesnt line up exactley.

CREWZIN

On that 3rd clear picture, you can just see a rusted part of the bottom of the bracket. The leg of the bracket goes down towards the frame and bends in towards the radiator and there's a hold in the bend so a bolt can go into the frame. Mine already had the bracket attached when the car came from the factory since it came with a strut. The other leg is flat against the wheel well and a bolt at the end goes through the inner liner of the wheel well into the bracket. You can see the bolt in the picture.

Here's older post about it.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-t...n-my-86-a.html

peyc2

Ok, I will take another look tonight, but, when I had tried to install, the wheel well side was not problem, but down on the frame, between the lines running on top (yours are clipped to the side) and the hole didnt line up.
Rememebr, mice has the scrissor type on the passenger side, which I am going to remove once I install this, and stop the insanity of it being on the wrong side of the car.

got84in13

peyc2: I am curious what you found out last night. I suspect I am going to have the same issue with my 84 if I try to install on the driver's side (how to line up the lower/front bracket hole with a hole in the frame [is that frame hole already there, or did you have to create it?]). As you said, the upper/rear bracket attachment should be more straightforward. Moreover, all this assumes that when I purchase this strut it will come with that bracket (I assume so based on what I have read thus far, but currently my car does not have the bracket).

Alternately, I wonder if I can install the strut on the passenger's side using the existing bracket that my lower scissors arm (recall I have no upper scissors arm) attaches to. There appears to be a rivet attaching that arm to the bracket:

Not sure how to remove this rivet. Break with chisel or crow bar?

If I install the pressurized strut on the passenger side, I wonder if I'll be stuck with the hood attachment. As shown in post #11 where the flashlight shines, I have 2 screws in the hood. I suspect there used to be a plate between them and the hood, but right now, it's just screws in the hood.

This should all become more clear to me once I buy the strut kit.

got84in13

I bought the pressurized strut support (called "lift support" by the parts store [Advance Auto Parts]), but it didn't come with mounting brackets/plates, and I don't feel like hunting them down, so I think I'm just going to return that and settle for replacing my scissors-type support. Instead of buying off of eBay, I might buy from this forum. A few minutes from now, I'll post a WTB to the C4 Parts forum, so check that ad if you have one [scissors type support for 84 or similar passenger side] to sell.

MrRenoman

I know this is an old post but I thought I'd add my .02 cents. I pulled the upper and lower bracket off a '92 to install on an '85. I've seen the lower bracket in two styles. I'm guessing there is an aftermarket bracket that's a retro-fit style that simply bolts in place with no mods. The lower bracket on the '92 I pulled is a different design and has an upper hole and two side holes that bolt it to the frame rail. When using it on a '85 the '92 factory bracket can be a direct bolt. On one retrofit I did I removed the '85 bracket that is bolted to the frame and to the fender well completely. This allowed the factory oem bracket to be installed on the frame with two bolts with no modifications. True, the steel and rubber lines need to be pulled away from the frame slightly to get the new bracket to fit. On a recent retro-fit. I cut a section out of the '85 frame to fender brace, the area that has a hole on the top of the bracket that bolts to the frame was removed. I stacked this 85 frame to fender bracket on top of the '92 oem bracket and used the one side bolt to attach it to the frame. No bolt was used on top of the '85 bracket since that was cut out. The '92 oem bracket has one hole on top to bolt it to the frame and only one of two holes on the side to the frame. The one side bolt holds both the stell line clifp, the '85 frame to fender bracket, and the oem '92 bracket. I also cut out the bottom part of the '85 bracket side mounting hole. The reason for this was due to the bracket hole not lining up with the frame hole since it was stacked on top of the '92 bracket. You don't really need to use the '85 frame to fender bracket, it can be removed completely. It's more work to notch out the top mounting hole on the bracket and notch the side mounting hole. If you just leave it off then the '92 style bracket will easily bolt on with the existing bolts. The '85 style had one bolt holding it to the side of the frame and the '92 has two holes with only one of the side holes being used since there is only one bolt hole on the side of the frame. All of what I wrote above may be difficult to follow unless you have both the '85 frame to fender bracket and the later oem bracket to stare at and to see how they mount and what has to be trimmed. Bottom line is, I believe there are two style brackets one aftermarket that doesn't require any mods and the use of the facory oem later style bracket that in order to use it the '85 frame to fender bracket is removed completely in order to mount it with no mods. I'll try to post some pics of the mod to the '85 bracket and some closeups of the installation.

Art