Calderone

My hatch was really heavy to open but when i replaced the struts with new ones its just magic,and i press the button and it opens alone.-

Well,my hood was getting a bit heavy so i decided to buy the little hood shocks.- But i also have the gas hood prop.

What are the main forces here ? the little shocks or do i have to replace the big strut as well ?

I found a set of 2 struts here but they look like normal struts,mine have a lock ball and it seems special.- I don't have any idea if its replaceable and i see no reason why they sell a pair since one is needed.-

Help !!!! i want my hood to feel really light.-
Thanks !

Aggravated4life

I changed all the struts up front and WOW,it lifted with ease!
Lemme tell you why I did all of the the same time.

One time when my struts were bad,I was doing a brake job and the hood was propped up,but yet,suddenly fell down onto my neck...lucky for me I was installing pads and the wheel was off.My head and neck flew down a few inches and hurt like a ****.

The Hood fell down and wham! Hit the back of my neck pushing it down but lucky for me I didnt die or break my neck.Had my wheel/tire been there,I dont think i would be alive today.

rodj

You are right ; it is a generic pic as the '87 has a different style main strut which locks as well as the 2 hood"assist" ones at front
See http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Corve...3A1|240%3A1318

Calderone

Aggravatted ,ouch thats a good story !

Rod,yes i bought the little ones,but im not sure if i have to change the big one.-

AGENT 86

Is your main one, gas charged ??

Calderone

not really sure,it seems not but it looks like it is
lol

flynn508

on my 86 the main prop rod is just a scissor rod that breaks in the middle with the two small gas shocks up front. But now that you've started this thread, my hood does take a whole lot of strength to open, my wife could never lift it if she had to. This is not normal? Maybe I need to change those little shocks too.

Calderone

Oops i have a '87,no scissors

LD85

Open alone? I want mine to do that, replacing the 2 small struts is a huge improvement,

Calderone

Yes,hatch opens alone now

Kool88vette

I changed my hood struts on my 88. You don't need something that is made for a Corvette. The main one that I installed is gas charged. I found it on the internet. It's a universal type.

Calderone

But does it come with the ball to lock the hood open?
or that works independent ?
are the little ones hard to replace ?
i replaced the hatch ones in a breeze !

AGENT 86

I replaced my ball locking one with the newer gas charged style, big difference.
On the newer style, the cover over rod, pops to the side and rests on the strut body. To lower it, you push the cover parallel to strut and lower the hood.

Calderone

Oh is that new style (i saw it on a friend's 96) gas charged ?
is that serviceable ? i have seen this third style struts for sale but USED only
and im not sure if this style has a replaceable strut and that's what they sell on ebay
please let me know thanks !

i found the struts here but maybe they
are selling incorrect struts...but i think this maybe goes "into" the new third style that i found here but if i use this alone
im sure it would be pretty weak.-
I found the 89-96 on Midamerica for $79.99 brand new here so,can i remove my 84-87 ball locking one and install this newer style ? How hard ?

AGENT 86

First link are the 2 small ones up front.
Second and third links are the strut I'm using. You need the newer hood bracket to install on hood. For the lower mount, I removed the existing strut stud and installed the ball stud from newer lower bracket(correct size ball stud from your local parts place is all that's needed if you don't have the newer lower bracket).
Mid America says they will not air ship these gas charged struts.

AGENT 86

Here's a couple of pics

Calderone

i will check what i have , yes i noticed that on M.A.

Dolfan

I need to check my '89, but I thought it only has the one main strut that locks in place?

rodj

'87 at least has a different style as Sammy states.

Looks like a gas strut but is more of a spring loaded prop that does very little to assist opening.It has a button that locks on opening and needs to be depressed to release prop whereas the later true gas strut releases as Agent86 states above

Calderone

Yes i have that button !