Dantana

Anyone ever install this kit? I bought one for $136 and the strut they sent me is a 90lb strut, I can barely compress it with one end on the garage floor and all my weight on it (185lbs). I certainly can't compress it with both hands only. Also, the upper bracket bolted in place and holds pretty well but the lower bracket bends under the load of the strut (I hooked the whole system up in hopes I was wrong about the strut being too stiff). With the hood in the up position I can't budge it, and I'm afraid if I push it any harder I'll crack the hood itself.

Anyone have this experience??

Fix?

79 vette head

i would call the company and get some more info on it. maybe there's something you did wrong or defective part. something doesn't sound correct. when you figure it out let us know. i wouldn't mind one myself. and hey take a look at my avatar....

Dantana

very simple kit - 1 strut, 2 brackets and 1 ball stud for each side of the strut to mount it to the brackets. Not even I could screw that up.

eagle275

Dantana

It appears that it takes 120lbs of pressure to compress my 90lb hood strut. Seems a bit high... they are sending me a new one.

Will advise after install.

eagle275

So, where are you going to see Maiden? That's awesome! Explain to me this strut system - is this an automatic hood opening system? Where did it come from?

Duke94

http://cmc.speeddirect.com/items.asp...atus=0&Tp=&Bc=

eagle275

I like that - too bad they don't have it for a '71. I saw one somewhere that they owner had the hood open automatically.

Dantana

tickets in Chicago in july, i'm really looking forward to it. I was a huge fan when i was younger and i find that i still like listen to them on often enough that i decided to grab up some lawn seats. I had eveything up to NPFD so hopefully we will get a heavy enough dose of the 80's and early 90's.

hood strut kit is really cool, but I'm not quite sure how I feel about just one strut. I might feel more comfortable with one on each side. It's not an original look, but my car doesn't exactly scream NCRS...

Sully1882

Glad you got that all worked out and they are sending you a new strut. I wonder why this is just for 73 and up and not for the 68-72 crowd. I would really be interested in seeing some closeup pics if you get a chance.

thanks ,

Sully

Dantana

will post some pics after install, Sully

Dantana

Sorry, no pics today but I wanted to put an update out on this hood strut kit throgh Speed Direct:

It really didn't work at all. The reason I went to it was because I didn't want to support the hood linkage system on the fender. This kit required fender support, which I could not give because the fastening point had already been compromised. I thought the lower bracket was robust enough to handle the pressure but it bent over like a tree branch. The hood strut they sent me was also too stiff. It said 90lbs (to stiff to begin with) but took 120lbs to compress. They sent me a new one and it was overly stiff as well, but not as bad. The hood bracket also wants to pull away from the hood because it is only fastened onthe lower 3" while the strut connects to the top, roughly 8" away. I think that problem will correct itself when the lower bracket is secured.

I am going to make my own secondary bracket to support the primary lower bracket sent by Speed Direct. If I secure the second bracket to the fender I think it will brace the system enough to use a strut. I am going to move the fastening point of my new bracket down the side of the fender and use the top point on the Speed Direct bracket to connect the two. I may also end up using a lesser stiff strut, like maybe 70lbs.

My preference would be to have used a strut on each side of the hood of less tonage and make two bracket systems. This would distribute the weight of the hood over 2 points rather than 1 and put the fiberglass fender at substantially less risk. I think overall I would have rather designed my own system.

I'll post some pics of my system when it is designed and installed.

TPI BOY

thegavel

Hey Dantana,
(I know this an old post)
Did you finally get it sorted or did you end up fabbing your own 2 strut setup ???
Cheers,
Gav

jeffp1167

All those gas struts are like that at first. I bought new hatch struts for my 90 vette and for about the first 2 months when I hit the power release the whole car jerked when the hatch popped and many times I thought it would fly over the car it came up so violently. No though they are tame and don't scare me everytime.

Dantana

I never did get this kit to work for me. I have both struts still and was just the other day considering trying to find some much softer struts, I was thinking in the 45 lbs area for test. I still have the brackets Speed Direct sent me so it could just be as simple as experimenting until I find the right pressure.

Anyone gotten this to work since my original post? I'd love to see some pics and discuss

Thanks,
Dan

rdroe

I created my own with the CORRECT struts. Posted the instructions and pictues in another thread:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...hood-lift.html