Has anyone tried the hood lift strut? I checked the search and no one had tried in 2009, anything new? LOL
I hate the stock hood and am getting pins soon. A gas strut to help open it would be nice, but only if it worked. TIA

R

 

I guess that no one on this forum has tried it. LOL
I wrote the dist and asked about a deal to try it and report on this forum.
That was a while ago and so far I have heard nothing back. I don't think they will sell very many of them.
The idea is good, too bad we don't have any info to go on?

R

 

I like my hood pins, the stock hold up latch is fine too. The trouble with struts is the cost and they leak the gas out over time.

 

I like mine real well... didn't know someone makes a kit for this. How much for the kit?
Buy the strut and make the brackets. Once installed you'll wonder how you lived with out it!...or not. But well worth the effort on a modified car.

Dave.

 

a gas – charged Hood strut would need to be located close to the windshield to be effective and have enough leverage to lift the heavy Hood. So it would be in the way if you were to work on the car. The factory support is located very close to the hinge, and it's completely out of the way when you're working under the hood.

 

Ok, I am going to resurrect an older post. I just purchased 2 struts after creating brackets out of the existing left hood bracket and purchasing another for the right side. I drilled out the rivets and used bolts to secure the single hood strut on the left. Part number 4422 by Strong Arm. They are the folks that have almost a monopoly on struts. Go into any aftermarket store and they will have the strut. The 4422 has the same size dimension as the existing hood support and has 40lbs lifting force. Easily lifts the corvette hood on my C3. Disn't want to stop there so made brackets on the other side. Used 4420 struts (2 of them now) that have only 20lb lifting force. It looks much better with using both as well as it gives the hood a nice fluid motion going up and down. You do NOT have to mount the hood struts near the windshield or anything like that. Works well as an original replacement for the stock hood bar, and you can create one for the other side very easily. Pictures to follow.

 

Yes, pics please!

 

 

 

you can adapt C4 lift and brackets to work, later years , of course. I have the pieces , but havent got round to the installation

 

Ok, just finished the installation. It works perfectly! I am using a double, but a single side will also work with your existing hardware. The magic is determining the strut to use. Most of the struts that I have seen are made by Strong Arm. I am going to take pictures now and then will post the part list, the small amount of fabrication, and the final view.

 

 

Another option may be Redline Tuning in Ann Arbor, MI. They sell gas strut hood conversion kits for cars originally equipped with prop rods. Have one of their kits in my daily Pontiac, and pretty nice. Doubt they have an off the shelf product for C3's, but may be able to put one together. They also sell all the harware seperately.

 

 

Ok, here are the pictures, the parts list, and the options. Any questions, please feel free to ask.

Parts:
Single side (drivers) - Original strut bar, Strong Arm 4422, 2 bolts
Double side - original strut bar, additional strut bar (eBay no more than $50), Strong Arm 4143 (x2), Ball kit bolts (x2), 1" x 1/8" x 7" aluminum bar (Home Depot), 1" x 60" thin aluminum stock (Home Depot), 4 rivets

I have the dual installation on mine. The strut that you need is the 4143 for both sides. It has a lifting force of 30lbs each. If you are doing just the single side, it's the easiest and you only need the 4422 strut.

Drivers side
To do the drivers side for either a single or dual install, you will need to remove the entire existing assembly and prop your hood open using a stick or something. Once you have it removed, you will need to drill out the rivets holding the center bar to the 2 ends. A simple drill and bit wide enough to take the back end off the rivet and it falls out. then put the hood bracket and the fender bracket back on the car. I cleaned and painted the pieces before putting back on.

Here are the pictures. I will post the directions later.

 

thats excellent work

 

Thanks, will post detailed directions for making the single or double in the morning. Just too tired to do it justice right now.

 

That looks really nice. Great job.

 

Ok, here are the parts needed and the directions. The easiest to do is to just convert your existing hood support to a strut based support. About 20 minutes work and $30. The KEY is to know the correct strut. And now you do!

I went with the twin setup as I like that balanced look. BUT it's a different strut as two of the 4422's will crunch your fiberglass!

Refer to the pictures that I posted earlier and you can get the ideas pretty quickly. Especially the bracket that has to be made for the dual setup.

As always, your mileage may vary. Not responsible for S**t on my end, etc. Just a good ol boy wanting the best for my C3.

-------------------------------------------
Left side only. - Strong Arm 4422 strut
1. Prop open the hood (broom stick) and remove the existing support arm from car.
2. Drill out rivets that are holding the support middle section to the car fender mount and to the hood support mount.
3. Re-install hood and fender sections back onto car.
4. Use appropriate length bolts with washers to secure the Strong Arm 4422 to the top and bottom through the
holes that the rivets were in. Make sure you use washers on either side of the EYE HOLES in the strut.
5. SLOWLY put down the hood. If you hear ANY sound of fiberglass crunching, stop and check the connections.

Both Sides - Strong Arm 4143 struts. Strong Arm ball connection bolts ($4.99 per pack) 2 required.

Note: This install requires that you purchase the universal ball connectors from Strong Arm. These are sold by the
same place that you are getting your strut arms from. They just snap right into the 4143 struts. Easily removed
using a very small blade screw driver. This also requires you to purchase an additional hood support from ebay, etc.
I purchased mine for $29. It was a bit used, but a wire wheel on a drill cleaned it right up. I then painted it. Drill out
the rivets while it's off the car. Also, as an optional enhancement, I made 2 *support straps* out of thin aluminum and
ran them from between the hood hinge and the top of the hood bracket. In that way, the pushing / pulling will be
under load against the strap and not the fiberglass hood. You can *see* it in the pictures.

1. Perform the same operation as single side above to the DRIVERS side hood support. (Steps 1,2, and 3)
2. Take a piece of flat aluminum and make a small bracket by bending, in a vice, to form a *Z*. This simple
bracket will secure the bottom of the strut to the passenger fender well. Very easy to make.
3. Attach the ball-bolts to the top 2 brackets mounted on the hood, and the bottom 2 mounted on the
fenders.
4. Snap the struts on the ball bolts.
5. SLOWLY lower the hood, listening for any signs of fiberglass *crunching*.

The 4422 has a lifting force of about 40lbs. Th 4143's have a lifting force of about 30lbs each.
They are the correct size and shape for our cars.

 

Everything in there looks great.