myophe, your'e cracking me up. This is the American way. Enjoy the 15 minutes of fame and enjoy the fact that not only you thought of something for you and fellow vette owners but did it at a lot less money.

 

not sure why, but I can't see the pics. Anyways, for a stinger hood (fiberglass obviously) what would be a recommended poundage?

 

If you can't see the pics, check: tools-internet options-advanced-media. Set to view media. My pics are .jpg format. You could also right-click them and select "open in a new tab". Then select the new tab to view the picture. Do this for each picture. Or right click-copy, then paste in your computer's paint or photo program.

As far as the Stinger hood weight is concerned, it looks to me like they probably weigh about the same, maybe just a little heavier(10 lbs or so).
When I set up my own, I weighed the hood along it's full travel from just popped to fully open. You could use your bathroom scale to measure yours. Then use the maximum weight measured during it's travel as your target weight for the gas spring. I bought a 60lb and a 75lb gas spring, so I could try both if necessary. I ended up using the 60lb gas spring. If you wanted, since your hood may be slightly heavier, you could try the 75lb gas spring. Don't worry about it being too much, as there is leeway there, and it is not going to "lift itself" or anything. Stick with the lightest weight spring that will hold your hood. Don't go overboard with the spring force. Worst case, if it isn't enough, you have to spend another $16 for another one. They sell them in a variety of pound rates, -XX on the end of the part number. I do not think you would need a stronger one though. I really think a 60lb or 75lb one will work well for your application.
When fully open, the hood's vertical force(weight straight down) becomes much smaller than when it is halfway open. So it stays well by itself in the fully open position. The highest vertical force is exerted at about the halfway point of the hood's travel.
Just go to SPD Gas Springs website and look at the chart to find the part number I listed in the earlier posting. You will find all of the available spring force rates in the same area of the chart.
Good luck, and have fun with your project!

 

I guess I should explain that I'm disabled, so the weight of the hood affects my ability to open it more than the average Joe. My shoulders and wrists(among other body parts) were messed up when I was a passenger in a head-on collision on I-95 10 years ago.
Even so, other people who lifted my hood have mentioned how heavy it seems, considering it's made of fiberglass. Also, why not update a 30+ year old car so that it only takes one hand to open/close the hood?
That was my logic in deciding on this project. Thanks for the "thumbs-up".

 

Yea, like it, got it from Speed Direct.

 

Just ordered the parts. Thanks for making it easy by having all the PN's and info. Good job. It's strange, the other day when I first saw your post I could view the pictures. Now today no mater what I try, I can't view them.

 

Yesterday I deleted the photos from my "Garage". I wonder if they have to be in my garage pictures to be seen in the posting. Perhaps there is a link or something.

I just put the original photos back into my garage. Maybe you could try again to view them, and get back to me if you can see them now. Thanks.

 

just saw your thread and this sounds like something I would like for my '79...can't see your pics either and would very much like to see them...

 

My project was missing the strut when I bought it, and I've been wondering what I was gonna do...thanks!

This place is like a support group for troubled boys...

 

Several people are having trouble viewing the pics of my gas spring project. Please, no more private messages with photo requests.
Instead:
Try selecting "1979 Chevrolet Corvette" in my posting title bar, then select "Click to see more pictures". The first 3 pics are of the gas spring hood strut. Thanks to everyone for their interest in my project.

 

I went a different route on my hood prop modification (weight reduction is my addiction), but I greatly respect the way you took into account the weight and force vectors as the hood is rotated on the hinges.

 

You have peaked my curiosity. How did you decide to modify your hood prop? I also have tried to shed weight from my 'Vette wherever I could. So far I have reduced it's weight by about 240lbs. I made myself a list of each item changed and the lbs. lost, to keep track. My '79 had a listed shipping weight of 3449lbs. I figure I am now at about 3200lbs. The only problem I ran into was that, because a majority of the weight reduced was in the front of the car, my front springs are too tall. The gap between my tires and wheel well is too big. Oh, well. Maybe I can have them cut, or find some lower springs. How did you handle this?

 

I also dropped some weight off the front end and ended up with 29 1/8" to the fender lip. I changed springs to the Moog 5758. That dropped the fender height to 27 1/8". I torched the old ones out and since the new ones are shorter they slipped in pretty fast. I would suggest though changing out the uppers to aftermarket control arms while you're in there. You get better castor which makes for better highway driving. Although the new springs are rated at 400# I didn't really notice the ride being hard or harsh. Our seats are closer to the rear spring which is still pretty soft in my case.

 

I have the FE7 Gymkhana suspension option factory installed. The front spring rate is 550lb/in stock. I would like to keep that stiff spring rate in a shorter spring. Handling with the FE7 option is phenomenal. 400lb/in springs would be way too soft for my application. Thanks for the suggestion, though. The height difference you mention is about what I'm seeing on mine too. I'll have to look for a 1-1/2" to 2" shorter spring with the 550lb/in rate.

 

I've replaced a lot of the steel on the car with aluminum. Some of it required learning how to TIG weld, and some of it was just cut and bend. The hood prop was mostly a cut and bend part.



The prop rod plugs into an aluminum bracket under the fender lip when holding up the hood, and attaches to the hood hinge (also aluminum) for storage.
Your solution is more elegant looking than mine, and I expect it also has wider appeal. As I mentioned earlier, I'm just trying to get weight out of my antique any place I can.
Ride height adjustment isn't an issue with my setup due to having coilovers on the (lighter) C4 suspension under my car. I have cut a coil off other cars to lower the ride height though. Hopefully you might be able to find lower static height springs offered somewhere, or be able to modify the springs you have.

 

You could always get a 4XX lb. spring and cut a coil or two. When the springs are cut the spring rate is increased.

 

When you say you removed the prop and left the end brackets did you have to drill out the rivets on the end brackets?

 

Mine had bolts holding it together. It was chrome plated, so I don't know if it was an aftermarket piece. It was the original configuration though. It was identical in shape and function to others I've seen.
Yes you can drill out the rivets, if yours has them. Then, if you decide to put it back at some later time(I doubt you will want to), you can use bolts/nuts in their place.

 

Just finished making mine and I cant tell ya how pleased I am with it. Opens and closes with 1 pinky. I picked up an autozone shock for 23.99 and made the upper bracket out of some scrap. Made a lower bracket for support like the original one is, plus a little "L" to come out the side and attach the lower stud to, but the problem was after bolting it through the fender lip, under pressure the L bracket would push forward. A simple 1 inch of weld to attach the 2 woud have ended that but in the end I popped the bracket off the original prop and bolted it back into place. Zero stress on the lip and it looks great too ! Thanks again for the idea.

 

Do you have the p/n for the autozone one you used? I am trying to find a mightylift locally to use. minimum order on that AVM site is $30 and the total only comes to $23.66 for the non SS ends.

Thanks
Tim.