hcbph

I think the 85 & 86 are the same. My 86 has the 2 short struts in front and a scissors mechanism to hold up the hood.

Bfenty

ah yes-I DO have the scissor support, but not a third hydraulic strut.

gerardvg

Replace the two small gas struts, you will not look back.
I have an 85 for many years i put up with struggling to lift the hood, replaced the gas struts around 5 years ago was shocked at the difference.

The hood can easily be lifted with one hand or a couple of fingers, the hood stays up and the scissor latch is only there just in case of a gust of wind.

I actually have to pull the hood down around half way to close it and drop it the last few inches.

DO IT NOW you will be kicking yourself at how long you have put up with bad gas hood assist struts

Real easy to replace them, just remove the split pins and fit one end.
Then unbolt the scissor latch and open the hood that extra inch and fit the other end, then bolt the scissor latch back on and be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to lift the hood.

The later c4 has a large hood latch gas strut instead of the scissor latch / bracket, they will open all the way when you pull the hood release handle.. they can be retrofitted to early c4's

confab

No, it is on the newer ones. I bought mine from a forum member and I thought he said 86, but maybe I am mistaken.

It's the one you see in all the pics. Has an orange, plastic lock on it. Mounts on the driver's side, in front of the tire, to the fender well area.

mark970

check out ebay...i have had great luck buying very nice clean used parts from Redneck43. here is a link to his store...and he's a good guy, you can email him if you dont see your part there (i email him all the time asking questions and he's always helped me, even when i was looking for information so i could sell items). you can probably even tell him what your plan is and he could probably tell you all the parts that would be required.

http://stores.ebay.com/Redneck43-Corvettes-Store?_rdc=1

xc3

I just replaced 2 short struts at hinge on my '84, didn;t make a damn bit of difference !!!

gerardvg

Hi does your hood stay open by itself?
My 85 the small struts made a big difference, very easy to open hood with a couple of fingers and the hood stays open doesn't drop to engage scissor bracket. Perhaps they are not charged correctly, i actually have to pull the hood down a bit before it will drop down.

xc3

Not only do they not help to go up, but I also have to struggle to prevent hood from crashing when being lowered !

Randy M

I converted my 85's scissor hood support to the gas strut years ago and I highly recommend it.