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Removed the old ones easily (no tension), but I cannot compress the new ones the 1/8 or 1/4 inch I need to get them on. Granted, the old guy is not as strong as in his youth, but these little cylinders are tough. Any suggestions from those who have installed these previously?
Any suggestions from those who have installed these previously?
You need you lift the hood further for them to install them
Not familiar with 85 but on later cars removing one end of the main hood support ( and having someone support hood ) allows hood to be raised enough to slip them on.
The hood weighs a ton. I replaced the ones on my 86. Didnt really feel a difference lifting. Never bothered on my 87. If you want easy lift, get the kit and update to the newer style. 90 up I think. On those, the hood nearly jumps up on its own.
I remember that my wife helped by holding the hood open as far as it would go, but I don't remember if I unbolted the scissor support or not. Once the hood was open far enough, the lift cylinders could be put in place.
On mine they made a difference. The hood is heavy, but when they were bad, the hood weighed enough that I was concerned about it overloading the scissor support and breaking it. Once I changed the assist cylinders, the hood would basically be balanced with almost no load on the scissor support.
The hood weighs a ton. I replaced the ones on my 86. Didnt really feel a difference lifting. Never bothered on my 87. If you want easy lift, get the kit and update to the newer style. 90 up I think. On those, the hood nearly jumps up on its own.
where can you get the kit to update to the newer style ?
that sounds like a good idea. I have always been scared of mine.
I make my kid stay away from the car when I have the hood up.
I think MAM still has the kit. Jason at Vette2Vette could probably sell you what you need. Its just the mounting brackets and a gas strut. Mounts on the driver side.
I think MAM still has the kit. Jason at Vette2Vette could probably sell you what you need. Its just the mounting brackets and a gas strut. Mounts on the driver side.
On my 85 i replaced the hood support struts, and with help i removed the hold up support, and that allowed me to move the hood up enough to get the struts on... that hood is heavy.
I realize this thread is over 2 years old but I wanted to add what I did to compress the strut when I was working on the car by myself. I couldn't undo the top support of the scissor brace without a pretty good chance that it would fall on me so I went a different route. I took some 12 gauge household electrical wire I had and made a loop out of it. I was sure to put a bunch of twists into the wire so it wouldn't want to back out.
Once I had the loop set up I twisted it down to where it was smaller than the fully open strut. I attached the strut with the cotter key on the bottom and got the top started onto the upper attach point. I then carefully started lowering the hood and slipped the loop over the lower attach point and over the top of the strut. Once it was on there I began raising the hood, which compressed the strut just enough to get it onto the mount.
Might not have been the best way but it was all I could think of after trying 400 other things. Here's a picture of the loop I made.
Unfortunately it takes 2 people to install the small hood support struts. Mine are still sitting in the box because of lack of help. To do it yourself you need to compress the strut about a 1/4 inch to get the strut into the upper and lower attachments. Is this wire loop I see de-compressing the strut so you can do it yourself?
Unfortunately it takes 2 people to install the small hood support struts. Mine are still sitting in the box because of lack of help. To do it yourself you need to compress the strut about a 1/4 inch to get the strut into the upper and lower attachments. Is this wire loop I see de-compressing the strut so you can do it yourself?
I did it alone by pushing the hood open as far as it would go. That allows the struts to slip onto the pins. Kind of awkward, but doable.
UPDATE 2! - So when I did the first strut the wire trick worked fine but I didn't have the same luck with the second one going that route. On the second one I simply unbolted the top of my scissor prop, pushed the hood about 3" further than it would normally stop, and the new strut slipped on just fine.
This method was MUCH easier than the first one I tried with the wire loop and I'd recommend it if you have to change the struts by yourself. Just be careful not to push the hood too far and lose your grip!
01-07-2012, 10:08 PM
85 hood lift assist cylinders
I bought two from Jason, great guy!
