Hood damper/strut options?
 

Obviously no direct bolt ons but hoping someone has bought a universal set that works without major modification. Would appreciate the input.

You are talking about gas struts for the hood right? Not much room under there for that but interesting idea. Would be interested to see examples of clean installs. Maybe some JY JDM cars can provide donor parts that work.

Yes sir, that is what I'm referring to. I had them on my FD and really liked not having to deal with the hood prop. I know someone out there has had the same feeling. Obviously no direct kit so would take some work but would be worth it to me

Amazon has a lot of options and also mounting hardware. Looks doable for sure. Might add it to my list. Also a good way to help protect against the wind when the hood is open.

No scratches, cheap, lightwight (100 gramm) and good protect against the wind. You will need two hood damper. Porsche, Mazda put a lot of money and opinion in their sportscar saving weight. Us guys always like to made them weighty. :patriot:
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...5125b6368c.jpg
Moded with clear-sightedness hose
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...da7d76bf20.jpg
100gramm

I had not seen that design before. Simple but effective. Have a link by chance?

Problem is this is still not anchoring the other side and in a good string wind it can bounce the hood in such a way that it can drop the support and then bam or worse it folds over the nose. Almost had it happen before and am much more careful opening my hood and walking away at car meets. I get your message about lightness but sometimes new cars do have nice designs to be copied.

Warm up 5 cm of clear-sightedness hose (https://www.schlauch-profi.de/pvc-sc...hoCeD4QAvD_BwE ) in a cup of hot water and pull it over the and of the hood holder. You get a strong fixing and wind will not be a problem anymore. Hurricane let me shut the hood and drive the car in a garage. 😉

Acura TLs from like 04-08 have short struts. I had a spare from my old car I was going to try and fabricate brackets for but never got around to it

I looked at this a couple of weeks ago using a spare hood strut from a Mitsubishi Diamante. I think it can be done, but the problem is that it would need to mount quite low on the hood, and as there are cutouts for the headlights on either side you kind of run out of places to mount it. Keen to see if anyone has done it though, might put more thought into it when I get more time.

I actually expected a few people to chime in with their setup and make this easier. Lol. They definitely need to be of the shorter type to work which eliminates many of the universals out there. But then yes, the mounting options come into play. I have too many irons in the fire to start another super in-depth project but this is on my radar for sure. Would be so much cleaner.

OK, I'll chime in.

What's wrong with the original stock hood prop?

Attachment 747806

Keeping it stock couldn't be any easier since you already own it and it's already installed. Bing, bang, you're done.

And it will save a few bucks by not having to buy a hydraulic kit to make your FB look like an FD.

(Which would offend the Rotary Gods)

Plus it's a squeaky clean installation, just like the Mazda Engineers intended.

... or have we come to the point where lifting a hood and setting the hood prop is too challenging for the average American?

Nothing is wrong with it but in a windy situation with your hood up it can get pretty exciting sometimes.

True Tim, the stock prop is primitive for sure, I've had issues on windy days too.

But the stock rod is in keeping with the elegant simplicity of the 1st gens, don't you think?

Also, please excuse my poking a little fun at the young guys who want to take an old car (and classic, in the case of the SA/FB's) and make them look like a new car.

I'm trying to imagine in my mind a pair of hydraulic hood lifts hovering over the headlight motors springing to action when activated by a switch on the dash.

What would the Rotary Gods think?

Well, to that point, my car isn't stock nor a rotary. Lol

Oh, now I understand. Show us the pictures when you get them installed!

My concern would be that the hood is just too light for a pair of hood struts. I feel as though it would take a considerable amount of force to close alight hood with hood struts or there owuld be bending and twisting with only one strut installed. My Porsche 944 has a pair of hood struts, but the hood on that car is EXTREMELY heavy and anything but hood struts would be a nightmare. These would be my concerns.