Anyone ever make hood struts for the 1st gen?

there has to be a better way than the 1 pole thingy that comes with it and bends the hood. any info appreciated.

 

not that i'm aware of. it probably wouldn't be that hard to put something together though. it would probably come down to finding a car (i see them mostly on GM vehicles) with a hood of similar weight. of course, then there will be measurements to make and figuring out how to attach them.

i must say i'm curious as to what you (or the previous owner) did to bend the hood with the stock prop rod though.

 

Still have original prop……hood just has slight area probably me or another 7 owner would notice.

Had the hood up on a semi windy day at a gathering once….and got the idea.

 

I see hood strut kits on Summit and other places, maybe adapt one of those?
A lot of them are for Ford and Chevy trucks, our hoods are pretty light compared to those.

 

Might be worth mentioning that there's a safety aspect to the hood design on our cars, in that if the hood becomes unlatched at speed, it will lift only about 2" and hover, not obstructing the drivers view. With gas struts installed, I doubt this would pop the hood full open, but worth considering. Also why our hoods don't have a secondary safety latch to be disengaged before opening.

 

I had the hood on my REPU open while driving. It lifted a few inches, and I was able to reach through the driver's window and slam it shut.

 

I wouldn’t want them to help open it…more like the rear hatch ones…..you pretty much have to pull that up for the 1/st 1/3 at least before it starts to help lift and it holds the glass up well.

If the hood is up and there’s a little wind…just a gust would blow it forward enough to come off of the factory post and slam down. But even just a little wind and it’s nerve racking, so you just have to close the hood. Not ideal if your at a show or out back cleaning the engine bay or something.

so mostly for stability and being able to leave it open without fear of it blowing off the factory post.

 

The back glass with the wiper motor isn’t that far off from the overall weight of the hood. Yes the hood is more… A couple of those strong arm gas struts might be a simple on hand thing to mock up.

 

PAC sells one for FB's (among other old Rotary cars). Been eyeing it up for a while....

https://www.pacperformance.com.au/bonnet-gas-strut

 

nice find. 80 seems fair for a bolt on solution. just wish it was on both sides.

Anyone know about what these hoods weigh? It looks like just 2 easily made aluminum mounts and 2 gas struts is all thats needed. Nice to see one already made.

 

these are cool!

 

Did anyone purchase these? And are they okay?