Hmm, a Black Cow...think I will have one.

 

Looks like the hood struts off a 3rd gen Maxima (89-94). I have a few sets around the garage from when I had a Maxima. It took 2 to hold up the Maxima's steel hood that probably weighs about the same as an Rx-7 steel hood.

 

Good info, thanks guys.

 

Sticky please ?

 

this just in... These are 3000gt hood struts. Not sure what model (if any) nissan might have also used them, but I just got back from the yard searching every nissan for them. I had given up and was pulling some honda part for a friend when I went to the car next to it (3000gt) for a "helper bar". Low and behold its these exact struts , used the smart phone to verify.

 

Hmmm.
Mine was definitely off a Nissan but it doesn't surprise me that other cars use them as well.
Easier (for me) to find one from a Nissan as I don't think I've ever seen a Stealth/3000GT in the yard I frequent.

 

Interesting....I've been to 3 yards over the past 3 weeks and seen 8-9 3k's. All of the yards are full of Nissan sentras, altimas, and gen 1-2 maximas, but these struts don't come from those models....would be nice to figure out all the models that have them.

 

here is a picture of a 3000gt. hood strut can be seen on the driver side.


also it might be a stealth, don't know this cars very well my self.

 

That's a Mitsubishi (note the badge on the nose), so it's a 3000GT.
I'd no experience with them till last year when a friend of mine flew in and bought one locally.
It was actually a pretty cool car but fiendishly complex what with the twin turbos, all wheel drive, rear wheel steering, etc.

 

There should be two of them...you'd prolly need a unit from Koni to hold that hood up with just one, lol

VR4....well damn, if you're gonna do it, might as well do it right!

 

how bout the part number on the nissan strut you pulled.... that silver or metallic tag should have a manufacture part number on it... i could try to cross reference the numbers when i get to work... (O'Reilly Auto) that way we have a year and model of this mystery nissan

 

The 3000GT struts look to be factory. The silver tag is all Japanese. The number engraved in the shock body under the tag is: 50H26 MR

 

If I get ambitious, I'll check my strut for numbers...right now the car is under a ton of snow.

 

New Maxima ones are $15-$20 thru RockAuto. Here is a Sack's one that looks pretty complete but who knows if this is a stock photo of a generic part.



There are a bunch of them under Body Exterior - Lift Support.

Same path for the VR-4 ones but they start at $20 and go to $50.

 

Clokker, do you think this would interfere with intercooler piping at all for a TII? We obviously can't see what it looks like with the hood down and I'm curious as to how far over and how low the strut sits when closed. I would love to do this, but I'll be getting an intercooler here soon and would hate to go through the whole process only for it to hit the piping and prevent the hood from closing. Also, any foreseeable problems using this strut on a carbon fiber hood?

 

It lays down to the right of the stock top mount, so it shouldn't be an issue there.
My piping goes in between the P/S pump and the A/C compressor so I have no issues either. However if you have intercooler piping going through were there P/S pump used to reside, there could be an issue, depending on the location of the bend that points toward the TB.

 

i get mounts like that in stainless steel, struts too, but they are obviously more then $5

 

Thanks for the idea Clokker. I can't see a reason why someone wouldn't want to do this. I decided to order a new one from Rockauto as suggested above. $25 shipped, came next day. 30 minutes installation. Done. Funny how something so small can make such a big difference in an engine bay.

 

Any chance there is a part number on that strut? That would make it a lot easier for everyone that wants to give it a go.

 

sweet mod. pretty simple too.

 

I just searched under a 93 Maxima on rock auto and picked one. I picked the Monroe left side because I've heard of the brand. But any one would probably work. Clokkers bracket looks like a perfect right angle, where mine wasn't a right angle so a little bit more difficult to mount (required a few washers).

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php

 

Very cool I think I'll look for one at the junkyard tomorrow!

 

well uh, dont instal one on a carbon fiber hood, went to close it and it blew right threw the bottum layer of my hood like i thought it might.... if anyone wants to buy my good strut ill do $20 shipped..

 

I could've told you that, but I have an idea about the fg/cf hoods. You could add a strip of metal ~1.5"x~6" and 1/8" thick along the hood frame where you'll mount the bracket and fasten it to the hood at 6 or 8 points. It might just be enough to keep it from blowing through. It's a gamble though, you'd need to be careful or else it might even blow through the exterior, and then you'll be really mad...

 

yeah i figured it would do exactly what it did, i just did it out of boredom mostly.. even if you made some sort or bracket to mount it to without it blowing threw the hood it still bows the hood up when closed..