Trunk support conversion to gas struts

[Flyingthere]

Pat another question. I noticed both you and the earlier install located the L bracket as far forward as they could go. Do you think the struts could be more effective if they we mounted a little aft of the upper connection point? Im not an engineer but wonder what your thoughts are on this.
Thanks,

[81SPIDERMATT]

Pat another question. I noticed both you and the earlier install located the L bracket as far forward as they could go. Do you think the struts could be more effective if they we mounted a little aft of the upper connection point? Im not an engineer but wonder what your thoughts are on this.
Thanks,

i wondered the same thing.... might have to keep an eye on the length of the closed unit moving it back like that

[Ptoneill]

I tried it further back, I did not notice any difference in lifting ability or smoothness.

Remember you are dealing with a pivot point, in this case it is where the hinge attaches to the car, the lid rotates about that point. The strut being anchored at the hinge is to the rear of the pivot, having the base of the strut forward of that anchor point directs the energy of the strut up and away from the pivot point made by the lid and frame. If you moved it too far forward the energy from the strut is directed forward into the pivot point which would require more energy for the same lift.

Take a look at a mini van lift, modern trunk or I used my 944 you will see that the anchor point is always closer to the pivot point and that the other end is attached further out on the item being lifted

When you install the upper balls on the hinge you can snap on the upper part of the strut, then snap the lower strut to the 90 deg anchor. You can the experiment by moving the base back and forth, it always has force on it so it pretty much stays where you put it. This would be advised if you went to longer or heavier lifting struts.

Remember I used a SWAG ( scientific wild ass guess) to estimate what others did I am sure there are other options to accomplish the same result.

Good Luck!!

[basarabam]

For some reason not all the pictures were showing up till today. Thanks for the repost on those part numbers!

[Ptoneill]

It wasn't you!!, the picture of the part numbers for the hardware wasn't there, I re edited the post to include them.......

[cos]

my attempt, inspired by all of you. I used 2 off a Honda CRX that i had spare. Worked a treat!

[westy64]

What a nice paint and a nice trunk !
Would you post more photos of the car, showing the bumper conversion at the front, for example ?
And would you show a detail picture of the lower fix ?
Thanks in advance.

[cos]

Here's another shot. I'll get more photos of front and start a diary on the restoration section. I'll keep you posted.
when the fuel tank was off, i checked and marked the bottom mounting hole of the strut when the trank was closed. No need for any additional brackets etc, but when drilling make sure you have all painted surfaces well protected!

[Ptoneill]

Very nice!! I like the look and it frees up the floor of the trunk. L ove the old style bumpers, I am going with them also, thanks for sharing the pictures.

[cos]

yes, one of the reasons i chose to mount it in that possition.

[btoran]

very clean looking install (and trunk). do you have a part number for the honda struts?

[cos]

Thank you. i haven't got any part nos unfortunately. Looked through old receipts but no luck. Sold the Honda 5-6 years ago. It was a 1989 CRX (MK2) model if that helps. For the rear boot.

[MIGHTY 8]

Greetings,

I too was suffering of "Trunk induced head aches" caused by too many times hitting my head on the ever creeping lid!

Someone showed me a trick that is VERY simple, corrected the problem, and can be done in about 5 minutes. That being said, my trunk lid now stays in its place all the time.

In the trunk you should find two springs at either corner. On the driver's side you should see that this spring is attached very simply to one of three notches hanging from the frame back towards the gas cap. This fix involved nothing more then simply stretching out that spring to then re-attach it to a further notch. The extra tension placed on the spring corrects for the drooping lid problem.

As I said before problem was solved.

Good luck!

[tartan18]

Yesterday I installed the two struts as mentioned earlier in this thread (from Lift Supports Depot). Everything worked great. The hardest part of the installation was drilling the holes on the trunk floor but that was because my drill bits were a bit worn (not as sharp as they should have been). Many thanks to Pat for his clear instructions. I couldn't be happier.

Next project will be to install an electric trunk popper.

[v6spider]

This post is awesome...I appreciate will those that contributed..

Rob