[serves me right to not read the digests for a weekend]
I have seen gas shocks installed in place of the hood prop on a Spitfire. It
was in '96, and I wrote about it in the club newsletter. In part, I
wrote...
> Neatest trick - one Spitfire replaced the bonnet prop rod with a pair
> of CRX hatchback struts. It looked and worked like a hot d**n. The
> only problem the guy said was that he had to clean and lube the
struts
> everytime he raised the bonnet. If the struts were closed with *any*
> grit on them, the seals would be quickly destroyed. (Still, this is
> something I'll have to try).
This guy fabricated attachment points where the 1/4 valence brackets join
the frame and (I think) he used the original inner fender mounting points.
I do remember asking the guy how he chose what shocks he used - he is
friends with a local wrecking yard, so he went in one day and chose a dozen
or so pairs to experiment with. He found the CRX struts were the right
size, and then went to Honda to purchase new ones.
If my car was running, I would have reversed engineered the whole shebang
myself, but it's not so I haven't - yet.
Michael
|