DIY s13 hood lift support...aka, best diy ever!

[srpowered240sx]

DIY hood lift support setup. i wanted to wait until i did the second set, but i cant wait anymore, so here it is, after high demand, the write up. let me know how it can be improved, this is my first write up ever.

Start with, *4 pieces steel stock, 1.5”x .75”, 90degree bend*4 ball studs (wrecking yard)*2 40psi lift supports 17.2” extended and 11” compressed (Gabriel number 4418)*handful of small sheetmetal screws about 3/8” to ½” long. *pilot bit

Now take a lift support and plug a ball stud into the end. Mark where the studs need to be cut off to be welded to the brackets, making sure to leave room for full rotation of the support, repeat for all. Also, on two of the pieces of steel stock, cut off one of the sides…..like so…

Now, grab the welder, or take to a muffler shop etc, and get to welding. Id like to have some finished pieces to show you, but the prototypes on my hatch will have to do for explanations. On the inside of the 90degree bent steel stock, weld the ball stud(making sure the support can rotate).

On the top(bottom of hood), mark about 6.5-7 inches from the front hinge bolt holding the hood. Line your bracket up and mark it on the angled portion of the outside hood support(skeleton). Drill two pilot holes and sink the bracket in.

Attach the lift support, and pivot to the inside of the fender. Attach the bracket, (the 90degree one) to the other side of the support. Pivot the support to where it will sit (should be about 19.5" from front hinge bolt). Marking where it will make contact. Drill pilot holes and screw the bracket in. Now this is where you can differ you design. Mine is just screwed through the fender into the body. It would be easy to remove the fender and attach under, notching the fender to accommodate, but I went the easy way. I will change the next time I have the fender off. NOTE: depending on the exact length of the rod, the next measurement to the bottom side could vary slightly, thats why you attach it all then mark it onto the fender where it will sit.

Attach the support and stand back. Take out hood prop, and enjoy. If you measured it all right, it will close and leave roughly ¾” of slack in the support, effectively NOT putting pressure on the hood. I will get more exact measurements tonite when I do the second install, so if any of this seems confusing or wrong, let me know and I will edit.

Modified by srpowered240sx at 8:31 AM 8/24/2006

Modified by srpowered240sx at 8:58 AM 8/24/2006
Modified by srpowered240sx at 9:00 AM 8/24/2006

[AZhitman]

AWESOME!!!!

Now, did you measure out 7 or 8 inches from the front hinge pivot bolt?

[srpowered240sx]

dont know exactly, ill get exact measurements at lunch, i had to drive the coupe today, no gas in the fastback.

[NISMOdrift240]

I've thought about doing that forever. I assume your hood is stock right? I wonder what differences you would have to make to do this on a CF hood.

Awesome job!

[mrzabala]

Nice.

[srpowered240sx]

carbon fiber....the only difference would be you would use like 10pis supports....if you can find them. or better yet, so to the wrecking yard and find some semi worn out ones, lol.

[onosqv]

I've thought about doing that forever. I assume your hood is stock right? I wonder what differences you would have to make to do this on a CF hood.

Awesome job!

Use a lower psi lift support. Everything should be pretty close to the same.

Nice write up. Better pics of the brackets would be nice, but I guess that gives a general idea.

[srpowered240sx]

i know, all the pics will probably be changed tonight when i finish the next set on the coupe. stay tuned....

[NISMOdrift240]

carbon fiber....the only difference would be you would use like 10pis supports....if you can find them. or better yet, so to the wrecking yard and find some semi worn out ones, lol.

Thats what I was thinking. So much cleaner without the hood prop! I bet you love opening your hood now huh, hear the "whoosh" as you ARENt finding the hood prop

[srpowered240sx]

Thats what I was thinking. So much cleaner without the hood prop! I bet you love opening your hood now huh, hear the "whoosh" as you ARENt finding the hood prop

haha, yeah, i look for every excuse to open it now....like i needed one before anyway.

[neverlift]

love it man. Think I'll be getting this done soon, but one support.

[whiterps13]

Thats so cool. Im glad you got around to the write up...

[srpowered240sx]

love it man. Think I'll be getting this done soon, but one support.

we thought about a single one, but if you left it on one side, you would end up tweaking the hood too much everytime you went to close it, i have 2 40psi lifts, you would need one 80psi, that takes a lot of force to close. i think you will end up disliking it.

the diy was modified today for new measurements after doing the coupe.

now who else do you know that has two s13's with auto hood lifts? ODOYLE RULES!!

[amolao]

thats a very nice mod....good job, man

question: what made you change the measurements on the coupe???

[srpowered240sx]

i didnt change the measurements, it was just yesterday when i did the write up, i didnt have my fastback here to measure (wrote the thing at work), so i measured last night when i did the coupe. i just wanted them to be exact for the write up.

[wilfonzo]

i bet you can make some bucks selling those brackets

i wish i had a welder plus skils

[gr8bryt]

I'm in the process of sourcing my parts and having a hard time figuring out where/what to pull these ball studs from when I do go looking in the junk yard. Please enlighten me if you can.

[srpowered240sx]

fine, ill give you all the answers. one of these days im gonna hold on to an idea like this and ride it like a trophy wife to the top. i used the bottom studs off of cars like explorers, cherokees, a subaru wagon, and if you have a hacksaw, campershells; the bottom mount is welded or riveted on. for the hatchbacks and suvs, i just used visegrips.

[gr8bryt]

Thanks man, that's really sporty of you to share . I've got an s13 hatch, would I be able to use the hatch supports as a visual reference to make sure that I get the right things? Thanx in advance!

[adrianfromthecastle]

[let5l1de]

Great Idea!

Looks pretty good too! I think i would have gone a different route with the brackets. Just a bit rough, but the idea and functionality is where it counts.

So how much force does it take to close that hood now? How do you think a silvia hood would hold up with the additional weight at the end?

[srpowered240sx]

i think the silvia hood wouldnt be much different. they weigh about the same. as for the force, to open, you unlatch it and start the hood up, after 6" or so up, the supports pretty much take over, almost weightless. on the way down, its almos the same. start it down and after pulling it past the first foot or so, the lifts cushion the fall and it closes just like normal. best word is the hood seems to have become weightless.

[nvrplzd240]

wow sweet

*golf clap*

[rico05]

So I found the stuff online, if anyone wants to be lazy...

These should work for the fender side:http://www.thomasregister.com/...m.htm

And I am going to try to modify these to work (cut out the middle portion, and drill in my own holes) for the hood side:http://www.thomasregister.com/...m.htm

Shocks:http://www.thomasregister.com/...m.htm

And FYI: if you go this route (by doing it the other way, you will save a few bucks sure, but ONLY a few) it will run about $80 shipped ...
Modified by rico05 at 1:57 AM 8/26/2006

[corey240]

hey nismodrft, what wheels are they on your car?

thats awsome i wana do this on my s14. nice write up

[let5l1de]

wow! so thomas register... lol... not many would know who or what TR is. so what industry do you work in?

[srpowered240sx]

very good find rico05. i would have no idea where to search for those parts online, so props to you for giving everyone an easier means of coming by the parts. id love to see anyone else who is doing it's finished products when/if they get finished.....post em up.

[NISMOdrift240]

hey nismodrft, what wheels are they on your car?

thats awsome i wana do this on my s14. nice write up

They are limited edition ones. made in china. only the finest ABS plastic used.

HAHA, no theyre actually an autozone hubcap. When i bought the car I only had 3 hub caps, so insted of buying one new one for $45, i bought these for $20 for in the meantime

[corey240]

lol fooled me. if there were wheels like that id buy em. buy an s14 and do the props for it

[rico05]

I just did a google search for "ball socket" and the rest all came with some measuring and boredom from 1am until about 2:30, lol.