First off, original theory came from the user srpowered240sx (Thanks for guinea pigging your cars!!). However, his How To required you to make your own ball stud brackets, where as I did some exhaustive searching (like 4 hours) to find a reliable US seller that ships in small quantities brackets that can be used.

Sick of the unsightly hood prop rod? Bored? Have $75 burning a hole in your pocket? Then this is for you!!

Step I: Acquiring Supplies- 2x Strong Arm or Gabriel 4418 lift supports. I picked these up over the counter at Advance Auto Parts. You will pay ~$20 each.

- 2x 10mm ball stud bracket for lower mount. Bought em here: http://www.ameritoolmfg.com/ca...09622

- 2x 10mm ball stud bracket for upper mount. Again, here:http://www.ameritoolmfg.com/ca...09649

EDIT:You can no longer buy the brackets in small amounts. Contact:Lewis Marine SupplyPhone: 772-286-21183385 SE Dixie HighwayStuart, Florida 34997

Ask for Linda and give her the part numbers in the links above.

- 1 pack mounting screws. I bought some sheet metal screws from Advance. I used 8mm. You will need 8.

Tools needed:- Screwdriver/nutdriver for screws- Dremel or cut off wheel to modify upper ball stud mounts.- Paint if desired- Hole punch- 2x pliers- clear silicone, or other sealer

Step II: Modifying Upper MountBecause the location on the hood is slightly beveled, you will need to modify the upper mount to have the ball stud point out, parallel to the ground. I made 2 small cuts, and bent the mount as such.The final version will actually need to be twice as bent as shown. This is the hardest part; getting the bend right took like 10 minutes.

Now, paint the brackets if you so wish. I painted mine semi gloss black.

Step III: MountingI measured 7 inches from the upper hinge flange, and that is where the ball is. Use the hole punch and a hammer to punch 2 small holes for the bracket. I like this method as it is easy and the small hole that the punch makes means the screw can really grab and hold the bracket tight. I put a dab of silicone on each hole I made to be sure and keep rust at bay. Here is the upper mounted.

Now, mount the damper at the top and swing it down. This will determine where on the fender you will mount the lower bracket. Here is the lower mounted.

Damper mounted.

Do both sides, and this is what you get.

And end it with this.

Closing CommentaryThe whole process took about an hour, and that is with figuring out how much to bend the upper mounts, and fighting with my Dremel to make a hole before I grabbed a punch and a hammer. There were a few issues however.

First off, the dampers will need to be broken in. This means a little extra force will be needed to close the hood the first time. Next, I actually had a ball stud pop out of a lower bracket. Luckily, I work next to a full service mechanic shop and I took it in and had my boy Jon tack it back on. I may have him do the other three to be 100% sure this does not happen again. I bet I could have sent it back as a warranty, but shipping took a week last time, so screw that.

If you have a CF hood, these dampers will be a little strong (they are both 40psi). The correct part number for the same length, but rated at 25psi is 4423.

I did not provide lower mounting distances as I have a hood prop, and that will effect the lengths.
Modified by rico05 at 4:23 PM 10/18/2009

nice, its about time someone else did this. good job.

Hmm, I find myself very tempted to do this.

I saw this on ebay a while ago and was intrigued: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW

And it's a little cheaper. heh. Don't know about the quality though.. and I'd be afraid that I wouldn't be able to find the proper replacement shocks... But all the same, there it is.

How high do you have to lift the hood before the shocks take over and open it the rest of the way? And how much farther does the hood stay open compared to when it is propped?

1 day i will do this.

ZiG wrote:How high do you have to lift the hood before the shocks take over and open it the rest of the way? And how much farther does the hood stay open compared to when it is propped?

the lifts take 90% of the weight off until about 3/4 of the way open, then continue untouched to the top. i fabbed mine up to open as far as the hood possibly could, just as high as stock (as a matter of fact, when working on them, i just had the rod holding it up, so its exactly that high).

srpowered240sx wrote: i fabbed mine up to open as far as the hood possibly could, just as high as stock

Not that I've ever tried, but it seems to me that you could get the thing to open a little higher than stock, seeing as how you have to lower the hood onto the prop rod a bit in the first place..

in any case, yeah, I really should look into this soon.

ZiG wrote:
Not that I've ever tried, but it seems to me that you could get the thing to open a little higher than stock, seeing as how you have to lower the hood onto the prop rod a bit in the first place..

in any case, yeah, I really should look into this soon.

try it sometimes, it will go up another inch or two, thats it.

sweet job man, gives it a nice modern look.

This has the hood up exaclty the same as stock. I bet, since I have the hood prop, I could have gotten another inch or two of lift, but decided against it.

Sweet write up man. Nice way to show off that engine!

sweet, im doing this asap

I love the last pic of all your writeups haha!

You have the washers on your hood hinges, so please get rid of that dirty *** hood insulation! It's only there to stop the heat of the engine radiating thru the hood into the AC vents which u already have defeated, please halp! Think weight savings! It takes seconds.... Ok sorry /rant

really nice writeup tho bro.

No washers. Female-femlae pipe unions. They are threaded. I have been lazy for the 2 years I have had the hood propped and never hit them with the grinding wheel. Good point on the insulation....I will pull it later this week.

The op's set up is well done, but that ebay kit is a bit cheaper and supposed to be direct fit....hmmmm

nice mod..and i like the CA18det

rico05 wrote:- 2x 10mm ball stud bracket for lower mount. Bought em here: http://www.ameritoolmfg.com/ca...09622

- 2x 10mm ball stud bracket for upper mount. Again, here:http://www.ameritoolmfg.com/ca...09649

Sorry to bump this old thread. I'm working on this mod right now, and you must order minimum $50 from Ameritool, but you don't have to if you buy from one of their distributors.

Lewis Marine SupplyPhone: 772-286-21183385 SE Dixie HighwayStuart, Florida 34997

Ask for Linda.

Hope this helps.

I installed hood dampers this week and I love them!! One thing though. I don't think these dampers are strong enough for hood and will last long. They might go bad and need to be replaced in the future. Anyway, here's the pics.

I wanna do this but my fenders are always only zip tied down

very nice write up

that last picture makes me laugh. i might have to do this, seeing that i cut into the radiator support when i put my big radiator in and i now have to keep my hood prop in the car. rb's are sooo much fun sometimes

is that valve cover pink on that rb that is baller status right there

thats a ca18det

Lol. It is kinda like a baby RB. But yes, that is my CA18DET.

And as for damper longevity: If you look, this write up is a year old now. I have run the same set of dampers and even totaled the original car in a serious front end collision and reinstalled the setup on the new car with no issues. So yeah, it will last.

Also, thanks for finding a new source for the mounts. When I originally got them, you could buy in small quantities.

you can source the mounts at a junkyard, well as wheel as everything needed for this.

that makes it an even cooler write up

yeah eventually i'll end up doing this mod....nice write up.

nice! and it looks like there's plenty of clearance so nothing gets caught when the hood is shut. I was thinking about doing this for the trunk. I want rid of that stupid spring back there in the coupe. Doing a system and need the clearance. good job, looks clean

safin wrote: you can source the mounts at a junkyard, well as wheel as everything needed for this.

Mounts from which car? I don't think so. If you don't buy these mounts in this thread, you have to cut and weld...etc.

I'll give you guys exact measurements. I spent a long time to measure them and I think I got perfect spots. I highly doubt that you will find better locations for the brackets.

EDIT: I initially said 130mm from the fender bolt to the screw on the bracket, but it turned out 140mm(14cm) works out better. I moved the bracket and it works much better now. Before, hood went down by the slight wind. 140mm will give you 7-8mm slack on the damper when it's fully compressed. Anyway, I spent a long time figuring out the best locations for the brackets, so you can trust these numbers.

On the hood side, I measured from the edge.

It's 150mm(15cm) to the edge of the bracket.

This is as high as you can go without overloading the dampers. When it's closed, there's going to be about 0.5-1 inch slack on the damper. When it's open, you will have 2-3 inches space between the tip of hood prop rod and the hole.
Modified by 94_240sx at 11:42 AM 3/15/2009

rico05 wrote:And as for damper longevity: If you look, this write up is a year old now. I have run the same set of dampers and even totaled the original car in a serious front end collision and reinstalled the setup on the new car with no issues. So yeah, it will last.

That's good to hear. Yeah, it's been more than a week since I've done this, but it feels the same when I open the hood. I open they last longer. BTW, I got Mighty Lift brand dampers and according to O'Reiley, they come with lifetime warranty. Don't buy Sachs. Their trunk struts went bad on my car in 2 years and I couldn't find Sachs' homepage or contact info.

One more thing. When you modify brackets for the hood, you will have a small hump in the back. Grind it a little. That way, it'll seat flush with the hood.

I like the last part. And your exacting measurements too. Mine do work tho, and have the requisite slack. I just had to redo this to my new car last weekend.