by srpowered240sx

Overview:

Give yourself a hand next time you're working under the hood.



Difficulty: ***

Time: 1-2 hours

Cost: ~$50

Tools:

- welder (muffler shop can do this for you)- Dremel and cutoff wheel- power drill

Materials:

- 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

Procedure:



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 7-8 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 22" 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.

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.