GSB Bonnet Struts - fitment discussion and issues

Slacey · January 13, 2005, 06:42

Folks, please post your strut discussions and issues here please.

roger · January 13, 2005, 10:02

Sorry Grant - before we even start. The post seems extra wide (to take the photos perhaps), and try as I can, can't amend the settings on my printer to get it all on the page.

Can you amend the size or can any computer whizzy tell me where I am going wrong.

Thanks, Roger

Tem · January 13, 2005, 10:04

I always just copy&paste the text into my fav text editor and print from there...I don't really need the pics once I've browsed through them...

roger · January 13, 2005, 10:08

Now I have printed on landscape - why didn't I think of that before s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

Doh!

GSB · January 13, 2005, 13:36

I couldnt do alot with the pics, as they are linked form another server...

I'll resize and post them to Spydermagazine later on...

roger · January 13, 2005, 13:48

Quote from: "GSB"I couldnt do alot with the pics, as they are linked form another server...

I'll resize and post them to Spydermagazine later on...

Grant, don't bother - as I said if I print landscape they fit on.

roger

roger · January 24, 2005, 17:05

Front and back now on. Look good, work well. Just got to cut the froot cover, next weekend if the weathers nice. Thanks again Grant.

I can put up some pictutres if you like, but IMO they are not that different from yours. What do you think?

roger

GSB · January 24, 2005, 17:12

Feel free.

If you want you can post up a few pictures to detail any points you feel I may have missed?

roger · January 29, 2005, 14:16

QuoteYep it does, unfortunately it still seems to foul the plastic cover, causing the same issues.

More tinkering needed today me thinks, update soon

Above Quote from locked Fitting Instruction Website ex GSB and Markiii

Presumably you are talking about the plastic bit from which the rubber seal was cut? If so, mine causes no problems. I appreciate age of car is different, but if its OK on offside, but not nearside could you have taken the plastic off at some stage, and nearside is not seating properly?

roger

markiii · January 29, 2005, 14:28

well the plastci has been o loads of times, but I've checked and checked and checked

And in teh end the only way to solve teh problem was to trim the plastci the sits under the bonnet to avoid fouling the struts.

having trimed it useing the same stiff as teh holes for my strut brace,all now fits and it doesn't look bad at all.

Slacey · January 29, 2005, 14:37

Fitted my rears earlier and have another tip:

Even after following Grants advice of taking out one bolt, placing the bracket and putting that one bolt back, then the other, I found that the decklid was catching when opening and closing on my hardtop (the part that latches over the chrome hooks).

The solution was to loosen off both bracket bolts, then you will find there is some adjustment up and down, to bring the decklid toward / away from the rear edge. After adjusting both sides a couple of times it is now lined up nicely, but it's something to watch for.

Anonymous · January 29, 2005, 15:13

Just fitted the fronts, couple of points to note.

Firstly my strut also raised the frunk slightly on the nearside. A small amount of trimming of the platic windscreen surround fixed that. I didnt need to reroute the washer pipe, the washer pipe clip or trim the rubber around the windscreen surround.

MORE IMPORTANTLY

I nearly let too much gas out of the struts this was because they were stuck solid and needed a cople of fairly hard strikes to to move and show the true resistance of the gas in them. You should definately be able to move the strut after about 20 'squirts' of gas so if you cant give it a wack to free it.[/b]

roger · January 30, 2005, 16:41

Quote from: "Slacey"Grants advice of taking out one bolt, placing the bracket and putting that one bolt back, then the other,

One tip for this, make sure that the first bolt you put in is the one that goes in the ROUND hole on the bracket. Then ELLIPTICAL hole second.

Doing it the other way round could move the bonnet alignment. Also doing elliptical first could mean the round hole doesn't align.

Slacey · January 30, 2005, 19:24

Quote from: "roger"One tip for this, make sure that the first bolt you put in is the one that goes in the ROUND hole on the bracket. Then ELLIPTICAL hole second.

Doing it the other way round could move the bonnet alignment. Also doing elliptical first could mean the round hole doesn't align.

I did that as it seemed the obvious way to go, but as mentioned there was still an alignment problem. Easy to fix as I mentioned though.

Anonymous · January 31, 2005, 18:40

what kind of maintenance should be done? I see some grease in the ball joints, how about the rods?

GSB · January 31, 2005, 18:45

They should be maintenance free for the life of the car...

Anonymous · February 5, 2005, 03:08

I've had the same problem as Rage, but much worse.

First, I filed down a nail to fab a gas-loosening pin to release pressure from a rear strut. Installed the fittings for the engine lid. Then I began to release pressure from the strut. No matter how much gas I released from the rear strut, it simply would not budge. Periodically, I would whack the strut with a hammer (the base of the strut braced against a wooden board) but it never moved. Ever.

Finally, all the gas was released from the strut. I whacked that strut repeatedely, and eventually it cracked loose. I don't know how much effort is needed to release a strut. The one I was dealing with was frozen and would not respond to any measure within reason I applied to it. Still, I have no idea what a strut, when released, should feel like. Does it move? Does it slide along its length? Mine simply felt like there were 400 newtons holding it shut. I braced against my workbench and leaned against it. I placed a board on top of it and sat on it. I kept hitting it with a hammer and it wouldn't budge.

Fortunately, I found a company that will recharge it. I'm asking these people to reset it to 350 newtons:

m http://www.lstechnologies.ca/ m

Then I'll try again. (sigh)

Getting a rubber mallet and I swear to God I'm going to whack that sucker really hard after I let a little gas out. Grrrrrrr......

Anonymous · February 10, 2005, 20:41

Quote from: "Slacey"Folks, please post your strut discussions and issues here please.

Hi. The fittings arrived in two bags (front and back, I suspect), but they seem to be missing a couple of items -- at the very least, a nut and a small washer.

Could someone tell me what they are so I could purchase them locally? Thanks.

Front:

Rear:

SimonC_Here · February 10, 2005, 21:03

I noticed I had 1 too many small washers on my front set (11 total), just thought it was in case I dropped one.

I think you should have 2 nuts though.

Simon

GSB · February 10, 2005, 21:06

Correct, there are a couple of washers spare, so you're ok there. The nut shoud be available from just about any hardware shop, but it will be metric, probabley an M6... Sorry about that.

Anonymous · February 10, 2005, 23:43

Quote from: "GSB"The nut shoud be available from just about any hardware shop, but it will be metric, probabley an M6... Sorry about that.

No problem at all. Just wanted to be sure. Thanks!

SimonC_Here · February 11, 2005, 15:06

Well I have my drivers side front strut fitted but with the other side fitted, the frunk was raised too much to leave it in.

At the moment it looks like the only option will be to remove about 1cm of plastic from the edge of the plastic cover where the strut sits. Anyone got any better ideas before I take a knife and do somthing perminant!

Simon

GSB · February 11, 2005, 15:38

An odd one...

First try turning the struts upside down and seeing if that helps, also, make sure that the hinge points at the bonnet end are all the way up towards the bonnet, as ther is some scope for movemnet there... If that fails, like it di on markiii's car, then a little trimming of the plastic may be in order.

SimonC_Here · February 11, 2005, 15:49

It seems to be stopped by the plastic just next to where the old frunk support is. Swapping it round doesn't seem to help.

I will try the hinges tomorrow as the light is going here. Do you meant move the big metal bits I have added as far away from the seats towards the front of the car as I can?

Markiii, Any pics of the cutting?

Simon

GSB · February 11, 2005, 15:53

The big metal brackets cant be moved, as it will move your bonnet. Im talking about the little ball joint that bolts into te bracket. Make sure its pushed up towards the bonnet before tightening, and you may find you win a little extra clearance.