Hi;
Well, I've been driving my 2 for a couple of weeks for the first time in 4 months, she now has to be put to sleep for another 4 - but I have had the roof off every day I have driven her s:) :) s:)
I've fittd some of the stuff I bought recently, the GAS strust were the last task. The rears went on without a problem and work fine.
I have however removed the fronts as I have tried them in all orientations and with different combinations of spacers, but at the end of it the bonnet would not sit flush with the wing near the hinges.
I cut away the plastic cover around the ball joint (same diameter as the large washers) , and without it fitted, the struts fit well and there's no problem with the aalignment of the bonnet with the upper wing, but adding the plastic cover means that there's less room for it to fold away.
Adding sufficient washers to lift the ball joint clear of the plastic cover, the strut still does not lie low enough and I believe that the strut is being bent when the bonnet is closed causing it to lift.
Allowing the bracket end to lie along the plastic cover where it would sit when the bonnet is closed clearly shows that the unattached bracket end is sitting higher than the bracket it attaches to when the bonnet is closed, meaning that it would be bent and would lift the bonnet when the bonnet was closed.
The alignemnet was better (but not good enough) when the damper end was attached to the body, as the chrome shaft is easier to bend than the cylinder and therefore produced less lift. Either way I am not comfortable with it. I have removed the fronts and gone back to the original bonnet stay.
Has anyone experienced similar problems ?
PeterC
I think most of us have had that problem to a smaller or larger extent.
Basically it appears cutting the plastic cover may be the only answer.
I actually lost the pressure in one of my struts. Went to a local manufacturer who provided me a replacement. The body was just marginally thinner and it makes all the difference. My panel offset wing/bonnett was no more than 1mm.
It appears the lost pressure may have been caused by a bent piston. I originally thought this was done when I was expelling the gas, but from what you say it may have been bending on the car.
Yes, several of us had this issue. If you check the "gas strut fitment problems" sticky in the maintenance and troubleshooting area of this forum, you can find my reports on fitting the fronts with photos of the section of plastic you'll need to remove.
I'd recommend a dremel cutting tool and a deburring tool for the job. If you make the cut currectly, you can retain a small tab where the ball joint extends through the plastic, giving the piece a bit more rigidity.