GSB Bonnet Struts - Fitting Instructions

[GSB]

These are on their way now, so here's a guide to waht to do once you get them...


  Front Bonnet:


Tools Required:


- 200-300 g hammer
- Pin punch of 1.6mm diameter. Alterntaively a small nail of 1.6mm diameter with the point filed flat.
- Small flat ended screwdriver
- 8 and 10 mm Combination Spanners
- Ratchet with 12mm & 14mm Sockets
- Rag
- Combination pliers
- No. 2 Phillips screwdriver
- Drill with 10mm drill bit, suitable for plastics and metals
- Round file 6-8 mm
- Stanley or craft knife
- 2 small wood boards
- 2nd Person to assist



Instructions
Please, read these instructions thoroughly BEFORE you start work. Failure to do so can result in damage to the vehicle!!!
I do not assume any liability for damage to you or to your car!

Before starting work take a close look at the overall fit of your bonnet, look at the panel gaps at the front and side, see how high or low theboonet sits in relation to the wings... Trust me, this will ease an awful lot of paranoia once you've finished and you start looking over your work with a critical eye...

1. First open the bonnet and remove the storage compartment lid and underbonnet plastics as per the instructions in your vehicle handbook


2. Next remove the cotter pins from the ball joints at both ends of the two gas springs. Be careful, as the cotter pins can fly off. Remove the balls by gently pulling from the socket. There will be a small amount of resistance.


3. Remove the bolt that secures fender/wing panel to the vehicle body. This bolt can be found directly behind the headlights (NOT the headlight mounting screw.) Using 2 x small and 3 x large washers. Screw the ball joint into the hole and gently tighten using 8mm spanner. Refer to photo below. Ensure that at least 2 threads are engaged. If this is not possible, remove one of the large washers.


4. Mounting the brackets to the hinges. The metal brackets supplied with the pringes are mounted to the bonnet hinges using the original bolts. This should be done with the assistance of a second person to prevent damage to the bonnet. Mount the brackets to the hinges as shown in the photos. Do one side first, and check that the hinge is correctly aligned by lining it up with the tell-tale marks it left in the paint when it was originally fitted. Close the bonnet and ensure that the panel gaps are correct before starting on the other side. If the alignment is altered, then try re-installing the hinge without the bracket. Most MR2's left the factory with self aligning bolts in the hinges that will automatically pull the bonet hinge into the correct position when tightened. A few needed adjustment at the factory, which meant replaceing the bolts with ones that do not align themselves automatically, this is rare though.  TIP: To maintain the position of the bonnet, I removed one bolt and mounted the bracket to the hinge at a single point, I then retightend the bolt, removed the second bolt, and rotated the bracket into position so that the ssecond bolt could be re-installed.


5. Using 2 small washers, bolt the ball joints into the bonnet brackets as shown in the photos. Attach the cylinder end of the gas springs to the bonnet brackets and re-install the cotter pins. Leave the "rod" ends of the gas springs hanging free fro them moment, taking care not to let them damage any paintwork. Grasp the cylinder of the gas springs, and turn anti-clockwise. The body of the spring will unscrew from the ball and socket joint.


6. In the middle of the screw that unscrewed from the shoulder joint is a valve. This is used to release some of the gas inside the spring, and so lower the force required to compress it. Place the spring vertically on a soft piece of wood with the "rod" end pointing down. The wood is there to prevent damage to the gas-spring. Place a pin punch in the hole at the top activate the valve. if a pin punch is not available then a nail or simialr with the point filed off will be okay as long as it is not a tight fit inside the hole. Now, VERY GENTLY Tap the pin puch with a hammer, tap a little harder until you start to hear a clear hiss as the gas escapes, Some liquid may also come out, this is normal. Reduce the pressure within the gas-spring until you you are able to compress the spring fairly easily by placing one end on the floor on some soft wood, and pushing down on the end using another piece of soft wood to protect your hands. It may take 50 to 70 small "hisses" of gas to reach this point.


7. Install one of the gas springs on the car. and then VERY GENTLY push down on the bonnet, Dont force it as it is very easy to damage the bonnet. If it does not move easily (i.e by pulling down with only one finger) you need to remove the cylinder again and let out more gas until it does.  DO NOT CLOSE THE BONNET COMPLETELY!. Repeat steps 6 & 7 on both springs until you are happy with the pressure settings. In the end you should be at the point where one spring on its own will not support the bonnet, and the bonnet will only stay up when both springs are installed.

8. The Underbonnet plastics must now be prepared for installation with the new gassprings. This is done by drilling 2 clearance holes for the lower ball joints. The postion of these holes should first be marked. The location will be 9mm in from the left and right edges if the plastic, and 39mm back from the front edge adjacent to the headlights. Mark the positions, and then place the plastics in the car to check they are correct. If the position of the marks is ok, then you can drill the holes. The holes should be big enough to allow both the ball, and the 2 small washers below it to protrude into the plastic. Some adjsutment with a round file may be needed to get a nice close fit. Take your time to achieve profesional looking results.  


9. On the underside of the plastic, remove 2-4mm of plastice from the area around the hole, in order to allow the plastics to sit on the large washers without fouling the spring in the closed postion. Be careful with sharp knives. See pictures for detail.


10. At the lower edge of the windscreen surround is a rubber weatherseal. Using a sharp knife, remove about 1 inch (a bit more than shown below!) from each end of the seal to allow clearance for the gas springs in the closed position.


11. Re route the windscreen washer tube to prevent the pipe being crushed by the closed gas-spring. There is a small washer hose clip just above the left bonnet hinge that must be removed as it fouls the spring when closed.


12. Refit all the underbonnet plastics, and the storage compartment lid. Refit the gas-springs to the ball joints, and install the cotter pins. REMOVE the original bonnet stay...


13. Final testing. Gently close the bonnet, whilst watching the springs to ensure they do not foul on the washer pipe, or the metal structure of the bonnet. When closed, ensure that alignment is correct, and the bonnet sits flush with the wings/fenders. If not then some adjustment may be required, usually by trimming a little more material from the underside of the plastics, or removing one of the large washers from the front ball joint.

nnet[/img]
Rear Bonnet
Fitment of the rear struts is similar, but bear in mind that there is far less gas in the rear struts, so be careful not to let to much out!  Also the springs should be fairly soft, as you have to compress them by hand to fit them onto the ball joints, and they also tend to pull the bonnet shut within a few degrees of closing, so to much pressure is likely to slam the bonnet on your fingers!

Here are a few photos to show you how the rear struts fit together:

[GSB]

A few more comments on fitting...

markiii and I fitted a set of struts to his yellow '2 last night, and we discovered that not only is it possible to fit the front brackets to the hinges in a varying number of "wrong" ways, but that they still work regardless...

Except for one thing, no matter which way we fitted the nearside hinge bracket, the bonnet would not shut properly, sitting about 2-3mm high at the front edge adjacent to the nearside headlight. The offside was fine though. Very confusing. Turns out that this is because the body of the strut was coming into contact with the plastic windscreen surround. Why, I have no idea...

So, after scratching our heads for a considerable length of time, we decided to turn the strut itself upside-down, and lo and behold, it worked...

[markiii]

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

More tinkering needed today me thinks, update soon.