tubman
Well-known member
Because of age and infirmity, I was no longer able to open the hood on my '51 by myself. The hood itself weighs 80 pounds and Ford in their infinite wisdom, did not include any assist springs (although they did on their pickup trucks). The obvious solution was to add a set of gas struts to do the work, After much experimenting with mounting and various struts, I came up with what I believe to be a satisfactory solution.
Mounting them was a puzzle, because I didn't want to alter anything I didn't have to. After looking a some new cars that had them, I came up with the solution. It requires drilling four 3/16" holes in the bottom of the hood flange, two on each side. That's it. It uses the existing holes in the front hinge that were used for the small springs that are supposed to hold the rear corners of the hood down when it's closed to mount the bottom of the struts. I could have re-installed those springs, but since the struts exert the same force on the hood, why bother?
I got all of the stuff from an outfit called "Lift Supports Depot" and the total cost for the parts I actually used was less than $50. I used their 18.00 Inch Lift Supports Depot SE180P45 Lift Support With Ball Socket | SE180P45-W" which exert 45 lbs. of force. To mount them, I used 2 brackets form their bracket assortment package on the hood, and two of their 10MM stainless ball studs on the hinge. Once I figured out what to do and what struts I needed, installation was a snap.
I wanted to include a video of how slick it works, but I can hardly get a regular picture out of my phone much less a movie. If you look closely at the first picture, you can see the hood prop lodged firmly in it's bracket. In every day use, it works great. When raised, it sits 3 or 4 inches lower than when on the prop, but that's still there when you need it. When I got done I raised the hood and left it up for 24 hours, and if it came down at all, I couldn't measure it.
Mounting them was a puzzle, because I didn't want to alter anything I didn't have to. After looking a some new cars that had them, I came up with the solution. It requires drilling four 3/16" holes in the bottom of the hood flange, two on each side. That's it. It uses the existing holes in the front hinge that were used for the small springs that are supposed to hold the rear corners of the hood down when it's closed to mount the bottom of the struts. I could have re-installed those springs, but since the struts exert the same force on the hood, why bother?
I got all of the stuff from an outfit called "Lift Supports Depot" and the total cost for the parts I actually used was less than $50. I used their 18.00 Inch Lift Supports Depot SE180P45 Lift Support With Ball Socket | SE180P45-W" which exert 45 lbs. of force. To mount them, I used 2 brackets form their bracket assortment package on the hood, and two of their 10MM stainless ball studs on the hinge. Once I figured out what to do and what struts I needed, installation was a snap.
I wanted to include a video of how slick it works, but I can hardly get a regular picture out of my phone much less a movie. If you look closely at the first picture, you can see the hood prop lodged firmly in it's bracket. In every day use, it works great. When raised, it sits 3 or 4 inches lower than when on the prop, but that's still there when you need it. When I got done I raised the hood and left it up for 24 hours, and if it came down at all, I couldn't measure it.
Tom.
