Welcome to the Hood

Today the front hood went on.  Both the hood and rear trunk lid originally relied on coiled metal springs to provide tension for opening assist.  Coiled springs are effective, but they’re also heavy and can be dangerous if not given adequate respect.  Camp914 offers a nice update in the form of dual pneumatic shock kits for both front and back lids, otherwise known as air-springs.

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Once the large metal coiled springs are carefully removed, the new shocks are mounted using brackets and hardware provided in the kit.  The front shocks bolt directly to existing hinge mounts and spring brackets, with no modification required.  The entire front hood operation took about 30 minutes.  The rear trunk lid takes more effort, and requires drilling holes to mount the top and bottom brackets on both sides (I’m saving that for a future update).

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Here’s a closer look at the mounting scheme for the bottom of the shocks. The provided hardware is first attached to the car, sporting a ball that pops into a socket at the end of the shock, like a hip joint.  The white stuff lingering at the bottom of the shot is color-sanding residue from the paint job.

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Here is a shot of the finished task with both air-springs in place.  Raising and lowering the hood now produces a pleasing tubular hiss, rather than the metallic groan of the original coiled springs.  Next, the hood was properly centered by repositioning the hinges in their slotted mounting holes.  I also puttered with the latch, striker, and release cable to ensure the weatherstripping sealed tightly all the way around.  Popping the hood has never been so satisfying.

(To see the install of the rear trunk springs, click HERE.)