I'm in the process of completely cleaning up the engine area:

Remove back pad
Remove tabs for back pad
Remove glue from firewall
Repair hell hole

I plan to purchase Craig's rear trunk shox kit and was wondering if I should go through the process of removing the torsion bar mounting bolts and bracket. It looks like the bolts would be fairly easy to cut off and cover with bondo, but the bracket looks like it could be difficult to get to.

Anyone with an opinion, either way?

I cut them off and smooth them over. Much cleaner look.


B

That's what I thought. Should I just leave the outside bracket or try to cut it off also?

It knocks off pretty easy. What I do is grind the tops of the spot welds down a little and then pry up on the bracket... it will come up easy if the spot welds have been heated up.


B

Have you seen these? I am thinking this is the way to go.
http://www.jwesteng.com/pivot.htm

Garland, check the link on the original post.

He's trying to remove the torsion springs that hold the rear trunk open and replace them with a gas shock kit similar to what comes on newer cars.

Here's a shot after I removed the rear trunk torsion bar bracket that held the bolts. Also, I've removed the other bolts that were attached through the body.

For removing the torsion bars, I heard they carry a good deal of tension. What is the best way to remove them without injuring yourself? Cut them in the middle? Unbolt and stand back?

-Chris

cutoff wheel. cut it in the center.

Ive been contemplating the same thing,
So what about the Hinge-stay? Cant that go? the Shocks travel & placement will fix the open swing? (Does that make sense )

No, it doesn't make sense to me, do you have a pic of the part you're refering to?

i cut them out and smoothed them over looks good,makes the bay look cleaner.

After removing and installing the CAMP 914 rear shox kits on over 20 914s. I have found the easy way is to just put a folded blanket or towel into the engine bay where the tension rods will snap back to when pried off of the Hinge-stay as Rich calls it.
Pry them off with a long large screwdriver or a long stiff rod of some type.

WARNING put a broom handle or something to hold the rear deck lid in the up position. Because when the tension rods are pried off the rear deck lid becomes very heavy, so you need a sturdy holder of some kind.

Rich you can then remove the Hinge-stays at this time. You are correct in that the mounting of the shox limits the travel of the rear deck lid.

Replacing the tension rods with the CAMP 914 rear or front trunk shox kit is really very easy. The hardest part is getting the tension rods out of the engine bay.

WARNING on thing to be careful of when removing the old tension rods is to keep them away from the battery posts, especially if the battery is in the stock location
CCLINTRUNKSHOXAREUS

Hey, no fair reviving old threads! I started reading through and then saw a post from myself and got my brain all tied in a knot before I realized this thread started in august.