I have a homemade GT-style lid and the factory torsion bars were twisting the hell out of it so I needed an alternative to keep it open. I asked about alt options on here a couple of weeks back and one of replies (I forget who, sorry) involved a gas shock mounted below the relay board and that got my tiny brain whirring. So...

Here's my $10 alt to the factory torsion bars. Requires no modification of the engine bay/firewall as it mounts on the engine lid hinge and engine lid - you will need to drill a couple of holes in the bottom of the engine lid but that's it.

I searched for medium duty kitchen cabinet gas shocks on Amazon and ended up buying a pair of Apexstone 100N/22.5lb gas struts. They come in black or silver - I got the black and used a scotchbrite to take the shitty logo off.




These are the two mounts that come with the shock:



Clip these two mounts onto the shock. Hook the long mount over the hook on the engine hinge where the factory torsion bar used to be...



... open the lid fully, swing the shock up so the top mount (round one) is positioned flat on the engine lid crossmember. Mark the placement temporarily with some tape and then remove the whole engine lid.

With the engine lid removed move the round mount about 5-10mm lower than the tape mark (this will ensure the gas shock is still slightly depressed when the lid is fully open and so will hold it in place. I learned this the hard way by drilling holes first and then had to remove and re drill... you're welcome )

Drill holes. Bolt (or rivet) round mount to engine lid. Paint black if you want it to be slightly more stealth



Reinstall engine lid. Clip free end of shock onto round mount - in order to do this you may have to compress it a bit with you hand, it's stiff but can be done. Anddddd, that's it. The tension of the shock insures the bottom mount stays hooked over the hook.



Here's a video of it in action:

Gas shock fix

Nifty! Love it.
(and WAY less spendy than the solution I bought from PMS. Ah well...)

Kudos for your ingenuity. You don't have to pay full price for an aftermarket solution if you are crafty. When it comes to gas shock lids (whether it be engine, rear trunk front trunk, or whatever) all you need is a resource like a pick & pull for shocks. The rest is the fun fabrication part.

Out of the way, compact, and cheap too!
Very nice.

I like it. Thanks for posting.

Wow! That is crazy slick. Nice job.

Thanks guys.

One thing I forgot to mention, slide a piece of wood between the backside of the crossmember and the grill when drilling the holes so the drill bit has a buffer once you go through the crossmember and doesn't just shoot through the grill material. I know this because even though I knew it would happen I didn't bother doing it the first time and, of course, did exactly that...

Like the mod.

As an aside, I am looking to fit the front and rear grp lightweight lids. Does anyone know the correct lbs force of strutts to use? guess its a bit trial and error...

Something not too weak, or more importantly will not over power the deck lid.

Thanks

I took my torsion bars out and hadn't planned to ever reinstall them. I carry a piece of pipe to keep my lid open, but I like your fix much better

Thanks for sharing, John

Perfect timing, thanks.

But this is a perfect example of one what Canadians are faced with about with amazon.
On amazon.com $12 pr, but on amazon.ca $32pr, even with exchange that still a 100% mark-up to cross the border.

I cancelled prime and almost never use amazon anymore. I'll find the shocks elsewhere, I'll even wait till they come from Hong Kong or China.

This is wonderful. I just purchased a '74 3.2L conversion with this lid and a stick to hold it up and no springs. I'll try to duplicate your clever solution.

I found a 10 pack on ebay for less than $32 including shipping.


Anyone interested in a group buy? $3.20 plus shipping. I'll buy the 10 pack and ship to everyone else.

Does it include all the attachment mounts. I would be in for 1

Nice,looks like the factory did it,are these less stiff than the normal hood/tailgate type ?.
Thought about doing this but the heavy duty gas ones would bend the lid on closing ,maybe not such an issue with a stock lid but the 6/GT get a bit bendy.

The pictures on ebay show the mounting brackets and the ad says that it includes screws.

Yeah ... me too

Yeah, way less stiff, they're for kitchen cabinets. My lid is even more of a shell than a regular GT lid and the grille is just expanded aluminum, and it doesn't twist it at all. Once closed the force of the shock is actually pushing toward the trunk, not up.

PM sent.

Between posts here and a PM, 4 are spoken for so far. I'm keeping 2 so that leaves 4 more up for grabs.

They should be at my house by or before the 29th. I hope that is the case as I will be on the road a lot starting on July 1st. If the order does not show up at my house by early on the 30th, I will not be able to ship them out to you guys until July 14th.
If that doesn't work for anyone, let me know and I'll take you off the list.

Mark, are you interested? With the Canadian surcharge the total won't be a penny more than $31.97.

I'll take a pair. Sent you a pm. Thanks, mark

PM sent just for good measure - I'd like two (2) also

Based on the picture you only need 1 right ? I will PM you as well.

Wow, that was fast.

This is the list that I have so far:

Me 2
porsche913b_sp 1
euro911 2
Coloradocurt 2
mepstein 2


I have one extra if anyone wants it.

I won't know shipping charges until I have them in hand. I will send out totals with shipping as soon as they get to my house assuming I am home when they get here.

That is what I saw in the picture as well. I'm keeping two just because 914's are like Lay's potato chips, you can't have just one.

I'll take the last one if it's still available.

I got you down for one Jim.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35y0XvdHhBY

Yep, it only takes one, at least for my lightweight lid. If you're running stock it may need one on either side.

That's what I was wondering.....stock lid and with BlazeCut underneath it. Is that just one or two?

You said 22.5 lbs of force. My lid is off so I can measure its weight but I figure that there is some additional factor to consider for the position and angle of the strut besides just the weight alone.

Does anyone know the approximate weight of a GT lid? That would be a starting point.

I'm in you you have one left thanks

Sorry, jd74914 got the last one. All of the ones I bought have been spoken for.

I found one at Home Debit, a lot lighter at 9lbs (3.5kg), but it works just fine. It won't lift the lid, but the lid stays anywhere I put it, so I'm totally happy with it.
It's silver, I may paint it black later, but the colour doesn't really bug me.

I welded in my brackets, not because I think it's better but because the hardware was a bit different. Plus John did the work of figuring out that you need to mount the pivot a little inwards.

Thanks



Seeing as my shock is less than half the pounds of the 22lbs shock, I think you'll have no issues with just one shock.

I keep waiting to hear Rod Sterling announcing my entry into the twilight zone.

I'm either in the twilight zone, losing my mind, or the post office has always been delivering on Sunday. Or, they decided to deliver this Sunday for some odd reason.

The other odd thing is that the post office was extremely FAST!!!!!!!(definitely the twilight zone!!!!)
It ain't Thursday but the shocks are in.

I will get shipping totals for everyone tomorrow and get them sent out to you on Tuesday.

The shocks are in(and most are out) and I was really surprised at the cost to ship these things
First class mail with tracking is a lot more than I expected.
The totals with shipping came out to $10.05 for one and $14.19 for two.

One person backed out so if anyone is interested in the last one for $10.05 total shipped in the US, let me know.

BINGO!
That's what I was looking for.