jdodson

Marc - In your recent comments regarding "It's Monday......" you mentioned that you had found a very easy way to replace the front hood shocks. I have the new shocks gathering dust in the garage. I just don't have hands that are small enough to get in there without disassembling half the car. Please, if you have an alternative - How did you do it????

Thanks, Jim

Marc Shaw

Jim,

I took a few pictures when I did it and plan to post a DIY this weekend once I get it written up.

In short, nothing fancy (I have big hands too) but I did find it very easy. I mostly went by what was written on the p-car site DIY with a few changes.

Marc

CHASE

This is really a straight forward replacement. Once you know the trick you will have time to drink a couple of cold ones when you are done and still only kill 30 minutes under the bonnet. The bottom connection is a ball and socket connection. With a long flat blade screwdriver you pry near the connection and the socket slips off of the ball which is fixed on the car and way down there where you think you need to get your hands to. once removed you place the new one against the ball and "snap" the hood strut onto it. Install the lock pin at the top with the "c" clip and your on to the next one. The rear engine cover struts take a little longer but can also be done by the enthusiast. Have fun and be proud when you are done !!

hawk911

I changed mine, and the first one was a Be--otch, but the second was a breeze. Use a LOOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGGGG flat blade, and you'll be fine. That and don't let the springy piece fly off. I used the DIY also. when you get done, go by Smokin, and do his; his struts are still in the box also.

Kahdmus

This may be helpful:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ht=hood+shocks

Marc Shaw

I had actually posted that casual mention for Rick's benefit - hoping he'd notice how slick I was at doing it and fly me down to do his.

Marc

Smokin

Okay... Okay... I have no idea why I have/had such a hard time doing this. It seems to me that brain surgery would be easier! I just can't see what is going on down there. I was almost to the point of taking off the hood in order to peer down the hole and see what is going on.

Marc... It would definitely be less stressful flying you down here! Let's see what happens when you post your tutorial!

hawk911

Rick; I offered ages ago for you to fly me out, and I wouldn't even charge you labor. just a nice long drive in that beast of yours (not the Bimmers either)

garrett376

I just did a friend's car's struts on the front, and it honestly took 30 seconds per side. Just pop the clip off the side attached to the hood, pop the ball-end off the other side (attached only with pressure), reattach the new one... all done.
As mentioned above, the rear decklid ones take a bit longer, but not that bad that they deserve to sit in the box

Smokin

That's the weird thing... Most say that the rears take longer. It literally took me 5-10 minutes to change the rears... But then I don't have an airbox.

When it warms up (or I may fire up the garage heater) I'll have to take another look at it when I have some friends over to help.

jdodson

Unfortunately, I may have made a relatively simple project a lot more complex. I didn't want to go through this any more frequently than necessary, so I purchased the Weltmeister shocks with the lifetime warranty. When installing the rear shocks I found that the new parts were thicker and the ends did not fit into the U shapped brackets on the car. The fit ultimately required reshaping the brackets which changed the geometry and then enlarging the hole in the shock to align with the holes in the bracket. Hopefully, I won't have similar problems with the fronts. They do look different, however, that the photos in the DIY thread.