Replacement Hood Struts Too Long?
 

I recently purchased my 964 and noticed the hood didn't fit right. It was clearly not flush with the fenders and cowl by approximately 2-3 mm. Initial thought was a simple adjustment to the hinges. Upon closer inspection I noticed the struts have a 993 part number. Could the PO used the wrong struts? After a quick search, I found that 964s and 993s use the same struts. As you can see my struts aren't oem Porsche. Long story short, I removed both struts. Hood now closes perfectly and all panels are flushed. Me happy camper. I'll be using a prop rod until my Porsche struts arrived. Anyone else with the same issue?

These look to be OEM and I think you will get the same ones if you ordered a new set. Here are pics of mine I ordered from Sunset, they look the same as yours.

Laurent- silly me I'm thinking Porsche script should be somewhere on the strut body if oem. Thanks for pointing this out. Please update this thread after you do the install regarding hood fitment. I was going to place an order thru Sunset in the morning but will hold off for now.

Will try to get to it soon but I have a couple other projects to get to before I do the struts, plus it seems like a giant pain to do so I am procrastinating a little. BTW, the "P" symbol is on the strut so you know it is a Porsche Genuine Part.

The replacement of the struts were much easier than I was led to believe depending on the size of your hands. One thing I found helpful was to use a hemostat to help hold the little pieces.

The hardest part is popping the bottom end onto the ball/socket. Hard to get any leverage to pop it in.

What I did was lever a small tipped but long flat blade screw driver underneath the metal band and was able to easily put the socket/cup onto the hard to reach ball. After, I simply pulled the screwdriver out from under the little band and that snapped into place. Very easy! There's two threads here that make the job very easy! Around 15 minutes for each strut.

It's not really a lot of money to save, but does it make a huge difference purchasing between the different brands?


993 511 331 00
Stabilus (OEM)
Meyle (OE - also made in Germany)
URO Parts (OE)
MTC (Super OE)

Can't speak for the 964, but on 993s the aftermarket lifts are usually strong enough you can flip a pancake from the lid. The oem gives the perfect assist.
I was browsing through the available lifts on Rockauto, and find that they vary in lengths. I'll measure my oem Stabilus then compare lengths with the aftermarket ones. Hopefully one of them comes in a tad shorter than the Stabilus.

I have the Stabilus from Pelican and it fits perfect.I replaced them last year, won't flip a pancake, opens the hood as it should.