Front trunk strut kits..

I’m at the starting point of my restoration project but I was becoming annoyed opening and latching the Frunk lid numerous times a day so I’m now part of the gas strut club!😂

Best description of my attempt is “Same, same but different”!

1CB5797A-CA25-4E83-BC31-BC40B21C1290.jpeg
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I have used an eyelet setup at top of the hinge primarily so that when the lid is down there was no interference with the “Frunk” light. I’ve manipulated the metal bracket so that it follows the curve of the Frunk hinge and bolted using m5 bolts. Top eyelets are bolted using m6 shoulder bolts. I decided on this setup as it keeps all the struts fixings central to the plane of the hinge thus keeping clear of the top if stored and Frunk light as previously mentioned.
FC2E43F2-5C29-47F7-A021-A2C5262B796B.jpeg

Lid pretty much holds just below screen hight as this is at the point of “over centre” so below this lid just closes normally and above the lid automatically raises to its max opening.
7194D882-20DD-4B69-BF2D-AC4A88338735.jpeg
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Struts are as follows
A92E6E0C-FD13-402A-A2CA-6F402ED11F67.jpeg

Struts are set to 160NM force which appears to be the sweet spot👍
 
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Stuartc said:
I’m at the starting point of my restoration project but I was becoming annoyed opening and latching the Frunk lid numerous times a day so I’m now part of the gas strut club!😂

Best description of my attempt is “Same, same but different”!

View attachment 67903View attachment 67904I have used an eyelet setup at top of the hinge primarily so that when the lid is down there was no interference with the “Frunk” light. I’ve manipulated the metal bracket so that it follows the curve of the Frunk hinge and bolted using m5 bolts. Top eyelets are bolted using m6 shoulder bolts. I decided on this setup as it keeps all the struts fixings central to the plane of the hinge thus keeping clear of the top if stored and Frunk light as previously mentioned.
View attachment 67905
Lid pretty much holds just below screen hight as this is at the point of “over centre” so below this lid just closes normally and above the lid automatically raises to its max opening.
View attachment 67909View attachment 67906View attachment 67907
Struts are as follows
View attachment 67908
Struts are set to 160NM force which appears to be the sweet spot👍
Click to expand...
Hi Stuart. Have been looking at the "Gas Strut" site but have not found the black bracket you have used listed. Did you have a part number for that bracket?
I had noticed the offset on the other methods and prefer your method as it also gives a straight push on the Hinge arm.
 
Halt said:
Hi Stuart. Have been looking at the "Gas Strut" site but have not found the black bracket you have used listed. Did you have a part number for that bracket?
I had noticed the offset on the other methods and prefer your method as it also gives a straight push on the Hinge arm.
Click to expand...
I think you could make these other styles work as well, they all could apply force with minimal side loading:

76C3F749-0429-4D6B-A5AD-152A86C1C41B.jpeg22516B8B-9327-4C3D-84B0-FADFABED780A.jpeg7A431625-0F4D-49D6-BA3D-0A20A8E106E5.jpeg:
 
Halt said:
Hi Stuart. Have been looking at the "Gas Strut" site but have not found the black bracket you have used listed. Did you have a part number for that bracket?
I had noticed the offset on the other methods and prefer your method as it also gives a straight push on the Hinge arm.
Click to expand...
There you go👍
I can confirm they’re very good quality.
16mm M6 shoulder bolt works perfectly with the bracket👍

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Nice work, Stuart! I like the cleaner pivot on the hinge.

As an aside, what is the formed plastic cover for in your Frunk, left side? I haven't seen that before. US spec AC cars have one on the right side to conceal the AC lines & receiver/dryer.
 
lookforjoe said:
Nice work, Stuart! I like the cleaner pivot on the hinge.

As an aside, what is the formed plastic cover for in your Frunk, left side? I haven't seen that before. US spec AC cars have one on the right side to conceal the AC lines & receiver/dryer.
Click to expand...
And these don’t interfere with the targa top being inserted?
 
Stuartc said:
I’m at the starting point of my restoration project but I was becoming annoyed opening and latching the Frunk lid numerous times a day so I’m now part of the gas strut club!😂

Best description of my attempt is “Same, same but different”!

View attachment 67903View attachment 67904I have used an eyelet setup at top of the hinge primarily so that when the lid is down there was no interference with the “Frunk” light. I’ve manipulated the metal bracket so that it follows the curve of the Frunk hinge and bolted using m5 bolts. Top eyelets are bolted using m6 shoulder bolts. I decided on this setup as it keeps all the struts fixings central to the plane of the hinge thus keeping clear of the top if stored and Frunk light as previously mentioned.
View attachment 67905
Lid pretty much holds just below screen hight as this is at the point of “over centre” so below this lid just closes normally and above the lid automatically raises to its max opening.
View attachment 67909View attachment 67906View attachment 67907
Struts are as follows
View attachment 67908
Struts are set to 160NM force which appears to be the sweet spot👍
Click to expand...
This is the best arrangement I've seen so far. Having the force of the gas strut acting directly on the hinge makes perfect sense and it keeps the strut as far outboard as possible without any "angled" (off-axis) loading. Nice job and well documented, thanks Stuart. ;)
 
lookforjoe said:
Nice work, Stuart! I like the cleaner pivot on the hinge.

As an aside, what is the formed plastic cover for in your Frunk, left side? I haven't seen that before. US spec AC cars have one on the right side to conceal the AC lines & receiver/dryer.
Click to expand...

ROW RHD vehicles have the main harness from the junction box/fuse box to the front of the vehicle routing along the passenger (RHD) side of the Frunk thus the formed plastic liner hides the electrical trunk which normally is hidden behind the carpet liner.

381CD21E-E442-4EDC-95E0-6F7079E33F0A.jpeg

As I have retrofitted factory a/c to my RHD Bertone which was never offered in RHD format I now have both the RHD formed plastic cover for the electrical harness on the passenger side and a/c receiver/dryer on the drivers side (RHD).
3E1772A6-7340-414B-BC4E-11C9B9B44991.jpeg

80F44229-2D29-4EB4-9816-35395FA31549.jpeg
Unfortunately a factory Frunk carpet liner for both of these doesn’t exist so I decided to go for a LHD liner instead of my RHD liner as it was far easier to alter sympathetically to accommodate this setup.
I still have my factory RHD Frunk liner so if I can come up with a better solution I may still change it but I have still many other jobs ahead. If anyone else has a better solution I’m “all ears”!😂
 
tvmaster said:
And these don’t interfere with the targa top being inserted?
Click to expand...
4531C3A4-C9EF-419E-8EE4-D2F316AEA46D.jpeg



No!

Everything is lined up with hinge so no affect on storing the top in-fact I find it easier now as a consequence of the strut setup is there’s no “stay” in the way and bonnet is much higher than on the “stay”.
I could trim the threaded end of the shoulder bolt but this is also well clear of the body so really isn’t necessary.
 
tvmaster said:
I’ve wondered if leaving the original, manual lift open for prolonged period causes stress on the opposite side in any way…
Click to expand...

Given that the weight of the panel is unsupported on the right side, the panel will flex, it flexes anyway if one picks it up on the left or right instead of in the middle. Not sure it's an issue, unless the panel is compromised with rust.
 
This is something else I like about the mod done by Stuart (and others); with struts installed on both sides they apply equal force to the hood.
 
This is very cool and elegant solution, I only have one concern which may be misplaced. When I bought my car the PO made a point of telling me to always pull up the front hood from the center. He said that it was not unheard of for the corner of the trunk to fold if opening from pulling up on the corner.

This makes me think the hood is not strong enough to support its weight which then makes me think if it could fold when all the opening pressure is so low on the hood. What are your thought here.
 
KBabcock said:
This is very cool and elegant solution, I only have one concern which may be misplaced. When I bought my car the PO made a point of telling me to always pull up the front hood from the center. He said that it was not unheard of for the corner of the trunk to fold if opening from pulling up on the corner.

This makes me think the hood is not strong enough to support its weight which then makes me think if it could fold when all the opening pressure is so low on the hood. What are your thought here.
Click to expand...
Good question. The hoods are very heavy and seem pretty sturdy. But they can become "bowed" along the sides over time. There have been prior threads about how to straighten a bowed hood so the rubber seal is once again effective in keeping water out. And the corners can become slightly tweaked upward as well...also discussed before. Furthermore I've heard mention of the left side getting tweaked where the hood prop sits. Therefore it might be possible that eventually the force of the gas struts can cause a little bowing of the sides where the hinges mount. The rest of the hood is a lot of weight from that point onward. I wouldn't expect for it to just crease and fold over, but there could be a long term distortion in that area.
 
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