hood struts

I havea '72 Scamp with a steel hood and no hood springs . Is there a way to install struts ? what struts ? Where to mount them ? the hood is getting heavy and I'm old . TIA , Tom

I'd be leery of struts myself. Getting them mounted in the right place and the right length to not cause a lot of stresses on mounting points seems like it would be a crapshoot. Like you said, that hood gets heavy. Wouldn't it be easier to just get a set of hinges with the springs?
Just asking, & I know its your car. Just my thought on the matter.

I used a couple off a mid-90's Taurus on my 66 Dart. IMO, a slick install is mounting them on either side on the cowl near the door hinges.

I eliminated the hood torsions bars on my 65 and installed late 90’s Mitsubishi Montero rear hatch struts.

RogerRamRod said:

I'd be leery of struts myself. Getting them mounted in the right place and the right length to not cause a lot of stresses on mounting points seems like it would be a crapshoot. Like you said, that hood gets heavy. Wouldn't it be easier to just get a set of hinges with the springs?
Just asking, & I know its your car. Just my thought on the matter.

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thanks , muchly appreciated

Did they come with mounting brackets? I've been looking and couldn't find a "kit" with all the components. I'm just trying to use it on my Duster trunk so should be much less of a job. Any thoughts?

CElliott said:

Did they come with mounting brackets? I've been looking and couldn't find a "kit" with all the components. Any thoughts?

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The struts I used came with top of the strut mounting ball stud and the mounting bracket at the bottom. I’m shre it will depend on the struts you chose.

Mounting struts is not as difficult as some may think. The only guessing is in the force needed to open the hood.
Mark the locations where the strut will be attached to the body, and the mounting point on the hood hinge bracket. Note the measurements between those two points with the hood closed, and with it fully open.
Be sure the mounting locations do not cause binding when the hood is opened/closed... and the closer that the upper (hood hinge) mounting point is to the hinge pin, the more force will be needed to open it.

I put some in the trunk (the torsion bar mounts disappeared when the chassis guy put the tubs in) and they work great. I'm always amazed at how easy the trunk opens on its own.

I got my lift struts from Lift Supports Depot. The part number is ST233M70-10.
They have a "search by dimension page" in which you can enter the specs and get a part #

Custom Searches | Find What You Need at Lift Supports Depot

Cant remember the weight difference between the factory hood and decklid, but that difference can't be much.



older pic...

Perfect! Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.