trick for 911 hood struts

[slarso911]

Well I need some help here I have a 84 011 and I am trying to replace the hood struts. I may have done it 20 years ago. But for the life of my, I csn not remember how to un-do the drivers side strut. Ant tricks to it???

There is a chance I did not do it 20 years ago and just blew it off!

Thanks for any advice

[Bill Douglas]

Umm, something like 20 years since I did mine too LOL

But I remember it was hard to get a (retaining?) clip on or off, so I tied some cotton to it so I could real in in from places unknown under the hood.

[rokemester]

I will be tackling this again soon. I remember long hemostats came in quite handy. Unfortunately I didn’t have access to a small child.

[canamfan]

Long needle nose pliers with an extendable magnet to keep clip from disappearing

[darrin]

I googled "911 hood strut trick" and found this thread and a few others Hood strut replacement tricks

[proporsche]

To start with ..replace the pass..side so you do not have to hold the heavy hood with your shoulders.
Once you that one done clamp it with vice-grips just about before is fully extended.
To remove the driver side is...i do no know what pin sefate clip do you have there.If already the new type--little plate clip ...remove it (again you have have it on the bottom pin) with a long flat screwdriver.Then lift the hood and with a L shape pick push the pin out( i do not know which direction in your case).......
Next..use long magnet to retrieve the pin or clip if you lost it there.

Remove the upper pin and the hood-shock after--the hood should still stay up holding by the wisegrips on the other side.
No make sure you align both ends on the NEW shock so they are facing the same direction(sometimes they are twisted)
Insert the shock into position on the bottom and secure it on the top with the pin a safety clip
After have flashlight or other light you have so you can see the bottom meeting place.
Use long needle nose pliers and hold the pin .I usually insert them in from inside out towards the fender.No reason from the other side...unless you would like to curse for halve an hour...

With the pin in your pliers lift the hood up and down a little bit so the pin goes in the holes.
The trick is, i never put the securing pin`s clip on because it does not have to be there.The pin is on constant pressure and has no chance to go out or get loose.

Just make sure the pin is in all the way


Ivan

[isby]

I just did this job. Drivers side strut was a PITA, but a hemostat (with a bit of patience) ultimately worked for me.

[MichaelSJackson]

My car's previous owner brazed a heavy wire across the back of the driver side pin. That provided a 4 inch handle. Still a PITA, because it doesn't want to slide through unless it is at the perfect angle.

Mine is starting to wear-out again and I keep deferring the fix.

[Vincent Hill]

Originally Posted by proporsche

To start with ..replace the pass..side so you do not have to hold the heavy hood with your shoulders.
Once you that one done clamp it with vice-grips just about before is fully extended.
To remove the driver side is...i do no know what pin sefate clip do you have there.If already the new type--little plate clip ...remove it (again you have have it on the bottom pin) with a long flat screwdriver.Then lift the hood and with a L shape pick push the pin out( i do not know which direction in your case).......
Next..use long magnet to retrieve the pin or clip if you lost it there.

Remove the upper pin and the hood-shock after--the hood should still stay up holding by the wisegrips on the other side.
No make sure you align both ends on the NEW shock so they are facing the same direction(sometimes they are twisted)
Insert the shock into position on the bottom and secure it on the top with the pin a safety clip
After have flashlight or other light you have so you can see the bottom meeting place.
Use long needle nose pliers and hold the pin .I usually insert them in from inside out towards the fender.No reason from the other side...unless you would like to curse for halve an hour...

With the pin in your pliers lift the hood up and down a little bit so the pin goes in the holes.
The trick is, i never put the securing pin`s clip on because it does not have to be there.The pin is on constant pressure and has no chance to go out or get loose.

Just make sure the pin is in all the way


Ivan

Ivan, you KNOW What you are talking about! Saying that, when i went to replace the PITA Driver side I found that the pin was laying next to the Shock. BUT Thinking like you that the Pin is under constant pressure, (Hood up or down) I took a 6mm harden (grade 12) Allen bolt about 30 to 35 mm long and using a Magnetic Finger tip on my index finger, I pushed it all of the way in. With using a Threaded Bolt, the threads will make it even Harder to come out considering it will have to travel about 20 mm before it comes out! Thanks to you, I can now take my mind off of this and think about other problems 👍🏾👍🏾

[john walker's workshop]

I stick a small blob of dum dum behind the pin head, just in case it wanders.

[MrBonus]

Originally Posted by rokemester

I will be tackling this again soon. I remember long hemostats came in quite handy. Unfortunately I didn’t have access to a small child.

Hemostats are amazing for this job. I've only done them once and took me like a minute to do thanks to this trick.

[tsuter]

Plenty of room to work on that driver side if you disconnect the hose clamp on the fuel filler tube (and the overflow hose)and then pull it back up a few inches by the neck. Two nuts under the filler flap as well.

[walt]

It's been along time since I replaced mine but I seem to recall tying a thin piece of string to it so it could be retrieved if dropped. Used dental floss I think.

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally Posted by MrBonus

Hemostats are amazing for this job. I've only done them once and took me like a minute to do thanks to this trick.

I'm trying the same job right now, using hemostats. No worky. Long, short, straight, bent, doesn't matter. Even using a borescope to see, I can't grab that stupid clip.
After getting fed up with it, I offered $100 to a friend of mine to come do it, who then said she uses a 90 degree pick to hook the clip and pull it out, then uses a magnetic grabber tool to align it, then push it over the pin with a screwdriver.
I'll still give her $100 to do it. Maybe I'll film it using the borescope and post it.

[MrBonus]

Originally Posted by WolfeMacleod

I'm trying the same job right now, using hemostats. No worky. Long, short, straight, bent, doesn't matter. Even using a borescope to see, I can't grab that stupid clip.
After getting fed up with it, I offered $100 to a friend of mine to come do it, who then said she uses a 90 degree pick to hook the clip and pull it out, then uses a magnetic grabber tool to align it, then push it over the pin with a screwdriver.
I'll still give her $100 to do it. Maybe I'll film it using the borescope and post it.

It has been a while since I had my G Body so I can't remember what the access is like. On the '71, it was a snap, but I think there is less in the way.

[Rodek]

My frunk lid gets opened frequently and as such the struts don't last as long. If you never want to change the hood struts again, do what I did and use these.

https://www.rennline.com/rennline-fully-mechanical-hood-strut-sku-e187/

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally Posted by MrBonus

It has been a while since I had my G Body so I can't remember what the access is like. On the '71, it was a snap, but I think there is less in the way.

I'm pretty sure that everything located in the frunk is located within a 1-square foot area of that clip. Including the spare tire, battery, gas tank, and every inch of wiring in the car. Right there. *&%&^% thing is not even visible without a borescope.
And whoever decided it should be placed on the outside of the strut on the fender side, instead of the inside, should be drawn and quartered.

[Tinkerer]

Long nose pliers and a lot of I can do this

[OldSpool87]

Originally Posted by Tinkerer

Long nose pliers and a lot of I can do this

Haha! Don’t forget to do your breathing exercises…I did this a while ago but remember that standing with my right side facing the front of the car seemed to align my hand better with the funky angles and tight spaces.

[Vincent Hill]

Originally Posted by Rodek

My frunk lid gets opened frequently and as such the struts don't last as long. If you never want to change the hood struts again, do what I did and use these.

https://www.rennline.com/rennline-fully-mechanical-hood-strut-sku-e187/

Thanks for this. I also had a Mechanical strut was only on 1 side and was also on my 1976 but it finally broke and got bent so it is no more. I looked around for something just like this but no luck.

I was fortunate that my drivers side pin was already Out. Here are the tools I used and the only one that worked for getting the pin back in was the Magnetic Finger tip.