Hood strut replacement tricks

Borsche · Borsche's Garage

Does anyone have any hood strut replacement tricks.

The driver side lower retainer clip seems inaccessible to me!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated....

Joe Bob · Joe Bob's Garage

Hemostats....

na2ub · 08-26-2011, 07:04 AM

A long time ago, in a land far away, someone else had that problem. After much fiddling, he decided to just leave the clip off, to find that the strut stayed in place just fine without, much to his pleasure. After that day, many have followed in his footsteps successfully, myself included.

crustychief · crustychief's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

Hemostats....

Or a stick with some sticky tape.

jmcn3rd · jmcn3rd's Garage

very painful, as indicated above. don't think I got mine on either. Na2ub that is too funny.

Jesse16 · Jesse16's Garage

I did my struts about 2 years ago and had forgotten this. Just checked and no clip, seems to stay in fine. Many thousands of miles and 4 DE's.

911dean · 911dean's Garage

I just changed mine. I found the clip was missing from previous shock change. So that's how it stayed. Would seem very difficult to get clip back on.
Dean

schumicat · 08-26-2011, 07:44 AM

it is pretty easy if you use bent nose pliers.

na2ub · 08-26-2011, 07:48 AM

Could be a budweiser campaign commercial, if you remember those, "Mister leave clip off man, we salute you"

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

I was stubborn enough to use a long screwdriver and a piece of tape. But the clip is just a belt & suspenders thing.

PCA7GGR · 08-26-2011, 08:05 AM

Use your kid's (or spouse's) narrower arm and smaller hand - ;>)

fred cook · fred cook's Garage

Once you've gotten the pin back in place, use a piece of small copper wire inserted and wrapped around the folded end of the clip. This will allow you to position the clip holding the wire and use a screwdriver in the other hand to press the clip into place. Then, unwrap the wire and remove. The wire that I use is about 18 gauge magnet wire (copper wire with a lacquer finish). It is a little stiffer than uncoated wire and will hold the desired shape better.

gtc · gtc's Garage

Save on Sunex Tools 3706 at ToolTopia.com

porschenut · 08-26-2011, 10:11 AM

This really isn't difficult at all. Use needle nose pliers to pull the clip off. What I do is this:

1. Use a screwdriver or the pliers to turn the clip so that it would remove by lifting stright up.
2. Hold the needle nose pliers by the ends of the handles and lower the needle end in.
3. Grip the clip and pull it straight up and off.
4. Use the tip of the needle nose to push the pin through to the other side, and grab it with the pliers and pull out.
5. Replace the hood shock.
6. Installation is the reverse.

I can do the entire procedure in under 1 minute without uttering a sound. Not even a whimper.

s_morrison57 · 08-26-2011, 11:14 AM

Under 1 minute? I'd like to see that.

ths911 · ths911's Garage

If you are going to put the clip back on, tie some dental floss to the clip before working in the tight area. When you drop the clip and you will, you can just retreive it by pulling on the dental floss.

burgermeister · burgermeister's Garage

I'm with na2ub - no clip, 5 years, 18 or so DEs, no problems (with the hood strut at least).

bfunke · bfunke's Garage

I did mine with long needle nose pliers. It wasn't that difficult.

SAM DACOSTA · SAM DACOSTA's Garage

I just did mine on my 964 last weekend and it took a total of 5 minutes to do both 'hood shocks' and I had no issues with the clips. I'm wondering why others are having issues and what's the root cause (old clips, bent clips, etc.)?

AVDCAV · AVDCAV's Garage

Get a kid. Takes them seconds,
Mine charged $5.00