Replacing deck lid shocks
 

Hello, I own a 75 911. I would like to replace the decklid shocks. Are there any
specific steps to follow when doing this.
Do I need to remove the decklid, etc.?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I finally gave up on the shocks and use a telescoping holder available from many autoparts suppliers. I seemed no matter how good the shocks were, the front or rear hood would wack my head. All you need to do though if you want to replace them is have access to the clips that hold them to the pivots.

beagle, it's easy to replace hood and deck shocks. Open them all the way, prop them up with something handy (2x4, old shift rod, the wife's broom, whatever) and remove the cotter pins in the small pivot pins at the ends of the shocks-slide out the pins, remove the old shocks, install the new ones, put everything back together (don't forget to remove the broom) and you're done. Cool, huh? Tomorrow we'll discuss thermo-nuclear dynamics or something.

Thanks for the input. I do have another question. I have a new shock. It seems
impossible to expand it to mount it to the brackets.

beagle911

Beagle:
Good luck... I swapped out front and rear hood struts a while back and they didn't last that long... I got me a nice dowell rod and it's lasted for quite a while.. not high tech, but it never fails

kgl

An interesting footnote- I recently replaced my whaletail with the stock decklid, and the shocks for the tail were so strong that now the decklid opens all the way, by itself, when I pull the release lever. There are evidently different types of shocks for the heavier decklid with tail spoiler.

I don't think there are two different factory kinds of shocks for the rear decklid. On cars with no spoiler, the factory used one shock. If the car had a spoiler, the factory used extra long bolts and some spacers, and put two shocks in tandem, using the same mounting spot.

There are, however, lots of different shocks out there. The factory ones are ok, but not great. In my experience the factory shocks will work for 6 or so years on the rear deck, and may 4-5 on the front. There are aftermarket shocks which are very cheap and hardly last at all. At the other end, Performance Products sells some very expensive aftermarket shock, which have a lifetime warranty.

The idea of the mechanical devices that sort of lock in place mechanically to hold up the hood/decklid seem like a decent idea, but I fear that if the hood is up and locked, someone who does not know about the mechanism may just push down on the hood to close it, and bend it!

I just use the factory shocks and replace them every 5 or 6 years. They are pretty cheap, something like $9 each.

Brian

Beagle, if you need to "expand" the shock to get it to fit, you have the wrong sized shock! With the deck lid fully raised (i.e. pushing it up as high as it will go), the shock should just about fit. In my experience, the shock actually seems a bit too long, and you have to push up on the lid kinda hard to get it to squeeze in.