Wot am I doing rong!

[expat]

I'm installing my new heavy duty rear deck lid shocks for my 87. (purchased from Pelican of course). The new shock is about 3-4mm too long so I can't line it up with the bolt to slide thru the hole at the end of the shock.

I've tried lifting the tail up as far as possible and this is where it measures 3-4mm too long. I've tried compressing the shock while lining up the bolt hole but I can't even compress it 1mm.

I thought if if compressed the shock before installation that would work but I can't find anyway of compressing the shock.

What am I doing wrong for such a simple installation?

(Man..do these shocks have some pressure behind them. Nothing I've done has compressed it a single mm!!)

Thanks for any help.

Cheers
Mark

[Targa Dude]

Hello,
I'm not 100% sure... but, it sounds like you might have front hood shocks.. did you compare them to your old ones?


Jorge (Targa Dude)

[expat]

Nah...I've already done the front shocks, their much longer. This eems about the right length, only talking about 3-4mm too long when not compressed. Only difference is that they are thicker and they they have pressure (unlike my old one!).

So any one else????????????

Mark

[Bill Douglas]

Mark, how about unbolting the hinge on that side of the engine lid, or even slackening off the bolts a bit, put the pin through the hole and gas strut, then force the lid back down and do up the hinge bolts again.

Bill, Kiwi boy with '79SC.

[Jorgeman]

Mark--I can't imagine your not being able to collapse a shock--at least mine were compressable. Is there any possibility the shock is damaged? Remove it and try exercising it outside the car where you can get some weight on it. I'd be concerned a shock that stiff might hurt the engine lid when you tried lowering it. It may just be stuck in the full extended position. Let us know what you find.

[pnzr911]

I bought the same shocks and have the same issue. These babies do NOT want to compress. Im sure John Walker knows how to do it!!!

[expat]

AHHHHHHHHHHHH....

What is going on here!

Its not damaged.

I cannot compress, when it is out of the car.

Loosening everything off doesn't work.

Can't find a way to lever the shock into a compressed state at all.

I'm not a small guy (200lbs!) and no matter how much I lean on this sucker it aint moving in. (Then again I remember the front hood shock was like this - just a leverage thing I think.)

JW??????

Wayne?????

By the way, its a brand new shock from Pelican, wrapped and packed well, and no visible signs of damage.

Thanks for the help/suggestions so far but no go.

Cheers
Mark

[Sean Hamilton]

I just replaced mine last weekend, Mark.
Had the same issue - got the fire wall ends bolted in and the front hood pin hole would not align.
Thinking as you did, I took 'em back out again, sure the old ones compressed by hand fairly easily and that'd be why the hood would'nt stay open, but these new ones WILL NOT budge by hand.
Didn't make sense. So I put 'em back - fire wall end first and as easily as propping up the hood to it's extreme with a piece of timber the hood pin holes aligned and bolted through. Phew!
Wow! the hood'd smack me in the chin now if I was leaning over it.
When closed I noticed the extra tension on the left lifted that side of the hood/fender gap a little so I then re-adjusted the rubber stops - left in, right out and the gaps are perfect now.

BTW, mine are OEM - Melb' Porsche.

[MarkY]

Originally posted by Sean Hamilton
BTW, mine are OEM - Melb' Porsche.

This is the big difference. It's also the reason I tend to shy away from after market parts. I replaced my deck lid shocks with OEM as well for this very reason. I would send them back and use OEM shocks. You know, believe it or not, Porsche engineers do know what they are doing.

[expat]

Hey Sean...thanks for your reply. So are you saying that you just pushed harder on the bonnet to get them to fit. If so, I've tried that and no go. I'm fearful of bending the bonnet if I push up any harder!

MarkY - I appreciate what your saying but I also like to suppport the business that runs this BB for us all so I want to buy from them from time to time from them. Living a long way from the US, its pretty frustrating to have to return goods all that way though. If I read Seans post correctly he has OEM parts but still had the same problem so I don't think that's an issue.

Well, I think I'm getting to the stage where I'll either drill a new hole in the bonnet hinge or just put up with a bonnet that won't stay open.

Grrrrrrrrr

Cheers
Mark

[expat]

Ok..done but I'm not too happy about it!

Suffice to say I think I'll be staring at the slight twist in my bonnet for some time, and the welded hinge bracket by the firewall will probably need strenghtening some time soon.

Thanks for the help anyway guys. Now.... onto the rack spacers.

Cheers
Mark

[Bill Douglas]

Ummm, when I did mine (with new Pelican deck lid shocks) I had teh job done in about 10 minutes - no drama at all.