Just installed Weltmeister hood struts

[gr8fl4porsche]

The Weltmeister hood struts hold up the front hood very well so far, but I have the problem of the rear of the hood in front of the cowl raising up a little bit.

There are a few other posts concerning this problem with no real solutions mentioned. Adjusting the hood hinge did not bring it down enough.

Anyone managed to fix this problem? aside from putting back on the oem struts.

[Doug E]

Don't have an answer for you but am wondering what causes the problem. Are the weltmeister's a different length or is it something else?

[cegerer]

I installed them on mine and have no problems with hood alignment. -- Curt

[HarryD]

I am looking to replace my tired shocks. How do you get the driver side one out?

[JDaniel]

Funny you should mention that. I happen to have installed weltmeisters when I first purchased my car... then noticed several days later that the hood was raised a bit. I tried to change the alignment, to no avail, and decided to live with it. I thought it was just some detail missed at the PPI.
Now I wonder... perhaps there is a fix.?

[gr8fl4porsche]

The drivers side isn't all that hard if you follow the tech article.
The hemostats and dental floss along with a well placed flashlight make it not so bad - helps to have someone else holding the hood and wiggling it a bit so you can slide the pin back in.

I cannot live with the hood sitting up - I am thinking about eliminating the struts and going with the fibreglass rod idea.

Some have said worn out hood hinges could cause this, but the problem has to be the size of the closed piston, you cannot 'push' the hood into the correct position. Tough to measure the closed size as the pistons are very firm.

??????

[T Bird]

Vertex used to advertise a hood strut replacement that was guaranteed for life. If I recall, it was not a gas strut, but rather a device made out of two pieces of metal that slide back and forth and that lock at the extended position, thereby holding up the hood. When you want to drop the hood, you push the hood up a bit to take the pressure off the locking mechanism, and press a small lever on the device which allows it to unlock and the hood to lower. I don't know if it is still sold, or if it worked well. However, anything beats the OEM Sachs gas struts. I have had them fail right out of the box. The last time they did so, I just gave up and decided to live with the issue.

[Sean Hamilton]

I've replaced both rear deck and front hood struts.
In both instances the left side sat up a wee bit higher than before.
I cannot stand misaligned panel fit and gaps.

I simply removed the washer spacers and re-shimmed with thinner ones.
Fixed - perfect alignment and gaps.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Sean,

Which spacers/shims are you referring to?

[JMPRO]

In order to measure the amount the shock compresses, put a zip tie or a piece of string around the shaft of the shock and close the hood. When you reopen the hood, the tie on the shaft will have pushed to the point the shock stopped. In most cases you will still have some travel left, if not , the shock is to short for the car.
Jerry

[Sean Hamilton]

On *mine* the washers or spacers are between the strut hinge bracket and the underside hood where the two Allen head bolts run thru securing the hood to the hinge brackets.
One for each bolt, fairly thick.
I guess the extra compressive resistance in the new struts exerted more upward pressure to the strut hinge bracket elevating the hood slightly. Maybe as they get older the hood will settle back again, so I've saved the OEM washers for that day.

[Oldporsche]

I remember in some old posts about "alternatives to hood shocks". Some of them were very interesting. I'm a broomstick person myself.

Good luck,
David Duffield

[gr8fl4porsche]

Response from Performance Parts concerning strut fit problem

"You are correct, the life time hood shocks you bought
are a little longer than the factory hood shocks
I really have no solution for you
You can return those and get factory hood shocks
Sorry
Thank you "


Performance Products is the Best Source for Auto Parts and
Accessories


This is the second time Performance has sold me parts for my 87 that they knew in advance would not work properly on my car.

By the way - I ordered lots of stuff lately from Pelican as well -
2 weeks to date and no stuff.

[pegasus9]

So much for Performance Products...

Randy, can't you get a tracking number for your order?

[gr8fl4porsche]

Unfortunately there is nothing to track - yet.

My order has been mishandled by Pelican, but they are putting it together right now and express shipping it to me for next week - and eating the shipping costs - a very friendly way to right the wrong.

Since I do not want any of the crappy OEM struts - looks like its back to the piece of pvc conduit until I can rig up something more permanant.

ps. I'm getting real good at removing the drivers side front strut.

[Kiwi912]

Has anyone had any success re-gassing the original struts?

I have done this before with Jap hatch struts and it is a very cheap option (about US$10 each) that worked. I just wonder if the original seals are up to it after reading how quickly they fail from new?

Maybe cutting them open to put in new seals is an option?

I was contemplating purchasing the weltmiesters but not after reading this thread! The quick failure of the original struts rules them out. At the moment the aluminum pole from the kids tent works well!

[cegerer]

I wonder if they are only a problem on the 74 and newer cars?? Like I mentioned, they fit perfectly on my 71???? Prior to the Weltmeister units, the OEM shocks had been replaced EACH year for the past 3 years in a row! -- Curt

[N11Porsche]

I replaced my tired, front hood struts with the OEM Porsche replacement struts and they fit perfectly. They were only a couple of bucks more than the off brand struts (I forget the exact cost but I think they were around $18 each) Sometimes it pays to go with original equipment parts.......

[Doug E]

That response from Performance is unbelievable. You also have to wonder about weltmeister but maybe the different length is what makes them last a lifetime!

[Sean Hamilton]

Originally posted by N11Porsche
I replaced my tired, front hood struts with the OEM Porsche replacement struts and they fit perfectly. Sometimes it pays to go with original equipment parts.......

Ditto.
Like the struts, I opted to go the long hard road with replacing OEM in my steering shaft assembly and I am now a very happy vegemite.