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Today at Atelier Kaz - Private NSX Enthusiast, ex-Honda R&D engineer with F1, Indy/CART background

SGS Engineering, Re-gas Damper Strut

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As you may have already experienced, sooner or later,
your gas damper/strut at the boot lid or the rear glass hatch will
get weaker and no longer be able to hold the object in the air.


This NSX has an aftermarket rear wing that is quite heavy
compared to the OEM one.
Because of this, the OEM gas damper has fairly short life if
the boot lid was opened/closed frequently.

You can replace it with the new OEM one but it will end up with
the short life again due to the extra weight.


So, based on the several feedbacks from other owners on this site,
contacted SGS Engineering UK Ltd (http://www.sgs-engineering.com/)
prior to start servicing this NSX to discuss the available options.


Once the owner has left his NSX with me,
removed the gas strut and sent over to them.

In the past, when multiple NSX owners sent out their struts at
the similar timing, they received the struts from another NSX so
decided to put simple label to prevent this from happening.


The people at SGS Engineering was very helpful and once they received
the struts from me, they measured the existing gas level.

Apparently, this strut at the boot lid is rated at 500N but it was already
down to 330N.
No wonder why it felt so weak with the extra weight from the aftermarket
rear wing.


So, instead of re-gassing it back to 500N,
we decided to uprate it to 600N.







When I received the strut back from them, the re-gas spec and date were
etched on the strut body.

Very handy service.


They told me that there was already some wear in the strut shaft so
they couldn’t tell how long it would last but this was understandable when
using any used parts.


They also sell replacement new strut with many different spec including
the end fitting and bracket so if you prefer the new parts,
you may want to consider it as an option.

For example, I haven’t researched it yet but you may be able to find the
new strut for the rear glass hatch that can increase the lifting height
compared to the factory one.
It’s a small thing but makes one’s life much easier especially for
DIY engine projects.







The re-gassed strut installed and the heavy boot lid was held in the air nicely.

The C-ring at the right side was not the OEM spec but it was very likely to
be replaced when the aftermarket body kit was installed.

On installation, I packed the ball socket with the fresh grease because
it was completely dry.
I don't like the idea of greasing the pillow ball so just wiped off the debris.

Now the boot lid can be held in the air even at the slightly lowered height so
uprating to 600Nm was just about right for the extra boot lid weight for this NSX.


SGS Engineering turned around the struts on the same day when
they received the struts from me and even shipped them out on that day.

I paid GBP42 total inc.VAT for re-gassing both struts and about GBP6 inc.VAT
for their delivery charge.

Overall, just over GBP48 for their service.

Addition to this, you need to allow the delivery charge sending the struts to them.


Thank you to SGS Engineering for their great service.

Regards,
Kaz




Updated 11-03-2017 at 02:17 PM by Kaz-kzukNA1 (correction on the force unit)

Categories
Body

Comments

  1. Pride's Avatar
    Hi Kaz, I am about to post off my glass hatch struts to SGS today.

    How do I ask them to increase the lift rate to allow a larger opening of the hatch which you have given yours.

    Presumably it's a replacement strut with a longer throw, could you advise me as to what size I should ask for and does the base mounting bracket transfer from the origanol to the new as I couldn't see how to remove it from the strut itself.

    Please see image in my earlier post.

    Thanks,
    Clive
    Updated 03-08-2015 at 10:51 AM by Pride (More info given)
  2. Kaz-kzukNA1's Avatar
    Hi, Clive.

    As mentioned above, SGS sells the replacement new strut with many different spec.

    Therefore, you will need to buy completely new strut + bracket + end fitting.
    Since you are sending in your existing OEM (strut + bracket + end fitting), just ask SGS to find the suitable combination for your application with extra pushrod length for the strut so that you can increase the opening angle.
    Don’t go too much as you need to take into consideration the hinge spec and the clearance of the hatch glass top edge against the roof panel.
    There will be a limit factor decided by the length and angle at the strut/bracket/end fitting as well.

    For the end fitting, you could ask for the ball socket by measuring the existing OEM diameter and use the OEM ball stud as you may want to stay with dark colour and not shiny silver considering the surrounding area.

    Obviously, re-gassing the OEM strut won’t allow you to increase the opening angle.

    Kaz