Glass hatch struts on a budget..
my engine cover glass hatch struts are getting tired in the cold weather so i was looking at replacements... i've replaced these years ago, but alas they have lost pressure and need action
now, I could send them to SGS for a regas, but wondered what other options there are.... the best price i could get for OEM was Amayama, but that ended up about £108 for the pair once postage was added, everywhere else was closer to £200
so with necessity being the mother of invention (and knowing struts don't cost £100 each for other cars) a measure up, and the struts are basically 300mm eye to eye, 18mm at the fat bit, 8mm at the thin bit, with an M8 screw fixing at the top.. all standard dimensions, apart from the bespoke NSX bracket at the bottom.... but when has that ever stopped me!!!!
so a pair of struts were ordered, £10 each, reduced to £18 the pair delivered at checkout, result! then ebay did its 'people that bought this also bought these' items thing and the first item was the same seller selling the same struts as a pair for £14... boooooo
2X UNIVERSAL GAS STRUTS SPRINGS 200MM - 750MM MULTI PURPOSE 100(N) - 800(N) from AUTORCE
400N, 300mm long and M8 ball fixings
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373592160...QAAOSw2FNgrP2z
from various threads on here i established the standard SGS regas is 350N, and the budget struts come in 100N steps, all the way up to 800N! so i chose 400N. if it was ok, then great, if not i use these struts as proof of concept and buy the £15 each 350N items!
anyway, i got the struts just before xmas, and the plan was to have them as a little xmas break project....
the new strut and the NSX one....
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4043e226_c.jpgIMG_20211223_125940 by jon sutherland, on Flickr
the new strut has a 100mm stroke, the original 65mm, not that it matters, it still extends to the same length
first order of business was to see if the new M8 stud was suitable for the hatch end... alas too short, so surgery required...
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...26b66c36_c.jpgIMG_20211223_132629 by jon sutherland, on Flickr
grinder ,saw, or file, whatever is necessary to get to the spring clip holding it together! you can fiddle with pick for hours, but life is too short, just hack your way in, just don't hit the ball!
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3ba3dbd0_c.jpgIMG_20211223_132624 by jon sutherland, on Flickr
the OEM and new ball are 10mm, so both fit the new strut. the other alternative is to order a longer threaded ball, but as i already had one in the old setup, and the struts were being replaced anyway, it didn't matter. the added bonus is the OEM one is suitable for the aluminium hatch frame, so no galvanitic corrosion.... some struts came with M6 fittings, i guess the ball would be smaller on those, so i chose a listing that specified M8 and crossed my fingers that the ball sizes were standardised... seems in this case they are! struts are available with just M8 threads at the end, and different fittings can be specified, maybe longer ball threads, i'm not sure, but other options are out there!
the bottom end was a little more involved... the assembly is held together with a swaged pin...
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...eae89e2b_c.jpgIMG_20211223_134743 by jon sutherland, on Flickr
so that need filing off too....
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d5c51510_c.jpgIMG_20211223_134905 by jon sutherland, on Flickr
to give a stub...
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2b9b0ffc_c.jpgIMG_20211223_133055 by jon sutherland, on Flickr
this then needs a 8mm hole boshing through it.... i have a lathe so i could hold the stub and drill it out from the back, but this can be done with a hand drill and a bit of care....
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1df84cdd_c.jpgIMG_20211223_135325 by jon sutherland, on Flickr
then the ball can be nut and bolted on, a dome nut just to keep things neat
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8fa594dc_c.jpgIMG_20211223_133425 by jon sutherland, on Flickr
then it's just a case of a little bit of grease in the ball cups, and bolt it all back on....
(too many pics apparently, but it looks just like the stock one in place!)
painted the top cup, just to hide it a bit
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...dc8a286e_c.jpgIMG_20211223_134433 by jon sutherland, on Flickr
painted the dome nut, just to keep it neat
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0ce76ca6_c.jpgIMG_20211223_134428 by jon sutherland, on Flickr
and there we have it, a budget alternative to honda prices and availability, with a bit of good old fashioned whittling and making stuff fit!
and, it's nice and smooth, and works in the cold!
https://youtu.be/BzXTOdFfHmI
alas, it failed miserably as a christmas break project, it was all done and dusted in about an hour!!!
