Broken Mu no longer Broken
Re: Broken Mu no longer Broken
Ok, I'll try to get some detailed pics and do a write up soon.
Re: Broken Mu no longer Broken
Its a bit rough when you spend heaps on a full rebuild, show it off and everyone just wants to know about a couple of gas struts. Youve done a great job so far with some interesting variations to the normal way. The final result should work well.
As for running in. Do run it in as the re conditioner said or he wont honour any warranty claims if something goes wrong. Then drive it hard but do warm it up gently
As for running in. Do run it in as the re conditioner said or he wont honour any warranty claims if something goes wrong. Then drive it hard but do warm it up gently
Re: Broken Mu no longer Broken
nice catch can btw, missed it the first time i looked at the pics. Do you remember where you got it from?
Re: Broken Mu no longer Broken
Just got home and these were waiting for me 
I know what I'm doing this weekend.
Anyway, onto the gas struts.
You will need the following bits;
Two VT Commodore bonnet gas struts - Repco P/N: RGS14689
Two gas strut nipples - Repco P/N: MLSMP351 (you can buy these at any good bolt & nut store)
4 x Metal self drilling screws - around 20mm x 8ga
4 x guard style bolts - M8 x 30mm
4 x 8mm mud guard washers
4 x M8 nyloc nuts
2 x L shaped brackets to mount to the guard
There are a few other little bits and pieces you will need though to move the fuse box down a touch - see below.
and a second set of hands always helps.
I've chosen the VT bonnet struts as they are only around 280Nm each and wont warp my bonnet or bend my guards in. Some other cars bonnet struts can get up to the 500Nm mark.
There is a tiny amount of modification to help it all fit nicely. The first thing is the fuse box needs to be moved down about 40mm for the gas strut to clear it when the bonnet is shut. To do so, I made a small bracket (about 70mm x 35mm) out of sheet metal and drilled two holes in it 40mm apart. firstly, In the lower hole, I placed a rounded head bolt facing inwards, pushed it through the fuse box mounting hole and secured it with a nut and flat washer. In the upper hole, I bolted the original fuse box mounting bolt, securing the bracket to the engine bay.
On the other side of the bay (this does not apply if you don't have air con) I simply moved the solid air con line behind the bracket to help the gas strut L bracket fit.
You can see the nipple required in this photo, the other end of it is threaded.
I was able to score a few of these L brackets from work. I work for a caravan builder and we use these on pop top caravans, the roof is supported by gas struts, so they were perfect!
If you look under the guard lip where the original bolt is (about 4th bolt from the rear of the guard), you'll see a small lipped section, I mounted my brackets just behind this lip to ensure it had a flat mounting surface.
Before mounting the L brackets, I'd advise that you attach the nipples to them.
Once they are mounted, screw the flat side of the strut to your bonnet with self drilling screws.
This is the optimum point of attachment to ensure that the gas struts don't bottom out on closure, the struts don't rub or foul on the inner guard lip and the bonnet opens to a decent height.
once the struts are screwed to the bonnet, clip the bottom of them to the nipples on the L brackets and you're done
I know what I'm doing this weekend.
Anyway, onto the gas struts.
You will need the following bits;
Two VT Commodore bonnet gas struts - Repco P/N: RGS14689
Two gas strut nipples - Repco P/N: MLSMP351 (you can buy these at any good bolt & nut store)
4 x Metal self drilling screws - around 20mm x 8ga
4 x guard style bolts - M8 x 30mm
4 x 8mm mud guard washers
4 x M8 nyloc nuts
2 x L shaped brackets to mount to the guard
There are a few other little bits and pieces you will need though to move the fuse box down a touch - see below.
and a second set of hands always helps.
I've chosen the VT bonnet struts as they are only around 280Nm each and wont warp my bonnet or bend my guards in. Some other cars bonnet struts can get up to the 500Nm mark.
There is a tiny amount of modification to help it all fit nicely. The first thing is the fuse box needs to be moved down about 40mm for the gas strut to clear it when the bonnet is shut. To do so, I made a small bracket (about 70mm x 35mm) out of sheet metal and drilled two holes in it 40mm apart. firstly, In the lower hole, I placed a rounded head bolt facing inwards, pushed it through the fuse box mounting hole and secured it with a nut and flat washer. In the upper hole, I bolted the original fuse box mounting bolt, securing the bracket to the engine bay.
On the other side of the bay (this does not apply if you don't have air con) I simply moved the solid air con line behind the bracket to help the gas strut L bracket fit.
You can see the nipple required in this photo, the other end of it is threaded.
I was able to score a few of these L brackets from work. I work for a caravan builder and we use these on pop top caravans, the roof is supported by gas struts, so they were perfect!
If you look under the guard lip where the original bolt is (about 4th bolt from the rear of the guard), you'll see a small lipped section, I mounted my brackets just behind this lip to ensure it had a flat mounting surface.
Before mounting the L brackets, I'd advise that you attach the nipples to them.
Once they are mounted, screw the flat side of the strut to your bonnet with self drilling screws.
This is the optimum point of attachment to ensure that the gas struts don't bottom out on closure, the struts don't rub or foul on the inner guard lip and the bonnet opens to a decent height.
once the struts are screwed to the bonnet, clip the bottom of them to the nipples on the L brackets and you're done
Re: Broken Mu no longer Broken
If I wasn't clear enough with any of the instructions, please let me know and I'll be happy to clarify it or help walk you through the process 
Regards
Michael
Regards
Michael
Re: Broken Mu no longer Broken
Thats an awesome writeup, I am about to fit my body lift kit in the next couple of days as well.
Re: Broken Mu no longer Broken
Captcol wrote:nice catch can btw, missed it the first time i looked at the pics. Do you remember where you got it from?
Sorry mate, I missed your question earlier.
I bought the catch can from Autobarn a few years back. I'm pretty sure they still sell them, it's a "Drift" branded can,
I'd have preferred one without the writing on it but it was cheap at the time
Regards
Michael
Sorry mate, I missed your question earlier.
I bought the catch can from Autobarn a few years back. I'm pretty sure they still sell them, it's a "Drift" branded can,
I'd have preferred one without the writing on it but it was cheap at the time
Regards
Michael
Re: Broken Mu no longer Broken
I have put the gas strut modification in the DIY section. Good work Michael
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Caboolture
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Re: Broken Mu no longer Broken
Rancho RS5116 extended shocks
Front: Rancho RS5214 shocks
Hello are you happy with these and is there a reson you choose these? Looking to replace my shocks Cheers Peter
Front: Rancho RS5214 shocks
Hello are you happy with these and is there a reson you choose these? Looking to replace my shocks Cheers Peter