Fitting gas bonnet lifters to VN

[Shortstuff]

Has anyone fitted VP bonnet lifters to their VN? I picked a set up today with all the fittings ( $10 plus $50 doctors costs!!! ) and what I really want to know is the easiest way to get the nuts up inside the edge of the bonnet so I can screw the fitting into them.

Any help much appreciated as i'm having a bit of trouble with it at the moment.

[CSL]

shit it's funny casue i just did this the the other day
i got a coat hanger, and bent around the end and wedged the bolt onto it then fed that up through the bonnet and met it with the ball, 8mm nuts, pref nilock cause they wedge on better. then as your tighting it just pull the ball and tighten
if you dont have holes make some

[Shortstuff]

Brilliant I was going to try one of those extendable magnetic thingys, but that sounds like it might work better. I've already got the holes in my bonnet so it's just a case of bolting it all on I hope.

[NORTI]

I couldnt get the stupid ball things of the VP to start with? How to?? Then I can start pulling my hair out to put them on my VN.



D.

[greenfoam]

Mrs Countess, You can buy new ones at Holden for 3 dollars or something, saves the trouble of pulling them off

[Shortstuff]

Some of them are really tight to start with. I tried a few cars before I found one that would undo easily.

[slayer]

ok so u have to dril hole sin ya bonnet to fit these

if so where abouts

[NORTI]

Mrs Countess, You can buy new ones at Holden for 3 dollars or something, saves the trouble of pulling them off

Cheers for that! DOH! why didnt I think to ask if they are still available new?? lol



D.

[Emackulation]

Ive Been thinking about doing this mod. Pictures would make this thread more friendly to the eye.

[mouce]

Anyone feel like doing a full how-to with pictures? Sounds like a popular mod.

[Shortstuff]

Just finished it, but unfortunately I got a bit too stressed to think about taking photos! The holes may well already be there in the bonnet - they were on my car, so I didn't have to drill any.

The biggest problem I had was that I kept dropping the nuts down inside the bonnet while I tried to get them into position and it's a real pain to retrieve them.

I'll get some pics and see what I can throw together in the way of a 'how to' when it's not quite so bright outside.

Very satisfying to lift the bonnet and not have to fight with the stay to hold it up! Even worth the Tetanus shot I had to go get after slicing my hand deeply as I was taking the mounting points off the guards of the wreck.

[CSL]

the series 1 vn's didnt have them (the holes) but i beleive the struts were on some of the more presige series 2's so the bonnet had the holes
i went to the wreckers and your rightn it feels like they were locktighted on, some vice crips, a cut and bleeding hand and a few more curses later they were off, got them for free.
i'll go get some pics now

[slayer]

kewl pix would be great as i dont even know where to mount the bloody things

[stocky]

i think theyre welded onto the vp bonnet. ive put them on mine but it wasnt easy. i had to put the nut inside a socet with an extenstion on it, then put it through one of the holes in the bonnet. eventually it screwed into place but it was still very loose.
i managed to fix this by sliding a piece of metal into one of the small holes along the side of the bonnet. i pushed the metal until it wedged itself in place between the nut and the bonnet, so i could tighten it up from the outside.
probably not the best description but its hard to explain

[HoZy]

hehe gas bonnet struts first thing i did to my car 2 years ago, love them!

Cheers
MaT

[Shortstuff]

If you need to drill holes, the centre should be 185mm forwards of where the hinges end on the bonnet.

[CSL]

here ya go

[CSL]

sorry bout pic size

[Shortstuff]

Ok, i've just written up a 'how to' with lots of pics. It's been approved now and there's a link to it below. The only thing I forgot to add is that I don't think it matters which way up the struts are mounted, as CSL's are mounted the other way up to mine. Mine work perfectly and i'm assuming his do too

[Shortstuff]

There's a link to the 'how to' I wrote here.

[slayer]

thanks heaps everyone this is i wanted now im happy

[mouce]

Sweet how-to. Gunna have to give that one a go, now that I've seen how easy it is and all. Just gotta get those balls onto the bonnet without dropping anything LOL

[Shortstuff]

I had such an arse of a time after I dropped the nuts! If you can get that bit sorted without too much trouble, the rest of it is simple. I keep wanting to open my bonnet now

[cohn]

I did mine a couple of weeks ago, i have a s1 calais and the holes with welded nuts were already there. hehe.

[slayer]

i did mine this morning YAY wasnty that hard had to drill the holes and the coat hanger worked a trick did nt take long at all thanks heaps everyone