G'day folks. Been a while since I last posted here. Anyway I've decided to post a little tip that I found out (the hard way) was a little design-manufacturing flaw with the sedans, so I hope this will alleviate some headaches in the future.

As you all are aware, the boot of the sedans are hinged and supported by gas struts. The gas struts are then connected to brackets located behind the back seats in the boot compartment. The brackets are spot welded to become part of the car frame itself, and are designed to take the weight of the boot lid including spoiler if fitted. There are 2 spot welds on the bracket to the back of the backseat supports, and only 1 spot weld on the top of the bracket to the cross member. And this is where the flaw lies. As it happened to mine, the top weld subsequently weakened over time, fracturing and shearing off one day. The result is the gas strut had to be removed to prevent further damage to the bracket and so the boot lid could be closed properly.

To fix this, I had to drill out the spot welds and replace with M8x20 bolts. 1 nut, bolt, washers and spring washer combination at the top and 2 bolts on the back seat support. This was done to both sides, resulting in a stronger and sturdier support for the brackets. Just be aware the backseats and part of the upholstery had to be removed to enable easier access without damaging the interior. This took me about half a day including cleaning up and reassembling to get it all done...a pain in the a** but at least i'll know the same problem isn't going to occur again.

Thats my bit of good news. If you know of other hidden manufacturing flaws and how you fixed it, let us all know here.