Good day Everyone,
Here is another alternative to the excellent solution to the one posted by Jeff.
I have been working with LS Technologies (
http://www.lstechnologies.ca/) on a strut solution for my 512BB. Sadly, the OEM ones are either very expensive or are unavailable. Consequently, LS Tech is a strut company that can recharge your old struts (for concours events, etc) or fabricate new ones. In my case, my strut seals were too old and brittle and so new ones were fabricated.
Anyway, I worked with Stephen and the results are fantastic and inexpensive ($80 each plus shipping).
The first pass of LS Tech struts worked fine, but were not very smooth upon starting and required the user (me) to exert a resonable amount of force to keep the deck moving until about 1/2 way open and then the struts would take over. Using these first pass struts and taking some force and distance measurements, Stephen then created another strut set with the following changes:
1. lower viscosity oil
2. Different internal seals to allow more fluid flow and
3. Increased the strut force (now 330 Newtons / approx 74 lb Force)
The results...Now, I simply engage the bonnet release and start the deck moving with a minimal amount of force (perhaps 5lbs or so). The deck starts lifting totally on its own and at about 80% of maximum opening, the struts decelerate in order to eliminate the deck "snapping" open.
Closing requires more effort, as one must overcome the strut force. However, I do not find it too much... perhaps 30 lbs or so. The deck slowly closes on its own and all that is required of me is to push down at the very end to engage the bonnet locks. In fact, the deck seems to seat itself much better now.
Also, I have attached some pics of these (512BB) LS Tech struts as well as the original BB 10mm strut mount shaft (Please forgive the odd pic resolutions).
Cheers,
Sam
