Austin Vert Get's His Trunk Gas'd Up

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Joined
Jul 27, 2012
Messages
3,085
Reaction score
438
Location
Brisbane - Australia
My Car
1973 Mustang Convertible
Hi To All,

I've come up with what i think is a fairly good solution to the problem of heavy trunk lids that won't stay open. I started out with a stock factory trunk lid on my '73 Convertible with the standard torsion rod bar spring setup.

That worked fine until i installed a fibreglass rear trunk spoiler which weighs a ton. So now the trunk lid only stays open when i'm parked on horizontal terrain. I do realise that the Mach's had the spring setups that catered for spoiler placements. However, trying to adjust the existing rod setup or trying to find another genuine rod to add to the existing one,was all too much mucking around, so i looked into the concept of installing a modern day gas strut lifter to solve the problem. Bingo!!! Big WiN !!!!

It took a while to figure out how i was going to come up with a workable install, but the end result is a little ripper.:p Now, my lid stays open without hassles, even when i'm parked on a steep backwards slope. The only problem will be with the purists who would think it unspeakable to install a modern day product on a lovely classic car. I myself dont give a s##t, as long as it looks OK and it works. Also, that embarrassing black sealing gunk around the trunk rubber is factory would you believe, and will need a tidy up make over at some stage as well down the track. BTW, if you want a super heavy duty working result, you can opt to install another gas strut on the other reverse matching side, and that will give a more even look to the whole thing as well. If anyone want's me to post a detailed description of the project for their benefit, let me know, and i'll present it later on. See my pics below. Austin! You've done it again!:p:p

Many thanks,

Greg.:)

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Two thumbs up here damn smart mod that you integrated very well. Might just have to steal the idea.

Were you lying in the truck trying to keep the piston compressed while trying to find the optimal placement?

 
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Two thumbs up here damn smart mod that you integrated very well. Might just have to steal the idea.

Were you lying in the truck trying to keep the piston compressed while trying to find the optimal placement?
Thank's man,

No, i wasn't. When you position the strut rod for hole drilling alighnment, the strut rod is fully extended, which makes it easy.

Greg.:)

 
What a brain trust with plenty of ingenuity this site has to offer. Good Job Austin Vert! Darn near looks factory! Was this a total assembly with the mounting brackets?

mustang7173

 
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What a brain trust with plenty of ingenuity this site has to offer. Good Job Austin Vert! Darn near looks factory! Was this a total assembly with the mounting brackets?

mustang7173
Thank you Sir! Yes and no. I bought the strut from a gas strut specialist where i live in Brisbane. The strut itself is called a universal strut and not specifically made for a particular model of car. When i bought this strut, the company owner gave me a few metal brackets that are purpose designed to be fitted to both ends of the strut itself for mounting. That's all you get in the kit. I just had to then go and buy a specific right angled steel bracket to mount one end of the strut to the body of the car, plus some 1/4 inch nuts and bolts for mounting. Total material cost for the project was around $40.00 Australian. This project is very DIY friendly for the forum folk to get into if they want to.

Greg.:)

 
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"Austin! You've done it again..." Indeed! Well done, Sir! ::thumb::

 
Great mod!!! Looks really clean (almost factory :) )

And you know I am a purist for the most part but unless anyone is trying to pass their car as an all/mostly original or concourse vehicle, all mods are at their own discretion and to please their own liking and no one else's. In other words, real purists don't care. A customized car is a customized car and an original car is an original car. Then there are variances between those extremes...

Personally I think your car looks great and can only wish mine will look that nice soon so I can enjoy!

Ray

 
Great mod!!! Looks really clean (almost factory :) )

And you know I am a purist for the most part but unless anyone is trying to pass their car as an all/mostly original or concourse vehicle, all mods are at their own discretion and to please their own liking and no one else's. In other words, real purists don't care. A customized car is a customized car and an original car is an original car. Then there are variances between those extremes...

Personally I think your car looks great and can only wish mine will look that nice soon so I can enjoy!
There is never anything wrong with a modification that not only improves the car, but is so well executed that you wouldn't believe that the factory didn't put it there to start with.

Love the gas shock; might give it a try on the fastback. Will definitely recommend it to BigBlue, who's (coupe) trunk is weighed down by a spoiler.

-Kurt

 
What a brain trust with plenty of ingenuity this site has to offer. Good Job Austin Vert! Darn near looks factory! Was this a total assembly with the mounting brackets?

mustang7173
Thank you Sir! Yes and no. I bought the strut from a gas strut specialist where i live in Brisbane. The strut itself is called a universal strut and not specifically made for a particular model of car. When i bought this strut, the company owner gave me a few metal brackets that are purpose designed to be fitted to both ends of the strut itself for mounting. That's all you get in the kit. I just had to then go and buy a specific right angled steel bracket to mount one end of the strut to the body of the car, plus some 1/4 inch nuts and bolts for mounting. Total material cost for the project was around $40.00 Australian. This project is very DIY friendly for the forum folk to get into if they want to.

Greg.:)
if you ever end up wanting to keep it original-look into fudging a second cross tension bar to the hinges and get a lighter rear spoiler

 
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