Engine lid strut

[Sparkrite]

Should the strut for the engine lid on a tcs be bent in any way other than at the ends. My strut which is a single rod attaching at the boot tray and the engine lid when its open. However it is considerably bent along the main length. I do not know if it should have some bend to fit around the vertical ridges on the boot tray when in the "unused position".

[BDA]

There should only be one bend to clear the top of the trunk tray (other than two small bends to attach it at both ends). Otherwise it should be straight. The problem with the prop rod is that the engine cover can catch the wind and bend it pretty easily. Been there.

I have a lot of “extra” stuff on my car but the things I like the most are my gas struts for my engine cover. You might look into getting your own.

[EuropaTC]

I've got to agree with BDA on the gas strut suggestion. After 30+ years of fiddling about with a bit of bent 1/4" rod, I finally made the move to fitting gas struts. It took some experimenting because I made my own rather than buy a kit, but the end result is....   magic.  It's almost like a proper car now 

Brian

[jbcollier]

I made my own lift kit for the engine cover.  Works great but you still have to be careful in a wind.

[Sparkrite]

I can certainly see the advantage of gas struts but for the time being I want to keep it original because thats one of the things that attracted me to the car, is its simple and basic nature.

[BDA]

Lotus did install gas struts on their last batch of cars. I think they all had them but it might have been part of an option package so that shouldn’t make your car that much less stock. Just a thought…