Rear Deck Struts

[Bryan Boyle]

Saw (somewhere) a posting from Michael Murray-John regarding his engineered boot lid strut system.  Looked interesting, so, contacted him (again, my mind is going soft sometimes...) and signed up.

Big box arrived with all the bits...lower strut brace, upper attach mounts, spacers, nuts, bolts, a spreader bar (more about that later) and 2 20lb gas struts.  And an extra clip for the strut ball joint (in case one on the strut goes walkabout...).

Couple comments:  you need to follow the directions; the orientation of the upper mounts' rear bolt drilling is specified as 17" as shown in the photo below, 3/16" below the top of the deck.  Once you drill the 17" point, the brace can be used to site the forward hole.

I mounted the struts with the gas cylinders at the bottom; he shows them as being mounted at the top to the deck.  Thinking it's a matter of taste; they work either way.

The lower braces are not physically attached to the seat belt cross-brace bar, but are a soft 'press' fit.  Persuasion with a deadblow hammer to set them in place then tap the front to move it side to side works.  When you drill the hole through the seatbelt rear brace through the body...the spacer that you use will set your rear side-to-side...just tap the front so it's parallel to the centerline of the car.

The spreader bar is about an inch short to really let you tighten down the nuts that hold it in place on the upper mounts, and is soft aluminum besides.  I suggested that Michael lengthen the bar a bit and provide aluminum nuts vs the stainless...or do the spreader out of a harder alloy.  Mine stripped quite easily; I just JBWelded the stripped nut on, tightened down...no once can see it anyway.

Anyway...all in all, very pleased with not having to carry a bracing stick to keep my deck open after a drive (I open the bootlid when I put her away after taking a spin), the struts are strong enough but not so overpowering that you have to sit on the lid to close it, and the quality of the metalwork and fasteners is top shelf (aluminum spreader bar notwithstanding...).

No financial interest...but was a lot less expensive than some of the alternatives coming from some of the usual suspects.  Apologies for quality of the first photo...I had painted the lower brackets black to blend in...and had to fiddle with the settings on the phone camera to make it stand out. 

[Grumblebuns]

Thought about making up my own system, but have too many other projects. From your pictures, a very nice looking system. Do you have the contact info for the seller? 

[BDA]

Very nice setup! Putting the gas part of the strut at the bottom also reduces the weight the strut needs to act on (I was going to say on the margins but the engine cover is so light, it might be more significant than it sounds!) so that should aid their longevity.

I already installed struts on my car so I don't need another set but I would also like to know where you got them.

[Bryan Boyle]

Thought about making up my own system, but have too many other projects. From your pictures, a very nice looking system. Do you have the contact info for the seller? 

Will check back through my copious emails, Joji...know it's around somewhere...  between the 2 FB europa lists, groups.io, and here...sometimes knowing where you interacted is a bit frightening, LOL

[Bryan Boyle]

[quote author=Bryan Boyle link=topic=6566.msg70838#msg70838 date=1717256771

Will check back through my copious emails, Joji...know it's around somewhere...  between the 2 FB europa lists, groups.io, and here...sometimes knowing where you interacted is a bit frightening, LOL
[/quote]

Sent you both PMs...didn't want to spam the list without the producer knowing...and suddenly gets innundated  if anyone wants the info, LMK and I'll PM you.

[dakazman]

  Will check back through my copious emails, Joji...know it's around somewhere...  between the 2 FB europa lists, groups.io, and here...sometimes knowing where you interacted is a bit frightening, LOL
   
   You can wait a bit but Please include me also.
Dakazman

[kram350kram]

I might be wrong, but thought gas structs should be mounted with the body above the rod? Not sure why, maybe for seal lubrication? Thought I read this when I was doing research on structs.

[GavinT]

[...] Putting the gas part of the strut at the bottom also reduces the weight the strut needs to act on [...]

Yep, less unsprung mass.
Always thinking is our BDA.

[BDA]

   

[314159td]

I might be wrong, but thought gas structs should be mounted with the body above the rod? Not sure why, maybe for seal lubrication? Thought I read this when I was doing research on structs.

There's also a pretty rare failure case where water can sit atop the seal and corrode the rod in that area. Applies more to modern hatchbacks where the resting position is much more vertical.
Some struts do specify a preferred resting orientation, has to do with how the damping mechanism works. You might notice that suspension dampers can function differently when upside-down (usually had a bit of a "dead zone"), same idea.

Ask the manufacturer, and if they say it doesn't matter, it's not worth thinking about.

[Bryan Boyle]

I might be wrong, but thought gas structs should be mounted with the body above the rod? Not sure why, maybe for seal lubrication? Thought I read this when I was doing research on structs.

There's also a pretty rare failure case where water can sit atop the seal and corrode the rod in that area. Applies more to modern hatchbacks where the resting position is much more vertical.
Some struts do specify a preferred resting orientation, has to do with how the damping mechanism works. You might notice that suspension dampers can function differently when upside-down (usually had a bit of a "dead zone"), same idea.

Ask the manufacturer, and if they say it doesn't matter, it's not worth thinking about.

simple enough to change if that is important...lol.

[GPS]

Yes sir that sounds like a good system.
I would be interested in the buyers contact info.

Cheers

GPS

[Bryan Boyle]

[...] Putting the gas part of the strut at the bottom also reduces the weight the strut needs to act on [...]

Yep, less unsprung mass.
Always thinking is our BDA.

Flopped them around and put the cylinder on the bootlid side...no detectable change in performance or action.  Thinking, in the end...it's a matter of taste.  Maybe I'll put one the other way...mix an match...lol. 

[Dilkris]

Saw (somewhere) a posting from Michael Murray-John regarding his engineered boot lid strut system.  Looked interesting, so, contacted him (again, my mind is going soft sometimes...) and signed up.

Hi Bryan - can you post more photo's of this arrangement please? I am interested to know how the deck lid is strong enough to accept the mounting of those brackets and what is the purpose of the adjoining bar from one side to the other.?
I am wanting to install such a system on my rebuild but envisage having to bond an aluminum frame of some kind onto the underside of the deck lid so as to accept and spread the load of the upper gas strut mountings - your install appears to negate this.     
   

[Bryan Boyle]

Saw (somewhere) a posting from Michael Murray-John regarding his engineered boot lid strut system.  Looked interesting, so, contacted him (again, my mind is going soft sometimes...) and signed up.

Hi Bryan - can you post more photo's of this arrangement please? I am interested to know how the deck lid is strong enough to accept the mounting of those brackets and what is the purpose of the adjoining bar from one side to the other.?
I am wanting to install such a system on my rebuild but envisage having to bond an aluminum frame of some kind onto the underside of the deck lid so as to accept and spread the load of the upper gas strut mountings - your install appears to negate this.     
   

Sure.  Take a look below. 

It's extremely simple (though the instructions need be read a couple times to get the gist).  Basically, 2 long flat head bolts drive through the bootlid side, capturing a stiffening metal plate on the inside of the side flange of the bootlid, 2 phenolic (plastic?) spacers to locate the mount clear and into the open space of the engine room along the edge, the upper mount, washers, and lock nuts.  There is not a lot of weight (ie there is some flex in the boot lid, which we all know) for the mechanism to work against...the cross rod is to keep the upper mounts at the proper (parallel to the edges) distance from each other, especially on the coolant catch can side. This distributes the load, I believe to the sides where it is picked up by the edge flanges which are stiffer than the cross-lid. 

Sharp eyes will note that I turned the gas cylinders around so the rod is at the bottom.  NO difference in how it works, btw.

The lower mounts (which I posted a couple weeks ago) are close fit onto the cross-tube for the seatbelt mounts, and mounted, at the rear, through the seat belt brace on the engine room sidewalls. 

HTH.  I'm pleased with both the quality as well as the operation.  Nice piece of kit, in my estimation.