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Gas struts in a spitfire bonnet


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Hi. Its my  Birthday soon and i wondered about fitting gas struts to the bonnet of my spitfire 1500. Do they really make opening the bonnet single handed?  At the moment i have to start on the drivers side and then move to passenger side to free up the bonnet. Any views, i know its not standard but .....

Thanks Chris

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Well, you have to release the bonnet catch on one side and walk to the other, but yes much easier.

On the Spitfire they anchor on the radiator mounts which are substantial enough.

Their main advantage is you don’t flex the bonnet from side to side as you open and then you don’t get those spider cracks between bonnet and headlamp surround. Alas too late for my GT6!

Doug

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I've had the TSSC Club Shop gas struts on my GT6 bonnet for over 10 years. They work well and make lifting the bonnet easier. Lifting becomes a one person job but always lift under the wheel arch or trailing edge of the bonnet, never be tempted to use the catches as handles.

Nigel

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Had TSSC ones on my Spitfire for a good number of years too.  I find you need to flip the catch, then give it a little tug each side, but mainly to free the bonnet cone.  After that easy to lift single-handed from either side.

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  • 2 months later...

One more for recommending the gas struts.  As Arkwright Open All Hours said, you need to 'jiggle' it a bit to free the bonnet from the cones, but much easy to lift and safer when the wind blows.  They have been on my car for around 20 years now and came from a Metro.

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