Has anyone ever refurbished the pivot pin bushings?

I have removed mine to do a gas strut mod and noticed there is alot of slop between the upper and lower halfs. Is there a way to refurbish the plastic buahings? Can new hindges still be purchased?

Thanks

They're all sloppy. Every hood hinge I've ever seen has been wobbly. Don't worry about it.

I think Brian is right--they may have been made like that , I bought a 88GT with 40 K on it , and its the same as the 86SE parts car I have, if anyone where to have it , you may want to try www.fierostore.com....

Rodney Dickman sells a hood hinge rebuild kit. LINK

quote Originally posted by Blacktree: Rodney Dickman sells a hood hinge rebuild kit. LINK

Thanks for the link. I didn't even think of Rodney.

Superfast 3800, I tried the Fiero store, they didn't have anything.

I just rebuilt mine (well, actually Whuffo did it) monday evening. I take it you have the Sluppy123 kit? If you do, it is likely that after you finished installing the struts the front hood edge was dangerously close to the metal support area underneath. (with the hood in the fully upright position) In my case, the support struts were powerful enough to push the hinge pin area forward (due to the slack/sloppiness of the hinge pins) Mine were very bad! After the rebuild they were nice and tight...what a difference!

In summary...the hinge pin rebuild kits are a must for this mod! I got mine from Rodney too.........

Kit (86 GT)

Actually, I came up[ with my own design. I did not follow anyone elses. With mine, I can keep the front edge of the hood away from the metal suppoet bucause the other end of the strut (end not mounted to the hood) is placed to prevent that happening.

I will post pics if anyone wants to see what I did.

Post away, cire36.

John

Yes, please post photos.

Ask and ye shall receive:


These are pics of the front hinge with the bracket I made that attaches to it. It attaches to the outer side of the hinge and the hood mounting bolts go through it. It is 1/8 inch thick.

This is the rear mount I fabricated. It will mount on the area where the frame rail is sandwidhed together, under the spare tire area. I will take a pic of it in the car tomorrow so you can see what I am talking about.

This is the assembly.

Because I made my own mounting bracket, I can control how far the hood will be open. I bought the ball mounts from Mc Master Carr. The gas struts cane from a Napa. I had used them previously on a read deck strut mod but I have come up with something better.

Wanna see that one?

Nice, real nice....

John

Thank you, I try.

KICK ASS! That's exactly how I envisioned gas struts on my hood (one on each side). Can you provide part numbers for the gas struts and ball joints?

BTW, have you thought of selling that as a kit?

Oh, and did I mention that it kicks ass?

quote Originally posted by Blacktree: KICK ASS! That's exactly how I envisioned gas struts on my hood (one on each side). Can you provide part numbers for the gas struts and ball joints? BTW, have you thought of selling that as a kit? Oh, and did I mention that it kicks ass?

Which one are you asking about, the front or rear deck?

front

cire36, That is kick -ass , going to add to my list of mods to do.. Thanks for info/pics....

If you have access to a Mc Master Carr cataloge www.mcmaster.com

Look up in the index "gas springs". It covers about 5 pages with all kinds of springs, ball mounts and different types mounts for the ball mounts. They also give a way to calculate the force needed for your application.

The ball moints are the 10mm (about 1/2 in. dia.) type. I cant find my cat right now. I can get the part number when I get to work Monday morning.

As for the gas springs, I bought them a few years ago at a Napa Autoparts in Cali. I dont have a part number or the rating. I had used them on a read deck mod and decided to try them on the front. I do not know if the force is correct or not. They feel the be about 30 lbs or so. I still need to try out the ones I have to see if they actually work.

Actually, I am not the first person on the forum to do somthing like this. Someon else has done somthing like this before. You will have to go back about 4 years into the archives to find it. That thread showed install as well as the strut part number used.

The pics of the rear deck struts were also imspired by someone else here on the forum. If you search the archives for "Deck struts" by Lowfierogt on 12-31-2003. He gives part numbers and install details. Mine uses rear hatch gas springs from a 97 VW Jetta. The are 95 lbs. each and I use one per side. They work real well if you have just the rear deck or if you have a spoiler. They even fir it you have a V8 conversion although I am not sure if they will work with a Archie type. They work with my Zamult.

I cna't use the one I have made because I have a spoiler from a firebird and a Indy scoop (highly modified). They are not quite enough to hold my deck up. I have already promised them to a buddy (Fiero Mojo). I will be getting some new ones from Mc Master Carr that are about 125 lbs.

If anyone want more info, let me know.

Bump