Problem: the Audi Coupe or 4000 only has a cheesy prop rod for the hood. This is really out of place on such a great car. I don't like being forced to lean over the radiator fan and the coolant pressure tank to open the hood either, especially in my nice clothes! I bought an old style 5000 parts car just to get the hood strut. The strut on the 5000 attaches to two spot welded brackets. I also had another old 5k, with a bad strut which helped a lot. It gave me two tries at removing the brackets, and a compressible strut to help align them on the hood and the fender. I first chiselled off the two brackets, which went ok. Then I carefully aligned them on my Coupe using the dead strut as a guide. I tacked the brackets in place with in a couple of sheet metal screws at each end and put in the good strut. This was actually sturdy but I didn't think the screws would hold up so I welded them. Two things are in the way of this modification. The windshield washer bottle is a bit too high. I took it out and used a big crowbar to spread the bracket it slides into wider - since it's V shaped this allowed the bottle to slide down lower, out of the way. The top radiator air guide also needed to have a section cut out, about 4 cm wide by 15 cm long. I didn't mind since I have a collection of these (all in poor condition!). I have enjoyed this feature for many years now. Recently, however, I acquired a large fluid reservoir for the purpose of adding a headlight washer system to my car. This bottle uses the space I moved my stock windshield washer bottle out of, so my hood prop rod will no longer be viable. This leads to... This version is a little slicker, and unlike the earlier one which depended on some sheet metal bits that were not sold separately, it is repeatable by anyone who wants it. The following parts are required:
(All work is performed with the hood wide open and secure) 1. Make the little round "nuts" out of the steel rod. I had a slave do this while I pondered exactly how to set up the 12 gauge brackets. 2. Mark, cut, bend, and drill the brackets. Mine are held down by the rearmost fender screw and washer, and bend up vertically with the fender profile, stopping about 3/8" below the top of the fender to allow room for the hood. Then a hole is drilled (same size as the fender screw one - bigger than 8mm) about half way up and 1/2" forward of the fender screw hole. 3. Drill the fender. Screw the bracket into place to locate the hole in the vertical edge and mark it well with a punch. Carefully drill a 5/8" hole at this location. Deburr the hole. 4. Finish the bracket. Attach one of the round "nuts" to the outer side of the bracket, loosely, with a short 8 mm bolt. Test fit this on the fender and tighten the bolt. Neatly weld the round "nut" to the bracket. When cool, remove slag, and grind the weld down to a nice smooth widening at the base of the "nut". This will now be a very tight fit in the fender hole. 5. Get some paint on the hole in the fender and the bracket. While it is drying... 6. Drill a big nasty 5/8" hole in the hood, centered vertically and about 3/4" behind the place where the foam block at the end of the firewall seals the hood to the engine compartment. Using your hole saw, you want to make a 5/8" hole in the first layer of steel but only a pilot sized hole in the second. 7. Deburr the outer hole and tap the inner hole with 8mm threads. 8. Set up the hood "nut". Thread an 8mm bolt (about 40 mm long) into one of the round "nuts" until it just starts coming out the other side. Place the "nut" into the hood hole and start turning the bolt into the tapped threads in the inner metal. You want to turn the "nut" down on the bolt til it is firmly in place, while the bolt holds it in place in the hole you drilled. 9. Weld the hood nut in place. Remove the setup bolt. Remove slag and crud, and paint. 10. Installation. When the paint is dry, attach the fender bracket by jamming it into the 5/8" hole and installing the fender screws. 11. Screw a ball pin into each of the "nuts", using a lock washer and a regular washer. 12. Attach the strut - it may require some care to get the hood all the way open to attach the second end. 13. (These steps are repeated for the other side of the car - either do them in pairs or one side completely followed by the other.) Of course I removed and saved the parts for the manual prop rod. |
