New Struts for the GT

With major house renovations underway I dont have much time for the MG's. Tonight was a brief respite from drywall and flooring. I spent a few minutes swapping out the original mechanical hatch lifts with gas struts from Rick Ingram of Pieces of Eight. This is a quick and easy upgrade that anyone can do in a few minutes. Rick provides good instructions (though the pictures could be a bit bigger). Below are a few supplemental pictures for the process.

The old lifts were a mess. One had a bolt missing that allowed the lever to slip out and have the hatch come crashing down on my head. This was not even comical the first time it happened. It was time to bring the lift system into the next century.This is the connection at the hatch where I had to drill out the bolt that faced inward. It was crimped and there was no good way to get any purchase on it. The bolt was removed from the connection to the car body and the two washers reused with the new ball connector.
When fastening the ball to the attachment point on the body, move the ball as far forward toward the front of the car as possible.
With the ball in place for the body you can use the strut to guage distance, but more importantly use Rick's instructions that state the new attachment point should be 12 inches from the original point (measuring down toward the bottom of the hatch). See two pics down for the measure point. Use the new bracket to mark the attachment point and drill two 3mm holes (yes I know I mixing metric and imperial here...). Attach with the screws provided. Repeat for the other side.

Ta-da! Now enjoy the gas-strut action as you raise and lower the hatch. Place your head under the raised hatch and notice how it no longer falls onto your cranium unexpectedly! Right nice.

Now unfortunately its back to drywall, painting, and laying a hardwood floor over the next few weeks. Hopefully I'll be back to the MG's soon...