strlngsilvr
New member
Who is Dave and is he still on here and does he still sell gas springs for the canopy? Also, has anybody put hinges on the frunk lid? Thanks for any help.
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- Thread starter strlngsilvr
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Dave Aliberti was the owner of Sterling for a bunch of years in the 2000s. He still has his own personal car but isn’t on the forum site all that much. I’m the current owner and we’re having a heck of a time finding exact matches for those springs. I can find nice ones that otherwise fit but “only” have about 160 lbs per side of lift force. The canopy with glass only weighs 130-ish pounds but the mount points of the gas springs are such that you need quite a bit more lift force than just the weight of the canopy.
To clarify: You really do mean gas springs, right? Does your car have hydraulics? (Many didn’t to start). We’re trying to work up a nice complete kit for the hydraulics to offer at some point
To clarify: You really do mean gas springs, right? Does your car have hydraulics? (Many didn’t to start). We’re trying to work up a nice complete kit for the hydraulics to offer at some point
Hinges for the frunk: The really easy default was to just use a bolt as an axel hinge at the top corners. All of my cars had that and it works really well but isn’t a mechanically sexy solution. Various builders have come up with some beautiful modifications. Sometime they are normal/simple trunk hinges. Sometimes they are parallel arms. Often the hinge is at the top (which is nice because you can still open it even if the canopy is up BUT it can also fly open and break the windshield if you don’t have a good clasp/lock). Conversely, a lot of people have put it at the front of the hood (which makes it impossible to open while the canopy is already up BUT looks good and is pretty cool because it almost can’t catastrophically fail.)
I don’t have any current recommendations about specific donor cars for hinges but other members might.
I don’t have any current recommendations about specific donor cars for hinges but other members might.
strlngsilvr
New member
Yes, I do mean gas springs, mine does not have hydraulics. That would be a nice option though.
strlngsilvr
New member
Do you have details for the hydraulics, pictures?
letterman7
Honorary Admin
Standard hydraulic setups 'back in the day' were from a variety of convertible cars, right down to the rams and hoses. New(er) systems utilize the same components.
Peter
Active member
Many years ago I addressed the question of hood hinges by suggesting one looked at the older BMW E30 hoods, the release is at the front but pops up and foward in runners at the rear, then swings up from the rear so with a little geometatry on the arm lengths it could be made to pop up and move foward enough to clear the canopy when it is up then lift. not for the faint hearted but would be cool to see.