Overview
This is a small guide, to add two gas struts to the bonnet/frunk, which makes the bonnet stay redundant. This is super helpful when using the frunk regularly as a storage space.

What you'll need to buy
  • A pair of Gas struts, I got mine HERE Options -> 2 Struts (pair) | Ball stud ends | 450mm length. (if the link expires, they were 300 newton gas struts)
  • Some M8 nuts to hold both ends of the struts.
  • Pair of M8 Ball studs that are longer (25mm) Like these: HERE
  • Some 3mm steel sheet, only a very small piece is required. A 5cm x 5cm piece would be enough.


What tools you'll need
  • A welder of some kind. I used a stick welder.
  • Metric tap and die set (or an M8x1.25 tap)
  • A drill and some metal drill bits (specifically a 8mm drill bit, and a 6.8/7mm bit for tapping m8(or the inch equivalent))
  • Measuring / marking equipment
  • Some cloth / squishy stuff to protect your windshield from the corners of the bonnet.
  • A Center punch
  • Allen Keys / spanners / sockets (12mm + 10mm sockets, 13mm spanner)
  • Angle grinder with cutting discs, and a flappy disc
  • Some way of holding the gas strut partially closed. There are specialist tools for this, or you could make something.
  • Some way of squeezing the gas strut so you're able to clamp it partially closed.
  • A car jack if you have a lowered car. You need access to under the arches.


How To
First you need to drill out the center most bolt on the wing, good idea to remove the arch liner if you have them. You'll need to get in there to put a nut on the bottom of a bolt.


Drill it out with an 8mm drill bit, enough to fit your extended ball socket in there.


Drop the ball socket in, and throw a nut on the bottom. Locknut if you've got it, but there's a metal wall of the inner wing that will stop it spinning anyway.

Next, Make some marks on your bonnet and hinges, so you can put them back in the same place. A couple of lines running off the hinge onto the bonnet to line up again is all you'll need.

unbolt one side of your bonnet at a time, two 12mm bolts. With the cloth squeezed in behind the corner of the bonnet.



DO NOT FORGET TO PUT A CLOTH THERE
I take no responsibility for cracked / marked windscreens!!

Then move the corner of the bonnet, with the cloth underneath, up a bit, so you can get access to the hinge.

Unbolt the hinge, again it's two 12mm bolts.

Now get your welder, and 3mm plate, and you need to add a bit of extra material to the end of the bonnet hinge. You're aim is to get metal all the way to the upper skin of the bonnet.
Here's some pictures of my finished hinge so you can see what you're aiming for.









Sorry, I've got no construction shots, but if you take some, please add them to the post to aid others.

Next, you'll need to drill and tap an M8 hole into your new bit of plate.
The critical measurement is 20mm from the bottom of the hinge. The rest of the measurements aren't super important.



Once you've got that hole drilled, you'll need to remove a bit of thread from the M8 nuts which come pre-attached to the shocks. To remove them, push the little wire clip up and then pull it out. Do not loose the little wire clips! They fly off into the void at first notice!! (remove both sides, it makes installation easier, and you'll need to remove the bottom end anyway as you've got the longer versions installed on your car already. )



I threaded a nut on there, and then cut off the excess. Then backed the nut off to keep the threads nice. Then cleaned them off with a file.



Thread your shortened nut into your new M8 hole on the bonnet hinge, and go bolt it back on the car. Don't bolt the bonnet on yet, just the bottom hinge to the car.

The next bit will be made easier by your method of gas strut holding. I didn't have a plan for this, so I improvised with what I had in the shed.

To hold my gas strut, I welded a thick M12 washer, with a cut out portion, onto one end of some 14mm tube, and on the other end I welded half a washer, and a m10 nut.

This created a suitable, holding method, but I didn't grind the sharp edges off, and ended up scoring the paint on my arches.
I would highly advise you buy / find some sort of specialist tool to hold them closed.

To close them, I used my myford ML4 lathe, and wound the tailstock in to squeeze the shock. Then grabbed it with my improvised tool, and backed the tailstock off.



You can then, with the little pins handy (and a dob of grease in both 'cups' of the strut) push the strut cups onto the ball studs





This might be awkward, getting those pesky little clips in, but the other way around of trying to do up a 13mm half nut whilst carefully holding onto a gas strut that is desperate to shoot itself at your windscreen / privates is not advised.

Then, using a spanner inserted into the bolt hole on the bonnet hinge, you can pull back on the strut to release your tool. *not required if your tool is fancy and can undo itself.

Then you can bolt the bonnet back in place, being careful to line up the marks you made earlier.



One side complete!

Rinse and repeat on the other side.



throw your bonnet stay in the bin.

Gas strut frunk conversion complete.