ILLEGAL

So instead of buying those $100+ Tien hood dampers, and after waiting for a set in a trade for a few weeks, I got tired, and went and got some hood dampers of a 1995 acura legend and fabed them on the crv. I was looking for 92-95 civic hatch glass struts, but couldn't find any.



So the legend struts made it so I only had to make one bracket for each side. The dampers were $8 for the set, and some grade 8 bolts, nuts and washers were about $2, so a total of $10 and some change for hood dampers! I also needed a metal bar of some sort. I had a piece of steel lying around at work that a co-worker had used to make a lock set up for his tool box, so I used about 6 inches of that, three or less inches for both sides.



They bolt to the hood bracket as any normal set would, and right up front on the fender itself. The bracket is on the fender lip (under really) between the two front fender bolts right next to the vin sticker. The bracket goes straight out, and the shock connects there. I painted the bracket black and did have to drill a hole for the bolt, but it looks fine. I was planning on only drilling a hole under the fender line, so it could never be seen, but that specific area is unreachable to put a nut in, because its behind more metal, and I didn't want to make an access hole. So now the bracket is just samwitched around the fender lip. Thats why the grade 8 bolt. So I could tighten it enough, and not brake the head off the nut, which I did, right before I went and got the grade 8! I obviously had to provide the nuts for the "bolt" (round top that the damper clips over) the damper connects to on the bracket as well, because that is actually screwed into the vehicle it came off of. I think I used an exaust/cat bolt.















Okay, so look in the third picture. See the other bolt hole on the acura legend bracket not being used? By changing the setup from the first hole to the second, it changes the effective angle and the hood struts take over sooner and with less resistance. So it lifts the hood up easier and sooner. Just a mild after-the-fact adjustment that made a world of difference. I love it!

tatmonster

awesome write up man. im gonna do this eventually and that gives me some ideas. thumbs up.

Boost Happy

I wanna do this to my civic like now

ILLEGAL

I wanted to get the 92-95 trunk glass shocks, and just retap ther center fender bolt hole to take the larger bolt so they could connect just like the aftermarket ones, but these were a bit longer. If I had used any other strut, the install would prob have been completely different.

I edited the first post to make it a bit more clear I hope.

-Danimal

oem dampers ftw

JDM180SX

Fabrik8

Dampeners? Haven't I foamed enough about making things wet? They're dampers, say it with me..

You can easily find the ball-stud brackets for those dampers too, there are lot of companies that make dampers like that and they all sell hardware for them too. Probably can't find them locally though. So if someone needs something special for brackets for either end, or just the ball studs with threads on them, they're out there.
I don't think the glass struts would work as well (if they're for a complete hatchback or similar), dampers like that have a load rating and the glass dampers are probably a bit strong for what you need. Hood dampers should be more in like with the correct weight.

I never know OEM dampers were that cheap; that's absolutely amazing for an Acura part. Did you get those new?

sumospeed.com

hm, ill have to do this

ILLEGAL

junk yard! $4 each! Brand new I can get the civic hatch ones for $26 each, with no hardware prob. though.

The ones in the junk yard had to be brand new though. I got lucky. It looked like they replaced them just before trashing the car. I didnt clean them or anything. The sticker I removed (because it was big and blue) looked brand new as well. Honda OEM! I went up there specifically and for the only reason to get the 92-95 hatch glass dampers, I have seen them on a civic hood install before, and they work fine. This is prob the second time I have ever gotten parts from a junk yard. I always buy brand new, but it was an experiment, and it worked!

BTW edited the damper thing. I usually say shocks, but I wanted everyone to recognize what it was.