A guide for Installing Bonnet Struts
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A guide for Installing Bonnet Struts
I have noticed that there have been a few posts questioning the installation of bonnet struts. Installing bonnet struts is usually one of the first mods i do to any of my gems, and have found heaps of different ways to install them. I am going to post a step by step guide to installing bonnet struts onto your gemini using the easiest and neatest method i have found so far.
The joy about installing bonnet struts on your gem using this method is that it is quick, easy, neat, tidy, cheap and you don’t need to weld anything, so (almost) anyone should be able to use this guide to help install bonnet struts onto their gem.
What you will need:
1. 2 x VT commodore bonnet struts.
(these struts come with the perfect mounting brackets)
2. 2 x 90 degree angled alluminium brackets.
(can be purchased from hardware stores, bolt and steel sales etc.)
3. 2 x bonnet strut bolts and nuts
(to mount onto alluminium brackets that go onto the mud guards).
4. 1 x drill and some time
Here are some photos to clarify what you need.
VT bonnet struts. These are complete VT struts. Even if you buy these from holden, they come with the brackets as seen in the photo.
These aluminium brackets are made from a length of 90 degree aluminium that has been cut into small segments suitable to mount onto the mudguards under your bonnet. The bolts you can see are already installed into the centre of the bottom half of the aluminium brackets. I removed these bolts from the top of the guards of an XF falcon under the bonnet, but they are a universal strut bolt and can be found on almost any car with struts (boot, bonnet, tailgate etc.) You just drill a hole in the centre of the lower half of the aluminium bracket and put the strut bolt through using a standard nut for a 12mm headed bolt.
So how do I install these? Simple. Here is a picture of the underside of a Gemini bonnet. One of the holes is already there, you just need to drill the second hole. As the bracket is to be mounted flush with the edge of the guard, you will need to slightly angle the second hole that you drill in the bonnet to allow the strut to line up with the edge of the guard (that means you will need to make sure the strut will come in towards the guard at an angle that will allow it to meet with the mounting bolt on the alluminium bracket. Note the slight outward angle of the strut in the picture)
Here is a photo of the lower right section of the bonnet. Note the small hole in the lower left of the picture. This is to be used to bolt the lower mounting hole of the bonnet strut mount to.
Next you drill a second hole to secure the second mounting bolt in the bonnet strut.
This is what it should now look like once you bolt the strut onto the bonnet using the two holes that you now have. Note the angle that the strut is facing inwards
Next you will need to drill two holes through the top of the mudguards under the bonnet to mount the aluminium bracket. The position that these are mounted in is not crucial and can be altered depending on how high you prefer the bonnet to sit when up. In the photo that you can see I have mounted the bracket about midway between the 3rd and 4th original guard bolt counting backwards from the front.
This is what the final product should look like. It is a quick and easy yet effective method of installing bonnet struts on your Gemini. Good luck and I hope to hear of some successful stories with this installation.
The last point I will make is that the VT mounting brackets that screw onto the bonnet can easily be removed from the VT bonnet strut by simply unscrewing them from the strut. So if you wish to use struts other than the VT commodore then this is an easy adaptation – simply unscrew the VT ones and screw in an alternative.
Having said that I have also had a bonnet strut setup installed this way have the bonnet fail to close because the struts used were too strong. If you are using stronger struts you may find you will only need one rather than two as seen in the picture. If you do this and find the bonnet is too hard to shut or tries to launch into space when you open it up then get some reduced pressure struts.
Cheers,
Allin
The joy about installing bonnet struts on your gem using this method is that it is quick, easy, neat, tidy, cheap and you don’t need to weld anything, so (almost) anyone should be able to use this guide to help install bonnet struts onto their gem.
What you will need:
1. 2 x VT commodore bonnet struts.
(these struts come with the perfect mounting brackets)
2. 2 x 90 degree angled alluminium brackets.
(can be purchased from hardware stores, bolt and steel sales etc.)
3. 2 x bonnet strut bolts and nuts
(to mount onto alluminium brackets that go onto the mud guards).
4. 1 x drill and some time
Here are some photos to clarify what you need.
VT bonnet struts. These are complete VT struts. Even if you buy these from holden, they come with the brackets as seen in the photo.
These aluminium brackets are made from a length of 90 degree aluminium that has been cut into small segments suitable to mount onto the mudguards under your bonnet. The bolts you can see are already installed into the centre of the bottom half of the aluminium brackets. I removed these bolts from the top of the guards of an XF falcon under the bonnet, but they are a universal strut bolt and can be found on almost any car with struts (boot, bonnet, tailgate etc.) You just drill a hole in the centre of the lower half of the aluminium bracket and put the strut bolt through using a standard nut for a 12mm headed bolt.
So how do I install these? Simple. Here is a picture of the underside of a Gemini bonnet. One of the holes is already there, you just need to drill the second hole. As the bracket is to be mounted flush with the edge of the guard, you will need to slightly angle the second hole that you drill in the bonnet to allow the strut to line up with the edge of the guard (that means you will need to make sure the strut will come in towards the guard at an angle that will allow it to meet with the mounting bolt on the alluminium bracket. Note the slight outward angle of the strut in the picture)
Here is a photo of the lower right section of the bonnet. Note the small hole in the lower left of the picture. This is to be used to bolt the lower mounting hole of the bonnet strut mount to.
Next you drill a second hole to secure the second mounting bolt in the bonnet strut.
This is what it should now look like once you bolt the strut onto the bonnet using the two holes that you now have. Note the angle that the strut is facing inwards
Next you will need to drill two holes through the top of the mudguards under the bonnet to mount the aluminium bracket. The position that these are mounted in is not crucial and can be altered depending on how high you prefer the bonnet to sit when up. In the photo that you can see I have mounted the bracket about midway between the 3rd and 4th original guard bolt counting backwards from the front.
This is what the final product should look like. It is a quick and easy yet effective method of installing bonnet struts on your Gemini. Good luck and I hope to hear of some successful stories with this installation.
The last point I will make is that the VT mounting brackets that screw onto the bonnet can easily be removed from the VT bonnet strut by simply unscrewing them from the strut. So if you wish to use struts other than the VT commodore then this is an easy adaptation – simply unscrew the VT ones and screw in an alternative.
Having said that I have also had a bonnet strut setup installed this way have the bonnet fail to close because the struts used were too strong. If you are using stronger struts you may find you will only need one rather than two as seen in the picture. If you do this and find the bonnet is too hard to shut or tries to launch into space when you open it up then get some reduced pressure struts.
Cheers,
Allin
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hey my mate just got brand new VT struts for the same thing but hes doin it slightly diferent position but he said there hell hard to compress so now hes gota find a deferent set, dno if hes gona look for a second and set of VTs or not tho, i was just thinking, what about the struts used for gem wagon tail gates?
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