Last Modified May 04

I was getting my car serviced when it happended. The mechanic was putting the engine cover back down when I noticed he was having some difficulty with the lid stay. I tried not to look cause I thought it was a silly thing to be having trouble with after servicing the car. It wasn't until I saw the sticky tape coming out that I got a little concerned.

So I wander over and have a look and lo and behold the clip for the lid has broken on the engine cover. This means the stay will not clip in and therefore rod has to manually handled into position for closing the cover. Not good and a little irritating.

I went to the IMOC site to get some info on part numbers and folks with similar problems. As luck would have it somebody on there had come up with an alternative design for keeping the lid open. All that was required was a Gas Strut from the boot lid of a boring hatchback and a bracket from B&Q. The guy supplied some dimensions and it all looked fairly straightforward. Life isn't like that very often and in reality it wasn't as easy as it looked but really it is a 30 minute job when you have the right bits.

Ok parts needed

• purlin tie right hand 20x20x162mm from B&Q (barcode number 010845 730135) though don't quote me on the bar code. Cost about 1 British Pound
  
• one gas strut that when extended reaches about 60cm when extended. From any hatch back car and you need BOTH the end bolts. Very important this as you WILL need them later. I think mine was from a Saxo (sorry guys). Cost about 5 British Pound

Cut the bracket from B&Q as shown below, drill two 8mm holes as shown by the arrows and mount as shown in the photo below

Attach one of the gas strut bolt's to the bracket as shown below and mount into position on the engine cover

Attach the other gas strut bolt to the body of the engine bay, I have it attached here as shown below

Bend the water guard underneath the engine cover by pushing it upwards into the cover with the palm of your hand. It will push in easy so when you can't push it further STOP. This gives the clearance necessary for the gas strut to retract. If like me someone has added an additional strut brace then you have clearance problems after this but it still all works.

Remove the original lifter stay by first removing the plastic cir clip and then slipping the entire rod out of the plastic clip holder. Retain for future use ;-)

All things being equal you now have a fully functional gas lifter for the engine cover