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As the title states- I'm looking for creative ideas to compress the gas struts on the soft top?
I bought a used soft top from a very good dude who had it stored in his garage for many months. He decided it would be better to detach the gas struts...
Well let me tell ya... IT WASN'T. These struts are massively pressurized. I thought they were frozen so I stopped in at my local mechanics and he had to put the on a hydro press to get them to budge. When he did they moved nice and smooth and slow as they should. I think they are likely not frozen at all and in perfect working order.
That said, how the heck to compress them to length to get them reinstalled in the soft top has become an issue. I am entertaining welding some 1/8" stock to a C-clamp and boring a small depression into it to capture the round heads of the struts.
Before I get stupid I thought I'd better consult the wisdom of the group.
Thoughts?
I bought a used soft top from a very good dude who had it stored in his garage for many months. He decided it would be better to detach the gas struts...
Well let me tell ya... IT WASN'T. These struts are massively pressurized. I thought they were frozen so I stopped in at my local mechanics and he had to put the on a hydro press to get them to budge. When he did they moved nice and smooth and slow as they should. I think they are likely not frozen at all and in perfect working order.
That said, how the heck to compress them to length to get them reinstalled in the soft top has become an issue. I am entertaining welding some 1/8" stock to a C-clamp and boring a small depression into it to capture the round heads of the struts.
Before I get stupid I thought I'd better consult the wisdom of the group.
Thoughts?
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