Deck lid idea seems to work

Fricken A! That is the ticket right there.

Please do  a "how to" on this.

I'm never going to finish my car as the to do list grows faster then I can do!

Nice job David.

Thanks to Cole Thompson for the idea and inspiration..

Wiget Award Of The Year!

Interesting ! ... 

David, I guess if I can get a jousting pole when I get behind you in line at carlisle I can pop that lid up for you by Remote Jousting Pole.    Just kidding

What a great idea!

Love it!

You can see guys in Carlisle walking by tap (pops opens),  tap (pops opens), tap (pops opens). David "Would you friggin guys stop that?"

 

 

That' great! 

Oh no, that'll never happen, Boothy.  

That's pretty cool. Excellent upgrade. What strut did you use for the decklid?

 

I can see all of my friends, kids, wife, etc acting just like Boothy, et al.

 

 

Add one of these for Carlisle --- so SOCers don't keep tapping your plate:

 

That's really cool!

Absolutely genius.  TFA!  Obviously, I want one; where does the line start??

 

I hope it is not too sensitive, i.e., does not go off when it's not supposed to. 

 

DAMMIT, Lane stop punching my friggin' plate!!

 

We need more details, and how-to.  You could start a business . . .

Thanks for the kindness Lads but Cole Thompson was the start of all this and should be credited for the idea.

 

My strut is a Stabilus Lift -O-Mat 18 1/2" extended 28 lb. example with about a 7" throw. A 40 pounder applies too much pressure closed or opening. Less than 28 lbs might not open the lid fully. Truck / Van topper guys will likely have one in your area.

 

The idea of the solenoid release mechanism came to me because my older IM's cable release tube somehow would not allow a new cable to get pushed through. The newer IM system uses a Bowden type sheathed cable system but was a bit too long for my application so it now sits on a shelf. The lid latch release thing is dead simple and needs very little to do to make it release nicely.

 

So, I mounted a 12V solenoid against the left wheel well bulkhead and ran a supplied cable over to the lid release mechanism. The supplied momentary switch ( not necessarily appropriate to the supplied solenoid ) looked very tempting to hide behind my rear license plate, be handy and close to the necessary wiring. I could slide my finger down behind the plate and activate the switch. It became fried while testing it for constant power. So, off I went for a better momentary switch and used a BWD UN42000. Overkill again but it fit so well, no need to sneak your finger back behind the licence plate but just push on it and the switch activates.

 

I found it best if the action of the gas spring was directly in line with the action of the deck lid hinge...ie..not offset left or right. If offset it tended to nudge the deck lid itself offset a bit. I was able to mount the upper stud for the gas spring onto the aft end of the deck lid hinge itself, not the angle bracket on the "inside" of the glas above the hinge, thus saving the use of a 90 deg. angle drill tool.

 

I know, the engine compartment still needs a good tidy up...been saying it for years. The odd shaped hole in the firewall beside the strut bracket was from an earlier experiment with a heater.

Well David, you got that to work... that is very good. What else have you got planned for your IM? Ray 

Hope to get the hardtop fitted in March.

OK, so the next question is: If there are dual carbs (e.g., IDE 44s) mounted, would there be room for the strut as shown.  Methinks perhaps not.

David, that has got to be one of the coolest ideas yet! 

LOVE the solenoid!  Nicely done David. 

That is awesome! Can you give us more details on the 12V solenoid that you used and show some pictures of how you mounted it? Great job!

Thanks, James. It is a Spal 12v solenoid with only about a 1/2" range of motion on the pull. Any one with a couple of pounds pull would do if your latch is nicely greased up and fitted well.

 

The mount bracket is just a simple 90 deg. bent piece of aluminum to the size needed to mount the solenoid. Bracket is about .065 thick. I put a small shim on the bracket under the solenoid on one side to give it a better base to be bolted too. The two longer bolts you see are just part of the solenoid, not the mount. The shorter two bolts underneath the longer bolts go through the mount.

VERY slick, David! I likeee!