Well i lost all of my Parts to make my ss hood functional. Can i use the stock hood struts from the Z28 hood or do i need diff struts off an SS car? also would i be better off just using CAI instead of spending $300 dollars on making it functional again? any help is appreciated, thanks

 

yep, you can use your factory hood struts and a CAI is almost equal to a ram-air setup in a lot of people's eyes. i think so anyways.

 

thanks

 

the SS intake doesnt really work that much better. It just looks a lot cooler

 

You CAN use same struts, but dont. They're way too stiff for a fiberglass hood and can cause bad things to happen.

 

Ditto the stock struts are way to strong. I've been only running one, but i have to be careful because it doesn't take much of a breeze to make the hood fall.

 

Another vote for this one!

 

anyone know where i can get new hood struts or a part #>?

 

i dont know why people say the stock hood struts arent good enough? i had an SS hood on my '97 z28 and never had any problems with the hood holding up or closing. no stiffness or anything. acted just as a factory hood. dont buy new struts if yours are in good shape, its a waste of money.

 

Its not that they aren't good enough its that they are too strong. I tried shutting my SS hood once with both the stock struts in place and i could tell that the struts were too strong and i was running risk of damaging my hood. I might see my buddy today with a 97 SS and if i remember i'll get the hood strut numbers from him.

 

I know you can pick them up from a local parts store for around $30.00

 

hmm thanks for the help guys

 

I have a Ultra-Z hood sitting in my living room. It is built from the same material, by the same company (SLP) that makes OEM SS hoods. The installation instructions say specifically to reuse your hood struts from the metal hood.

The strut exerts its force forward when the hood is closed, not up. It will not make the hood bulge upwards after time. Think about it.

 

Its not about having the hood bulge up it would be about cracking or breaking the hood when trying to shut it. Similar to what happens on all old cars with long hoods and rusty hood hinges.