It takes a lot of effort to open the hood on my 86. I read some place that replacing both hood assist struts or sometimes referred to as hood open assist rods will make the task much easier.

At some point in production (I think 87), there is only one assist shock, and in 88 or 89  there are none. I've never learned why this is so, and I can't recall the exact years, but I know on many C4's there no supports, just the pins they go on.

 I have an 85 that I purchased new. It has 2 assists. In the beginning, the hood wasn't too tough to open. Even my 115lb lady friend that drove the car often could open it. It sat un-driven for almost 15 years until 2006 when I began its NCRS campaign. By then the hood was very heavy to open. I purchased 2 replacement supports from GM. They helped quite a bit, but I don't recall that it was as easy to lift as it was when it was new. (Maybe I'm getting old and weak?).  I suspect the replacements were partially discharged when I purchased them. Because the supports have date codes, I put the originals back on for NCRS judging. I'm not sure which supports are on there now, but it is very heavy to open again, so if the replacements are on it, those have now gone bad too. I open the hood less than a half-dozen times a year, so I don't really care.

Take away is the replacements may not be any good either (shelf life) as far as gas charge, or last very long. My replacements didn't. I'd purchase the replacements from a FLAPS. $30 each would be a reasonable guess for cost.

I have not replaced the hood  arms but I have replaced the rear hatch arms  and yes (yeek) autozone 30 bucks each   and they work awsome on both of mt 85s   Just cauz they cost more dosent mean SHIT I went thru that with the EBS brake rotor and pads on my hot rod 85 the summit rotors are half the cost and have lasted a whole lot longer than the EBS rotors   now thais should start some s--t 

I replaced the hatch struts on my 96 because it was lazy or would stick when opening. New struts and I have to haul the hatch down now they work so well.  My hood strut is marginal and on my short list to replace. NCRS is long out the window so function rules and one of the cheaper fixes. Toyed with the idea of a linear operator but I don't know if it's cool or gimmick.

AutoZone carries an aftermarket replacement....can't think of the brand name.

I installed a pair of Stabilus Lift-o-mat struts on my 1986 in January 2011 and so far are working well.  The pair I removed must have been dead because the effort to lift the hood reduced considerably. Ordered mine through liftsupportsdepot.com.

|UPDATED|9/16/2013 10:00:23 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

That's the brand I got, too...

I installed my new Delcos today. WOW a big improvement and what a surprise when I took the old ones off, one had no pressure in it at all, and the other side was weak.

Guys....I just got a pair from Rock Auto. Strongarm brand and they were under $5 each on a close-out sale.