35 CB Engine Hatch Gas Spring Replacement

[kpetry]

I recently had to replace the Gas Spring which assisted in the opening of the engine hatch on my 2007 35 CB. It had gotten weak with age and was no longer helping lift the hatch. I figured someone else might benefit from what I learned in the process.

Luckily I was able to locate a US source for the Camlock Gas Spring, made in the UK. It wasn't easy! But I eventually was able to make a connection with Guden Industrial Hardware, which is a US distributor for Camlock products. I provided them with a photo of the identifying info that remained on the cylinder, and they went from there. It turns out that this model gas spring is still made. $250 later, it was on it's way to me.

Installation was fairly straightforward. The end hardware which arrived with the cylinder had to be swapped out for my brackets. The threaded shafts made this fairly easy. Because of the angle of the cylinder once it is in place, in order to be able to reach both screws on the top bracket, I had to again remove the upper bracket from the cylinder, screw it in place on the underside of the hatch, and then screw the cylinder back onto the bracket now attached to the hatch. Once the gas spring is in place it is necessary to bleed off part of the nitrogen charge in the cylinder to get the proper spring tension to hold the hatch open, without it being too difficult to close. The process is explained with included instructions, but involves using a 2mm Allen wrench (provided) to loosen a plug in the end of the cylinder. Gas can be heard escaping when this is done. The trick is not to remove too much, as you can't put it back in! I opened the valve for about 3 seconds per try, then closed the valve and checked for tension. It took about 10 tries (30 sec total) before the cylinder would even start to move, and another 5 or 6 tries (15 sec total?) before I got the tension I wanted to be able to close without too much strain on the mountings, yet hold the hatch open when extended. It now opens easily on it's own and stays open nicely.

Interestingly, the directions are explicit that the gas spring be mounted with the cylinder up, and the shaft down. This is the opposite of how mine was installed, so it had probably been removed in the past and reinstalled incorrectly. Without mounting the cylinder up, the bleed screw would have been next to impossible to reach down at the bottom of the engine room!

It's not a bad project, and it will be much easier with this info! See the attached pics.

[Nancy]

Wow! This is incredibly helpful information to have! Thank you!

[Maogwaicat]

Just so happens we need one for our 2005, 35CB. Many thanks for sharing, I will order a shaft ASAP! Any other info I need? I don't have the old shaft available for compare...