Brad
The two struts per-each-side worked very well for the two step opening (OEM @ 31" & 46" for new hinge bracket), however the closing did not work, as the lower springs + Struts collapsed before the upper Extended Hinge Opening Struts moved. I tried several combinations of lower and upper Strut strengths without getting a satisfactory result. Weaker upper Struts failed to hold the lid open (at + 50%) firmly enough to be safe.
The manually lifted Lid for the final 50% of opening was satisfactory and the closing worked fine. So, the configuration with one strut per-side supporting the full OEM Lid height for daily use, provides safe OEM opening and holding. For occasionally use, the manual lifting of the extra 50% with a positive holding mechanical Stay is safe,and relatively easy to perform. Closing is just like OEM function once holding stay is pushed out of the holding slot and the Lid lowered manually to OEM height.

The 10.5" measurement has been successfully accomplished on Elinor's XJ6, with singe strut per-side ("Dual Spring Assist") and the Extended Opening Hinge kit.
Elinor documented Hinge binding during the 50% increased opening with only one strut on RH side. See her post: Trunk/Boot Lid Hinge Extension: Version 3-Concept Field Test- Jaguar Xj6L, Series 2 . See post #7

See picture below of my XJ6 S3, the LH Strut will be right at the front end of the Tool kit.
Rgds
David



If strut was vertical base would be just ahead of tool bag

 

David, just one minor addition here which I neglected to clearly state in my Post 7 which you reference:

My strut pair for Series 2 are 10 inches (I just looked to make sure) in length, NOT 10.5 inches. During the Testing Phase that extra half inch didn't allow the lid to fully close as someone else mentioned earlier in this thread. This measurement is With carpet in place as pictured.

Both hands are required to close safely, one to hold the lid while the other pops the support link. I find that every time I access her trunk I'm fully opening the lid, partly just to play with it, and to keep from bashing my head, but also the ability to reach in over the side and not have to crawl in is Priceless.

Just yesterday, 01/19/20, we attended our Jag Club's Annual Planning Meeting, and as weather was Fine I drove Nix. Members were quite favorably impressed at the new extended trunk lid opening. I told them Exactly where I got the links!

Good Job, David!
(';')

 

Hinge kit Installation update
The attached video is from Bill's XJ6, is currently installing an extended opening hinge kit... Bill was experiencing some right side miss-alignment and some binding in right hinge assembly.... With a brilliant hidden camera trick, he located an elongated OEM hinge pin hole (LH) causing fore and aft movement. He plans to replace OEM hinge assembly with spare from Dave Bolger...
More from Bill later...
Rgds
David

 

My entire black XJ6C has been painted recently (or so I thought). Here's the DOWNSIDE of David's most excellent extended trunk lid invention - when the trunk is now fully open to the new higher opening position, the underside of the lid is now exposed for all the world to see. MY PAINTER NEVER PAINTED THE UNDERSIDE. It now looks like dog doo doo. I didn't mind before, but now I do. So... I took the lid off, prepped the bottom of the lid and it went off to the painters yesterday. I've now received the driver's hinge I bought from David at EverydayXJ, painted it; pulled the passenger hinge off and painted it. So now it all has to go back together. My wife and I have the joke that "it all started with a throw pillow" whenever we get into any project. My XJ6C is no exception. I'll report back when it's all back together with pictures.

 

That's Choice, Bill, sort of like, "While I'm at it............."
(';')

 

Bill
I just bought material to repair my "Cracked" under Lid hard board. Not visible before, but now looking very much neglected.
With the Jag, there is always one-more-thing while you are in there.
Rgds
David

 

I actually do not have an under lid hard board, but I did see pics of it in all your postings. Up until that point I had not clue there was such a thing. I'll make a decision about whether to make my own or not once the painted lid comes back.

 

The underside of the boot lid is pristine Grosvenor brown. the underside of the bonnet is also bare, but the Grosvenor brown is dull... Each Ok with me. I messed with the opening of the bonnet. Better. the boot opening is just fine. .. .

 

David's kit arrived in the UK last week and this weekend and with the help of a friend was was fitted. No problems were encountered with the fit and it has made a big difference to the ease of accessing the boot. Many thanks to David for designing and producing the kit.

 

Hi David,

Thanks for your reply. I was going to post this as another PM, but couldn't attach a picture that way. I have access to some parts cars, so I will see if their hinges have less play at the pivots. I am not comfortable raising the lid the last few inches as it resists me, (or will resist the struts when installed) probably due to the wear or uneven hinge arm lengths. Afraid something will break. I think the only reason my trunk stayed up originally was because everything jams up at full open. The LHS hinge broke at some point and looks like it was re-welded - a good job, but now looks a bit shorter. The new stop I installed just bolts to the foremost hinge mount stud - no welding required. Made from 1/8 steel. Careful fabrication is necessary though to get the point of engagement just right and in sync with the RHS. Without it, that side just keeps pivoting upward instead of engaging the new extended lift slots. As to the collapsed strut length being too long, I too will film it on my phone as it closes to see if it will bottom out before the trunk closes fully.

For others reading this, either David or I can fill in the context from the previous PM's if you are interested.

Brad

 

"I am not comfortable raising the lid the last few inches as it resists me, (or will resist the struts when installed) probably due to the wear or uneven hinge arm lengths. Afraid something will break. I think the only reason my trunk stayed up originally was because everything jams up at full open."

Brad,
What is the measurement of aft lip of Boot Lid to rubber sill before binding starts ( we have seen 28" to 31" for normal hinges) ???.. Has the weld repair frozen a pin that should rotate??
Rgds
David

 

Hi David,

I can raise the lid to only 26 inches before the effort to get the last 3 inches becomes excessive, so less than typical I gather. The weld repair on the hinge arm is mid-arm, just forward of the elbow, co not in an area where any pivot pins are.

Brad

 

Hi David,

I installed hinges from a series 3 car and the opening is now 33 inches, smoothly operating all the way with no binding. Positive limiting stops on each side, engaging at the same time. All the series 1 or 2 cars I tried at my Jag recycler had hinges similar to mine - opening to 26 inches and reluctantly opening another few inches. Their lids generally only stayed up at that maximum lift. All the series 3 cars were much better- smooth and extending farther. They are all apparently the same part no. (except for the trunk light contact on the RH hinge) and side-by-side comparisons showed no significant differences. I am putting it down to pivot pin wear, as the new hinge has no play at all - no pin holes are elongated. My hinges had comically elongated holes - some as much as twice the original diameter. The PO had fixed the play in my LH hinge by welding washers over the original (elongated) holes and welding in bolts as pivot pins. My lid now stays up at any opening height. So to expect the extended opening kit to work well the hinges should not have elongated holes. Not sure why some cars have excessive wear while others are fine - my PO must have been running a food catering business out of the boot.

With regards to the struts - (which I technically do not need anymore), I imagine that for higher opening lids requiring longer extending struts, the premature bottoming-out issue may be worse as the compressed length of the longer struts will be longer as well.

I do have to fix the lid centering in the opening - it is biased too much to one side, and beyond the adjusting scope of the elongated holes in the new brackets. The hinge boxes cannot be shimmed, especially to bias them to the outside, and I have had no choice but to take one off and bend it laterally, carefully supported in a vise, but it may be better to leave it on the car and bend it in situ. Any experience with that?

 

Brad
No experience with installing hinge boxes, is there any movement at bracket attach end before tightening the mounting bolts? Does it appear that one of the new hinges is biased inboard or outboard?, or do both need tweaking? Would enlarging the aft hinge mounting bolt (s) holes slightly to allow movement toward center before tightening, be a solution?
Look foreword to your results. It does appear that you original hinges got a serious work-out from PO
Rgds
David

 

Hi David,

I am at the limit of the adjustment designed into the lid-to-hinge arm brackets, and while one hinge arm is willing to let the trunk lid center itself, the other is biased too far inboard, so they are fighting each other with a net mis-alignment. So, only one needs tweaking at this point. Yes, the hinge boxes can be shimmed at the vertical attach points and the horizontal holes for the studs enlarged to permit inboard movement, .The hinge that is too far outboard may be able to be skewed by shimming just the rear vertical attach point and enlarging the kitty-corner horizontal stud hole. This skews the hinge arm, but I think it may stay true through the whole open-to-close range of movement. I'll try that tomorrow. I am tempted to bend the hinge arm in situ and if anyone has had experience with that please chime in.

Brad

 

Hi David,
Boot lid works well now - I bent the PS hinge arm outboard while dismounted. Thought it would have also bent OK while still mounted, but for a few extra minutes to do it in the vise instead, I had no risk of breaking a mounting stud or having the wrong thing bend. Lid is centered laterally now. As the lid now opens to 33 inches, the original supplied struts are too short, but since the lid is easy to raise and stays at any angle, no real need to install any struts. (yet!) I wonder if all the lids across the S1 -S3 range will raise to 33 inches with good condition hinge boxes. Finally walked away from the boot, on to something else.

Brad

 

Brad
Good to hear all in order now and your boot Lid is working well. My S3 springs were ok, holding lid in any position, but falls to 31" from 33", so expect I have some hinge pin hole elongation, but not severe like 26-28" as some have reported.
Thanks for the details on the OEM Hinge replacement as the information will help others.
Rgds
David

 

I'M FINALLY FINISHED!!! David's superbly designed brackets and pistons are fully in place and working great. I've carpeted the side panels and made a carpet front panel.
Tips and Tricks:

• Make sure there is no worn play in the hinge assemblies after 40 odd years of use. These tend to be an item that never gets oiled and they do wear an oblong slot in them in various placed. You will not be able to get the trunk lid to align properly with worn hinges. I had to replace my driver's side from David at EveryDay XJ (thank you David). So While you are at it, oil ALL points, inner and outer, of the hinges!
• You may have to use a rat tail file or some such tool to make elongated holes in the new brackets from fore to aft if you can't get the lid to align from fore to aft. There are elongated slots left to right in the new brackets.
• This can be a one person job if you use a long prop up to hold the trunk lid up (I used a golf club) and use thick sponges or such at the forward end of the lid, to prevent it from sliding down to the back window. Then you can do one bracket at a time.
• If totally removing the truck lid, as I had to, to get the inside of the trunk lid painted (looked like crap now that the trunk lid is fully exposed when open to the new height), then cut (and label) the wires that go from the hinge to the forward hole in the trunk lid. Then install a plug and jack for all this wiring (just in case you have to take the lid off ever again. Also, this wiring possibly needs to be made a bit longer to accommodate the extra opening of the trunk lid. This wiring is for the license plate lights, the backup lights and the trunk open lights (and their appropriate grounds).
• Be sure the hydraulic pistons do not bottom out when closing the lid. You may have to install the bottom ball brackets a bit further aft to accomplish this.

So.. that's it. My opening went from 34.5 inches to 47.5 inches. Which is major!! I can now get the golf bags in the trunk without any effort or banging my head. This David modification and the front hood opening modification really adds to the comfort and enjoyment of my Jaguar. Many many thanks to you David - YOU ARE BRILLIANT!

34.5 inches open

34/5 inches open

47.5 inches open

47.5 inches open

 

Looks Really nice, Bill.
Especially all that Lovely carpet.
(';')

 

Bill,
Thank you for the detail and, how to properly finish off the boot to look better than new. Hard to imagine, but you and Elinor opening boot at car shows.... while every one else just shows off their engine bay.
Great Job
Rgds
David