Tilting Clam in the Worx

[stinkyonion]

OK. Who is going to be the first to post a side shot of the clamhinge opening and closing so we can see the proper technique? Im still puzzled, not sure why not working well on my vehicle. Holes drilled verified and reverified, I think they are dead on. Foam piece trimmed to almost half of the instruction photo. Still have trouble clearing the roll bar ears when closing and it often locks up when tilting back. Drivers side hinge sometimes rubs rear clam by in nonvisible location. Heard various descriptions of "proper technique" but a video is worth 10k words.

[turbophil]

Hmm... I'll try to put one together... I've got this new iMac and I hope that I'll be able to use its fancy software to make a short video of the "the lift"

Stay tuned,

Phil

[turbophil]

Let's try this... Utube watered the rez down quite a bit, but I hope it helps a little...

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jPdZI94EwNc&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jPdZI94EwNc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

[ZAMMY1]

i think the little lift in the very rear of the clam, first, when opening it, may be overlooked.
that seems to be the secret, and you must note that carefully in the u tube thing.
my best, sam

[turbophil]

I'll try it again tonight and try to emphasize the the movements more. It's become very second nature for me. It was hard doing it as slow as I did on that video...

A couple notes:

I'd say about 80% of the lifting force is from the firewall. I lift up and back from the firewall with one arm and then use the other hand to gently lift up on the rear of the deck. I do this to help keep the clam level for about the first two inches of lifting or the last two inches of lowering the clam.

Finally, when lowering the clam, the last two inches or so is the most important part to the technique. You simply push forward with your hips (Call it a "pelvic thrust" if you like) while lifting up slightly on the rear of the clam to level it as it goes down. This will ensure you're using all of the forward movement of the hinge to clear the rollbar.

I know it sounds complicated, but it will come naturally after you get the hang of it. I really encourage you to go through the motions several times before adding the weight of the boot lid and battery to get the motion down...

Hope that helps!

Phil

[stinkyonion]

I think I figured out the problem, at least a significant part of it. I took the rollbar cover off of the rear clam as part of the VF2 install. It turns out when I reattached it to the rear clam I had slid the rollbar cover about a centimeter towards the rear of the car. This makes it so it will always bind on closing. When I can get a second pair of hands over I will remove the clam that is trapped awkwardly on the car now(removal number 50) and put the rollbar cover further forward and see if this fixes it. It will at least be much better, probably fixed.
A video would still help, and if it is fixed I will post the video.

[stinkyonion]

Ahh. See the video 3 posts up, dont know how I missed that as I searched and searched on youtube. Thanx.

[turbophil]

You bet. I hope the vid helps a bit... Perhaps, I'll try to make a better one

[turbophil]

Neat

[stinkyonion]

Happy clamhinge owner. A few things ive learned:

1) I couldnt tilt for crap for first month because of faulty factory boot to rear clam glue job. When I finally figured out the boot wasnt properly attached to the rear clam, and glued the two together, the clam tilted properly. When your clam is removed prior to hinge install, look at the boot to clam glue job and if any gaps fill them in with flexible epoxy from West Marine. I had a 3/8 inch gap across half of my boot so the hinge was tilting the boot but not the clam, as they werent fixed together. Now working fine.

2) I kept the odyssey 625 battery in the stock location for 3 months, clam tilted but kind of awkward. Then spent an extra hour doing the charcoal cannister delete and moved the battery to where the cannister was. Now much smoother action as the clam is lighter and balanced, and no battery cables to the boot to mess with. Absolutely no downside to charcoal cannister delete that I can perceive.

3) The kit is compatible with the VF intercooler, sort of. The aluminum strut that goes across the boot hinges is too big and whacks the intercooler pipes. With a angle grinder I modified it in about 5 minutes to give more clearance, but it looked like ****. Then had one made from scratch, cost $65, and looks OEM now.

4) I now tilt the clam almost as often as opening the boot. Have done it to install fuel gauge, fuel rail, back up camera, amp wiring, zeitronix, fender turn signal replacement, and just to show friends. It is WAY easier to do anything with the clam tilted and it saves your back. It is cool. It keeps clam out of the way and elevated and safe while doing your project, much safer than putting clam on a mat. But, the clam is still delicate and you must pay attention when tilting to closed position. Now takes about 2-3 minutes to tilt, easy.

5) Only minor annoyance: The OEM plastic fasteners that attach the rear wheel liners to the clam are horrible, too small for purpose (or the holes are too large). This area has extra stress with the clamhinge, and these pop out alot (when tilting clam), havent yet found better solution.

[GregD]

Originally Posted by stinkyonion

5) Only minor annoyance: The OEM plastic fasteners that attach the rear wheel liners to the clam are horrible, too small for purpose (or the holes are too large). This area has extra stress with the clamhinge, and these pop out alot (when tilting clam), havent yet found better solution.

There's a whole thread on this problem - Wheel liners falling out?

My solution was here - Wheel liners falling out?

[Faze]

Anybody got any good pics of the battery relocation with the clam tilt? Mine is still in the clam, but I've been thinking about relocating it.

[turbophil]

I'm certain I've got better pics at the shop, but this is the best I could come up with in short order (robbed from another thread). The battery relo to the passenger side frame *can* actually be done withOUT cable extentions. It takes some wrangling of the cable and some time under the car to accomplish said wrangling, but it's very doable. The pic you see here does not have cable extentions and there's length to spare.

FWIW, we have still been including the extentions to make install easier, but I personally prefer to install it over there without the extentions...

Best,

Phil

[dma550]

sorry to be such a dweeb, but I don't have time to read 25 pages of info. Phil, did you come up with a solution for people who don't have a naked muffler? I have a twin tip Larini through the euro panels, and I feel that’s the best looking part on the rear of the car, i don’t want to lose it.... Thanks

[MNlotus]

i want one of these soo bad! how much are they going for?

[breinhar]

Just curious, have any of these been installed on an exige? I would assume its pretty much the same (and I dont own an exige) I was just curious.

[turbophil]

Originally Posted by breinhar

Just curious, have any of these been installed on an exige? I would assume its pretty much the same (and I dont own an exige) I was just curious.

You bet. A little more involved, but has been done a haldful of times. There's probably about 60 of them out there, and I'm certain 10% of those landed on Exiges. The S's are tougher than the 06s. Lord Z did this and would probably be a good resource.

Originally Posted by dma550

sorry to be such a dweeb, but I don't have time to read 25 pages of info. Phil, did you come up with a solution for people who don't have a naked muffler? I have a twin tip Larini through the euro panels, and I feel that’s the best looking part on the rear of the car, i don’t want to lose it.... Thanks

I understand... Well honestly, I don't-- by I'm hearing you! We do have a prototype bracket to tie into the stock rear panel. I know it works, but it's not ready for primetime and it's still a fabricated part. I have yet to find time to CAD it and cut it out. We actually have a client that currently has the system with the proper open rear end, who is patiently waiting to close it back in once I get those bits made for the stock rear panel...

Originally Posted by MNlotus

i want one of these soo bad! how much are they going for?

Should still be on my website

Best,

Phil

[Jean]

Originally Posted by Faze

Anybody got any good pics of the battery relocation with the clam tilt? Mine is still in the clam, but I've been thinking about relocating it.

Take a look at this thread :Clamhinge with rear panel

[MD@]

This looks great!