Locking gas struts were fitted to the bonnet of the Rover 820 I used to have.

I've ended up with a satisfactory solution by retaining the standard struts and making a bonnet stay prop. You end up with an assisted lift then slot the stay in place. The KISS method can always be relied upon !

Just need to sort my dead locked passenger door out, it won't open from inside or outside. The central locking works but won't unlock the door. Not sure what to try next, any advice out there ?

Could you supply a pic of where you fixed the stay. Thinking of doing this myself
Thanks

The stay is made from 10mm round bar 37" long. One end has a round tube welded to it, that slots over the bonnet spring. The other end has a repair washer welded to it and sits in a hole on the slam panel.

Photo here ……..

Having issues loading photo's for some reason !

I made a simple strut compressor from some 12mm threaded bar. That made life easy and a one man operation to fit them.

How does that work please

PM sent.

I'll see if I can load some photo's tonight !

Photos of bonnet stay and strut compressor. This is a use once tool, hence the crappy welding !

Door issue is sorted, my fault with the fitment of the Mini door handle being slightly wrong. Thanks to Steve, jaguartvr, much appreciated !

Can the reveal the issue/solution so others don't 'fall into the trap'?

Where do I begin ? Firstly the doors were working fine on the donor car. Central locking, opening and closing from inside and outside the car, all as expected.

I fitted mini door handles which are the standard option when you fit the extra door skin provided in many Tribute kits. I made an error at the beginning by fitting the handles a bit low on the door skin. The result of that was the plunger in the Mini door handle was too close to the pivot point in the BMW handle mechanism.

To get around that ( I had the car painted by this time ) I made a swan neck plunger in steel . That in turn pressed against the mechanism higher up in the door and looked ok, it worked, sort of. After messing around fitting the door cards, opening and closing the doors several times it all stuck shut !

I spent several hours trying to work out the problem, you couldn't open the door from inside or outside but the central locking sounded like it was all working as it should. I was truly F**** !

There were plenty of people with plenty of advice, both online and having spoken to a few people.

Online I found a youtube video where you power up a blue wire and black wire in the door to fire the actuator, no good !
The actuator might have failed but it sounded good to me and was lifting the inside lock etc.
Disconnecting the battery, turn the ignition to position 2, re connect the battery and it will all reset, no good either !

Local auto locksmith said the mechanical mechanism in the lock has failed and you have to smash open the steel lock assembly from inside the door with a long chisel and a lump hammer ! Really ? I won't let him near one of my cars ever again, I thought he was a good bloke !

I spoke to Ian at Classic Coach Works, he suggested you need two people, one to pull on the handle out side, one to push the door from the inside and force it open. Maybe, but I wasn't convinced .

Had a chat with Steve and he has been there before with a couple of his cars. Basically the car is in a dead lock situation and can be caused by the Mini door handle plunger applying pressure to the BMW mechanism. It only takes a little pressure and the door can deadlock under some circumstances.
I could see the mechanism in my door was being pushed slightly ( door card was off ). Simply applying light pressure on the mechanism back on itself I heard a click. The door then opened as normal.

The fix will be to remove the door skin and adjust the plunger a little so it isn't quite touching the BMW mechanism, job done !

Unfortunately, I had to remove my 250SWB body. I used a heat gun
to really warm up the bonded area, and a collection of steel scrapers to peel the fiberglass away. Worked well but very tedious.
May work on the doorskins too.

My door skins are screwed on and only bonded in each corner. The PU adhesive I've used can be peeled away when you apply steady pressure to the joint. I don't see any problems getting the skins off.

The internals of the lock feature two levers, one of which is the deadlock . These are both operated by the electric actuator.Steve mentioned that it is possible to remove the deadlock lever so it can't be triggered again, possibly a wise move with our modifications in place.

great idea. Really good tip!

Am I correct in thinking the deadlock will be identified by locking the door and seeing the one which moves (not the deadlock)? Would further pressure move the deadlock and confirm it?

Both levers within the door lock are hidden by the actuator. You can only see which one is moved with the actuator removed.
Fitting the whole kit is easier than removing the actuator!
I will try and put some pictures up during the week.

Best way to remove the actuator is by cutting an access hole on the inside of the door, it is hidden by the door card so won't show.