Bonnet openers, Gas Shocks
The original Jaguar bonnet openers consisted of a heavy spring assembly that I'm told, never worked all that well, letting the bonnet come crashing down on your head.
They make a gas shock retrofit now but of course, it wasn't close to what I needed.
I had a couple of used hood shocks from a Nissan 240SX that I played around with and with some cardboard cut-outs, came up with a configuration that seemed geometrically feasible. Thinking two shocks wouldn't be sufficient, I made allowances for four.
Bracket to mount on bonnet valance:
Bracket to mount on chassis:
Gas Shocks mounted.
The pair on the top are used with a 56 lb. rating
The pair on the bottom are new with a 34 lb. rating
This combination gave the best balance.
Here's a video of the before and after. Before, I was using a rope and pully system to lift from a center point because of the flex in the bonnet.
With the gas shocks, there's a nice balance and I'm hoping I have the correct clearance to road surface.