I have removed both hood hinge spring assemblies on my '84 300td euro wagon and have discovered a seized bushing on the passenger side that will need to be welded back in place. I am cleaning up the drains, detailing and recoating the hinge channels with POR15 along with the battery tray which I bead blasted today - a few pin holes which I will JB weld first before the POR15 treatment. It occured to me that rather than reinstall the heavy hinge/spring assemblies, why not use existed mounting points, fabricate mounting hardware and use modern pneumatic shock assemblies much like those used for heavy tailgates, etc. They should fit nicely in the channels . . has anyone done this mod yet? Seems simple enough given the mounting points, etc.