I upgraded to the Van’s 600N struts (C-1016HD) when I ordered my finish kit. I am also using the PlaneAround door strut attach brackets. These have an anodized black finish and look much nicer than the stock brackets.
I 3d printed a spacer per the dimensions in the plans. This mimics the length of the compressed strut.
The strut brackets have an area that is notched for the door seal. This aligned well with the depth at which I had trimmed the gutters.
I prepared the door brackets and bushings and attached the struct brackets to the cabin top. I match-drilled the holes in the doors and clecod the door brackets into place for now. I’ll finish the doors (paint, etc) before riveting the brackets permanently to the doors.
Both doors work well and close smoothly. I had expected some twisting with the tension on the door but this didn’t end up being the case. I took care to ensure that the door strut moved in the plane that is perpendicular to the hinge pin axis to avoid lateral forces. The plans don’t call this out specifically but it seemed like the right thing to do.
It is exciting to finally have functioning doors after so many hours spent on this part of the project.
Next up: building up the inside flange for the door seals. I also have to devise a way to fill in the door hinge pockets so that those areas can be sealed against the door seal.