Hi guys

I am going through putting stuff back on my car and as the bonnet is on the roof it is stopping me getting in the car. I am going to reattach it tomorrow and just wondered if there was an excepted way of doing it? Or any handy tips from the already initiated?

Rob

In general - they don't fit!
The panel gaps between the rear edge of the bonnet and the door will probably be different side-to-side.
Gap on left is usually larger - fault in the original mould.

Hah sounds about right! Okay I just thought there might be a good way of getting it in to position to bolt it on as I can always settle the fitting later. I will try and put it on today but the rain is coming down now

Yep they are a bit fiddly, wheel arches are in different positions side to side, one is approx 3/4 of an inch further back. The gap to the door will be quite large this is mainly to allow the door to open as if its too small the door will catch.

best thing to do is put it on and give it the eye test. Make it look right.

Also be carefull not to set it too low, altho they tend to look better low, as this can cause the sides to bulge slightly when closed and on the sills and look odd around the door.

Neil

Okay cheers Neil I will give it a go then and see what happens

Whilst on the subject, how far does everyone have the bonnet Latches spaced out? The ones attached to the body.


Also, is the bonnet fitting pictured below normal on a coupe? Or is a bit of heat and/or brackety required to get it sitting inline with the sill?

Thank you
James

The spacing of the latches is different side-to-side on mine with one side a little over 10mm and the other side around 6mm.

My front doesn't sit like that - it lines up nicely with the sill tops.

The red one I had briefly actually had rollers attached and wooden slats on the sides of the tub for them to run on which would cure that problem. The rollers looked like there was some skateboard in their ancestry. And just for a giggle - the drivers side had what looked like an earlier attempt still glassed onto the back of the panel. It was the roller assembly from a roll-on deodorant.

Iain

Reminds me of "What kind of deodorant Sir, ball or aerosol??" neither, underarm please

Oh dear, i was hoping that wouldn't be the case, so what do we think is the best method to get the front lined up a bit better?

Coming back to this, I've noticed a lot of coupes with something bolted onto the the body to pack out the front where mine goes in, is this standard practice?

I have a few Thick (5mm ish )washers on each side. Two on one side, one on the other.
But that on the keeper/catches to make them lock.

The front is just the two sticking out brackets that bolt to the bonnet.

James,

There should be 2 "ribs"inside the bonnet -- one either side of the catch location -- when the bonnet closes they sit against the vertical foot well panel to space the moulding from the sheet metal. I think the original builder may have trimmed the front one back too far so the bonnet has "sprung" inboard a little. I did this on my original build and had to fix a small piece of fibreglass on to the rib and cut it back with a bit more care. Once the bonnet is positioned against the sill correctly you can work out how much packing the catch needs.

Steve

These are the spacers on mine

Having looked at the area, I think a couple of fillets are required like this:-



Sorry about the paint image, but what have people done ?

Thankyou for the pictures Ken, I think I may end up changing the latches to something else possibly. My grandad keeps telling me of stories on triumphs heralds when they kept coming undone.
I think you may even get away with just the one fillet, may help to prevent any further damage in an accident. Although I'm currently trying to think of a new way to the hinge the front as I can't run a front splitter as the front will hit it when tilting forwards.

Cheers Steve, just the info I needed, I'll get a bit of fiberglass added on to space it out an get it lined up nicely, could even put a piece of trim on the 'ribs' to stop it rubbing through the paint on the body when opening and closing.

This is what was there before:



Seems like I have so much to do and so many ideas but not enough time in the day to do it all!!!
James