Flip Bonnet Mod

[Whitey]

does the small bonnet still open as normal?

[blueg33]

glow worm said:

Stainless Gas struts alone cost about £100 ... Other than yourself ... Which other business charges £10 per hour ?
What price for a respray if you cause damage ?

I think you missed my point, i was adding up the cost of my time to open the bonnet. My free time is worth £10 to me, its not relevant whether a business charges that

[glow worm]

Whitey said:

does the small bonnet still open as normal?

Yes, but I've replaced the fixed stay with a gas stainless strut aswell....hated banging the strut out all the time, did not seem a very elegant way. The main bonnet can still be taken off by detaching the struts and unbolting the lower hinge , the same place where the bottom bolt hole used to be. I've had mine serviced three times without the need to remove the main bonnet completely. I think a new radiator or engine out job , would be the only time it needs to be completely removed now. Accces to the front light panels is OK with the bonnet hinged for example.

[Whitey]

so the middle bolts are no longer used? ie the ones just under the corners of the small bonnet?

[glow worm]

Whitey said:

so the middle bolts are no longer used? ie the ones just under the corners of the small bonnet?

No ...Middle bolts still used to secure it, same catches still used at the top....the only change is to use two hinges instead of the bottom bolts. I use shear nuts rather than std. nuts so I just do the middle bolts finger tight.. because I'm always showing off my engine bay . The bonnet is actually more rigid when hinged, because the gas struts give an extra point of attachment.

Edited by glow worm on Wednesday 16th March 18:33

[custardkid]

cost me £65, with minor mods to body work
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...

custard

[Whitey]

Glowworm, what are shear nuts? I'm not that keen on having to get a spanner out each time I want to open the bonnet, there must be a better solution with some sort of clip or something. I'm keen on this conversion, I've had enough of 11 years of taking the bonnet off by myself and almost scratching it everytime. Often just to visually check all is well under the bonnet.

Shame S&D are so far away from me otherwise I would pop in and see them.

[glow worm]

Whitey said:

Glowworm, what are shear nuts? I'm not that keen on having to get a spanner out each time I want to open the bonnet, there must be a better solution with some sort of clip or something. I'm keen on this conversion, I've had enough of 11 years of taking the bonnet off by myself and almost scratching it everytime. Often just to visually check all is well under the bonnet.

Shame S&D are so far away from me otherwise I would pop in and see them.

These are shear nuts...safety nuts where the top breaks off if fully tightened with a spanner(think I got them from swrex fix direct). Just gives me something to hold with my fingers...I stuck rubber on with super glue to stop any scratching of the paint ... One side was lower than the other so had to grind one nut down a bit ....But TVRs aren't meant to be symetrical
Nothing to stop your car being transported to S&D

Edited by glow worm on Thursday 17th March 14:16

[brad.noble]

glow worm said:

Edited by glow worm on Wednesday 16th March 18:33

Oww dear, best I keep the lower half of my body under the desk for a while.

[Whitey]

hhmmm, still seems like it's not quite a finished mod, if I have to get a spanner out to open the bonnet each time. Might have to look into a slightly different solution.

[V8 GRF]

Whitey said:

hhmmm, still seems like it's not quite a finished mod, if I have to get a spanner out to open the bonnet each time. Might have to look into a slightly different solution.

As Keith has explained he doesn't need a spanner to release the nuts as he can do it with his fingers, that said I've wondered if you could use a post with a hole and then put a split pin through that.



You could protect the bonnet paint with some large rubber washers, they'd also help to keep the pressure on the pin to keep it locked.

There may be some reason why you couldn't do that, so perhaps the other alternative would be to use some Zeus fastners but I think that would require some more mods to the bonnet.

[Whitey]

I'm sure there is an easy solution.

[glow worm]

I've thought about small wing nuts or push clips but push clips tend to be plastic and there's not much room to play with .... I agree there must something really good to do the job...but still looking I'm afraid.... Any better soln. appreciated

[MPETT]

This is the mod I'm going for from Plastic man. Elegant is the only word I could find to describe it.

http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p43/davidhillis...

[Whitey]

how much and is paintwork involved? PM me if you like.

[Andy Pandie]

MPETT said:

This is the mod I'm going for from Plastic man. Elegant is the only word I could find to describe it.

http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p43/davidhillis...

Now that I like I take it the service bonnet can be lifted on it's own if required?

[jr6yam]

Andy Pandie said:

Now that I like I take it the service bonnet can be lifted on it's own if required?

Not sure if you can. I've got a close-up pic somewhere I'll post up later

John

[jr6yam]

(This was taken a couple of years ago, so it might have been refined since then)

[drivingfroggy]

MPETT said:

This is the mod I'm going for from Plastic man. Elegant is the only word I could find to describe it.

http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p43/davidhillis...

That's just the dogs bks. I want some of that action.... Now how do i get it past the wife???

[MPETT]

Andy Pandie said:

Now that I like I take it the service bonnet can be lifted on it's own if required?

Maybe, but yuo don't really need to as the caps are accessible when both are up!