Flip Bonnet Mod Done

[magpie21]

Whilst my car was at Dave the Trimmer I had the bonnet hinges which I've had sat around in the garage for over 6 months fitted. Rick Collinson who is ex Powers Bodyshop and did all of the fibreglass work and Spectraflair respray on mine when it had the rear LED lights fitted now runs the body shop next door to Daves at Salford Service Centre in Milton Keynes. Now being as I trust my car with Rick I gave him the task of fitting the hinges making it all look good. Typically Rick said it wasn't too difficult and sorted it in the downtime when Dave was stripping the interior. Suffice to say it works like a dream and is a million times better than having to remove the whole bonnet to see the engine. Rick is now looking into offering this service to other Tuscan owners and already has a few advancements in mind. I know there are plenty of us (like me) who have these hinges still sat around and there aren't many decent bodyshops offering this service. Rick will give you a price and stick to it, he's even looking into getting his own hinges done so he can run a self sufficient service for those of us who don't have a set of hinges lying around.

One of the best things I've done to the car and it's amazing TVR couldn't have come up with this when designing the car. The only thing is I have to get the engine bay up to scratch with the rest of the car now!

Anyway, the pictures:







Video

Edited by magpie21 on Sunday 3rd March 18:15

[S6 Devil]

Looks great! I really would like this done.

Could you update when you know the price he is asking? Alternatively do you have his contact details?

[m4tti]

That opens nice and wide compared to some, looks really good.

[Green Fly]

Mine is with him getting done this week, based on seeing yours. Very handy, having the trimmer next door to the body works.

[magpie21]

Cheers guys. You can get in touch with Rick on [e-mail] or 07967018387 it's best for him to advise on price directly as I know he's just finalising costs.
Cheers

[MrChips]

Good to see another one completed!

This does look to raise up higher than the original design as it's done away with the separate service bonnet strut. I had originally thought that this might cause issues as the 2 bonnets are pivoting on different planes however this one looks good, and having seen Ben's car in the flesh I think the attached is the way to go.

Do you still lock the service bonnet down separately or is it fixed to the main bonnet itself?

[jamieduff1981]

This looks great!

The Mrs and I shall have to start saving for a Tuscan next I think. The bolted down bonnet on my friend's one is a bit of a faff.

[valhalla]

I looked at all the pictures of the gorgeous upholstery you've had done. They certainly are a name i shall remember.Now I've found the bonnet conversion pictures.I tell you what,i'm on the phone to them after this. That bonnet is the icing on the cake mate,and you must be well pleased.I know i would be.
Dave

[magpie21]

MrChips said:

Good to see another one completed!

This does look to raise up higher than the original design as it's done away with the separate service bonnet strut. I had originally thought that this might cause issues as the 2 bonnets are pivoting on different planes however this one looks good, and having seen Ben's car in the flesh I think the attached is the way to go.

Do you still lock the service bonnet down separately or is it fixed to the main bonnet itself?

Yeah how Rick has done it means that the only restricting factor on how far open the main bonnet goes is the limitation of the service bonnet. They aren't attached and when you close it you have lock down the service bonnet.

[billy no brakes]

Yeah how Rick has done it means that the only restricting factor on how far open the main bonnet goes is the limitation of the service bonnet. They aren't attached and when you close it you have lock down the service bonnet.
[/quote]

Must say I would have that mod done as I have only had the Tuscan a couple of months and decided to change the wipers to the leven mod and what a performance getting the bonnet off, I looked at your pictures the other day and thought that I would like to keep the service bonnet as it is and open on its own just to check levels and was going to ask the question but you have answered it, I bet there will be lots of interest in this

[geoffphead]

I did mine few weeks ago and mr chips hinges brilliant bit of a faff doing it solo had to ask wife to hold bonnet once! Only scary bit is the cutting section out to let hinge sit down. Cut once measure 14times is the way as mentioned in all the chats re bonnet.It makes such a difference to be able to see hoses electrical connections etc haven't gotten the cleaning gleaming bug yet.

[TOV!E]

Just booked mine in on the 18th I suppose I better get some engine cleaning done when I get her back.

[MrChips]

I've sold the rest of my spare hinges to Rick (minus a couple of spares for people who've contacted me recently) so he's definitely the man to go to if you're in the south!

Indeed my car is going to him for a respray so will be getting him to tidy up mine as it still feels a bit "home brew"!!

[12Esc]

nice! I still have the hinges in the garage but hope to be able to install them soon.
There was a thread on this forum listing all things needed for the jobs. Can't find it anymore. Does anyone have the link?

[magpie21]

This one? http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[nawarne]

Mr.Chips on here posted a pretty comprehensive thread with a step by step procedure with photos.

I added to this, making a point of using a piece of timber as a template whilst mounting the bonnet half of the hinges. I believe this saved a lot of faffing about measuring and trial and error.

I guess you could try the (Google) search for "Mr.Chips" or Tuscan bonnet?
Ben in the link above sourced his fixings from B&Q, I got mine in stainless from 'Westfield fasteners' ....and IMHO look less 'agricultural'.
Nick

[B3NNL]

Hey, I resemble that remark!

Everyone needs a bit of agriculture

[MrChips]

Here's the list of parts that I included in the guide:

Gas Struts
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-struts/range/ni...
or
Stainless Gas Struts
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-struts/range/st...

Upper Brackets
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-struts/end-fixi...
and
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-struts/end-fixi...

Lower Brackets
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-struts/brackets...

Rubber rivnuts
http://www.cbsonline.co.uk/product/M6_Rubber_Rivnu...

Other: Some decent nuts and bolts from M5, M6, M8 and M10.

Feel free to pm me and i'll send the full guide over which included pics, and also the better method for aligning them as recommended by nawarne! (My method didn't quite work, so I regretted being the guineapig!)

[Robertjp]

MrChips said:

Here's the list of parts that I included in the guide:

Gas Struts
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-struts/range/ni...
or
Stainless Gas Struts
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-struts/range/st...

Upper Brackets
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-struts/end-fixi...
and
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-struts/end-fixi...

Lower Brackets
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-struts/brackets...

Rubber rivnuts
http://www.cbsonline.co.uk/product/M6_Rubber_Rivnu...

Other: Some decent nuts and bolts from M5, M6, M8 and M10.

Feel free to pm me and i'll send the full guide over which included pics, and also the better method for aligning them as recommended by nawarne! (My method didn't quite work, so I regretted being the guineapig!)

I used rubnuts, worked really well. I mounted the SGS brackets on some painted 'mending plates' from screwfix, to spread the load a little. Then used the rubnuts to fix into the engine bay.

[Basil Brush]

The paint looks fantastic.

Loving the alarm siren zip tied to the aircon pipe. Looks almost factory.