Bonnet vibrating and marking grill

[dickythediver]

Have just bought a low mileage '98 450 Chimeara. Problem is nothing has been done to it for about 6 years so am wading through the usual problems as well written about on these pages. One problem I do need a bit of advise about is the bonnet. It vibrates on the drivers side down the side of the wing. On investigation it is loose where the hinge goes into a black box at the front of the bonnet, the other side has no movement. Also the back corners of the bonnet are rubbing on the grill at the base of the screen. Is this just a matter of raising the adjustment or do I need to put a bit of neoprene there? All advise gratefully received. Richard.

[Ribol]

It might be worth checking the adjustment of the supports halfway down the bonnet, maybe the driver's side one is low? If the hinge itself is loose then that will obviously need sorting.

I also put a piece of neoprene at the passenger side back corner on the grill to stop the rubbing, as you have already suggested yourself.

[tonym789666]

I had the same problem when I bought my Chimaera the bonnet had rubbed through the grill. I used 2 small black rubber cabinet feet from a hardware store.
I fitted them under the corners of the bonnet through the holes in the grill with self tappers.
The result is now when you close the bonnet you have to give it a firm push over the catch to shut it but the shake is completely eliminated.

[Naybr]

The hinges are located into a brass "bush" (can't think of the right term)which is glassed into the front of the bonnet. It is fairly common for these to come loose. It's not that hard to fix fairly neatly if this is the case - there are several previous threads on the subject.

[blackchim]

Rubbing of the mesh grill is common. I have a small cut under the drivers side, but it's never got worse and does not cause a problem with the bonnet. As above, the thing to do is get the two round rubbers attached to the inner part of the wing and half way up the bonnet length correctly positioned. You will notice they are held in position by a single screw that is off centre which allows you to move it around to get the perfect tension on the bonnet once secured into the catch below the drivers side. Hope that makes sense?

[dickythediver]

Hi, Thanks for that sounds good will give it a go. I have also now put two neoprene pads between grill and bonnet. Thanks Richard.

[quattrophenia]

I find that I adjust the bonnet so it just sits flush against the mesh and then when you get up to speed the air pressure pushes the bonnet up and it still moves about. Few strips of black electrical tape stops it damaging the bonnet/mesh.

[VictorMeldrew]

I've had my Chim from new and it started marking the grille this way as soon as I got it. My fix was to "glue" a couple of blanking grommets in place with a blob of silicone. They're still there 15 years later.