Bonnet Latch Broken
Discussion
Ive inhereted someone's previous botch job on the bonnet "hook" that latches into the catch on the
bulkhead. Basically its come away, and I was hoping someone could sugest some fix it remedies? Other than trying to re glue with
some industrial strength bonding glue, im a bit stuck. The pics should make sense, cheers.


bulkhead. Basically its come away, and I was hoping someone could sugest some fix it remedies? Other than trying to re glue with
some industrial strength bonding glue, im a bit stuck. The pics should make sense, cheers.
Edited by chris2002hk on Saturday 11th December 08:56
Edited by chris2002hk on Saturday 11th December 09:02
First you need to make up a good strong bracket to house your pin.
I would use a piece of 16 gauge steel, have a browse at B&Q you may find a random bracket that you can adapt.
The bracket should have enough surface area to facilitate a decent bond with the underside of the bonnet.
Effective & permanent bonding of your bracket & pin assembly to the bonnet will require a very high quality epoxy adhesive that is able to withstand heat.
I would recommend 3M DP490.
However, although 3M DP490 two part epoxy adhesive will provide a reasonable attachment bond within 2 hours it actually takes seven days to reach its fully cured bond strength.
You are well advised to leave it alone for a good few days before you put any load on the pin & bracket.
The 3M DP490 formula is used by people like Boeing & Cessna when bonding composite wing structures, after the curing process is complete the bond will be permanent and stronger than your steel bracket.
After the bond is fully cured you can provide additional strength by using an epoxy putty around the edges of your bracket.
Using a quality adhesive like 3M DP490 is essential, epoxy adhesives are certainly not all created equal.
But in my experience there is no need to spend a fortune on the epoxy putty, to my surprise I found some really good stuff at my local pound shop!
Hope this helps.
I would use a piece of 16 gauge steel, have a browse at B&Q you may find a random bracket that you can adapt.
The bracket should have enough surface area to facilitate a decent bond with the underside of the bonnet.
Effective & permanent bonding of your bracket & pin assembly to the bonnet will require a very high quality epoxy adhesive that is able to withstand heat.
I would recommend 3M DP490.
However, although 3M DP490 two part epoxy adhesive will provide a reasonable attachment bond within 2 hours it actually takes seven days to reach its fully cured bond strength.
You are well advised to leave it alone for a good few days before you put any load on the pin & bracket.
The 3M DP490 formula is used by people like Boeing & Cessna when bonding composite wing structures, after the curing process is complete the bond will be permanent and stronger than your steel bracket.
After the bond is fully cured you can provide additional strength by using an epoxy putty around the edges of your bracket.
Using a quality adhesive like 3M DP490 is essential, epoxy adhesives are certainly not all created equal.
But in my experience there is no need to spend a fortune on the epoxy putty, to my surprise I found some really good stuff at my local pound shop!
Hope this helps.
Call Julian at Fibreon he sells the moulding - yours looks like its been really bodged.. Should just be a round section of M8 (IIRC) stud that screws in to the moulding - that simply needs bonding to the bonnet panel in the correct position (the lock does have some adjustment if you get it a little wrong).
I would advise taking the bonnet off to do the job, removing the old moulding, fitting a new one and glassing the edges down properly to bond securely to the bonnet panel.
I would advise taking the bonnet off to do the job, removing the old moulding, fitting a new one and glassing the edges down properly to bond securely to the bonnet panel.
Alexdaredevilz said:
Seriously, why would anyone want to use those - all of them are going to put something superfluous onto the top of the bonnet which rather defeats one of the beauties of the car: the smooth, flowing lines.R
ralphy12345 said:
Alexdaredevilz said:
Seriously, why would anyone want to use those - all of them are going to put something superfluous onto the top of the bonnet which rather defeats one of the beauties of the car: the smooth, flowing lines.R
I can tell you its quite scary, I will be ordering a set for my car, when ive finished the engine
Alexdaredevilz said:
ralphy12345 said:
Alexdaredevilz said:
Seriously, why would anyone want to use those - all of them are going to put something superfluous onto the top of the bonnet which rather defeats one of the beauties of the car: the smooth, flowing lines.R
I can tell you its quite scary, I will be ordering a set for my car, when ive finished the engine
But should I be that concerned it could be cured by an additional hand release latch (as every other car on the planet seems to have) - and still keep the bonnet unblemished.
R
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff


