Bonnet conversion - Allan Howell
Discussion
Been wanting to have the flip bonnet conversion done on my Tuscan for a while, and after checking various methods on Pistonheads, decided to go for the “Allan Howell” option.
Also decided to drive up to Allan in County Durham as opposed to him coming to me, mainly to give the car a good run. Was a bit apprehensive with the 560 mile round trip in one day, but the car never missed a beat and was a joy to drive. I left home around 5am in the morning, and was back home by 5pm the same day.
So, onto the job itself - firstly, a massive thumbs up for Allan, what a top quality guy. He explained every step of the work in advance to me, and paid such attention to detail and treated the car as if it were his own. He took great care with everything, obviously knows the job like the back of his hand, having now completed over 60 of these conversions. Allan also installed a lot of confidence while doing the job, as he’s totally up to speed on the individual quirks of each TVR, and knew how to get around any little anomaly.
The job was completed inside of 2 hours, although Allan did say that not all conversions are as straight forward as mine was, some can be a little awkward and take a bit longer. The product Allan uses is top quality, and the fittings etc are strong, robust and not at all flimsy.
Could I have done the job myself ?, certainly – but it would have taken me far far longer than it took Allan.
Would it have looked as good ? – I really don’t think so.
I cannot recommend having this job done highly enough if you haven’t already done so, and would not hesitate in giving the job to Allan, he takes all the stress & worry out of attempting the job yourself.
I believe I’m more than capable in carrying out jobs on my cars myself, but for this work, was totally confident in Allan doing the job, and believe the end result was well worthwhile – judge for yourself – pictures attached.
Also decided to drive up to Allan in County Durham as opposed to him coming to me, mainly to give the car a good run. Was a bit apprehensive with the 560 mile round trip in one day, but the car never missed a beat and was a joy to drive. I left home around 5am in the morning, and was back home by 5pm the same day.
So, onto the job itself - firstly, a massive thumbs up for Allan, what a top quality guy. He explained every step of the work in advance to me, and paid such attention to detail and treated the car as if it were his own. He took great care with everything, obviously knows the job like the back of his hand, having now completed over 60 of these conversions. Allan also installed a lot of confidence while doing the job, as he’s totally up to speed on the individual quirks of each TVR, and knew how to get around any little anomaly.
The job was completed inside of 2 hours, although Allan did say that not all conversions are as straight forward as mine was, some can be a little awkward and take a bit longer. The product Allan uses is top quality, and the fittings etc are strong, robust and not at all flimsy.
Could I have done the job myself ?, certainly – but it would have taken me far far longer than it took Allan.
Would it have looked as good ? – I really don’t think so.
I cannot recommend having this job done highly enough if you haven’t already done so, and would not hesitate in giving the job to Allan, he takes all the stress & worry out of attempting the job yourself.
I believe I’m more than capable in carrying out jobs on my cars myself, but for this work, was totally confident in Allan doing the job, and believe the end result was well worthwhile – judge for yourself – pictures attached.
I have just done this after having the kit for about a year (things got in the way!) It took about 3hrs with two people. All went together very well, the only thing I would change is trimming the bonnet using the bonnet edge as a guide, as my bonnet was a bit asymmetric. A very good piece of kit, thank you Allan.
Can I ask a question about this mod?
Do you have to cut away any of the three apertures for the water, oil and power steering fillers. I ask in that mine appear to be very tight should you wish to rotate the bonnet from the front.
If cutting is required what would be the best tool for the job - a Dremel or something larger?
That hinge detail looks absolutely brilliant.
Do you have to cut away any of the three apertures for the water, oil and power steering fillers. I ask in that mine appear to be very tight should you wish to rotate the bonnet from the front.
If cutting is required what would be the best tool for the job - a Dremel or something larger?
That hinge detail looks absolutely brilliant.
You do not have to cut away anything from the 3 apertures, but you do have to cut approx 1" - 1.5" from the very front lip of the main bonnet. Alan used a good quality angle grinder, and masked along the full length with tape before cutting and then smoothed off the edge on completion with a file. Once everything is back in place, you wouldn't even know it had been cut.
You do not have to cut away anything from the 3 apertures, but you do have to cut approx 1" - 1.5" from the very front lip of the main bonnet. Alan used a good quality angle grinder, and masked along the full length with tape before cutting and then smoothed off the edge on completion with a file. Once everything is back in place, you wouldn't even know it had been cut.
Allan list the bonnet conversion on here in the parts section:-
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/parts-and-...
Kit is very good and is supplied with a decent set of instructions.
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/parts-and-...
Kit is very good and is supplied with a decent set of instructions.
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