Bonnet Alignment

[GV]

Just noticed after refitting my bonnet and after all these years - it does not sit flush with the wing on both sides. Are the captive nuts prone to sagging or did it leave the factory with its bonnet sitting higher in some parts and lower in parts of the wing?

[Wedg1e]

I've never seen a wedge with perfect bonnet fit, though some are better than others. I don't think the thread inserts can move without obvious adjacent damage.

When I did the factory tour in '97, John Mlecek told me that a few cars were taken back in the early days with bonnets that had effectively melted with the engine heat and sagged into the bay: the fix was to put some blocks of wood onto the engine, a ratchet strap around the front end of the car to re-shape the bonnet and roll the car back into the paint oven for an hour or two. Then they glassed-in some reinforcements to help keep the shape.

[GV]

Interesting. My bonnet drops Inside the wing equally on both sides the radical solution would be to re-shape the wing so everything lines up. We'll see...

[V8 Fettler]

Isn't a misaligned bonnet good to vent hot air from the engine bay?

Bonnet alignment at the trailing edge (nearest screen) varies according to the body distortion (amongst other things), if the front half of the body is misaligned nearside to offside then the straight trailing edge of the bonnet will highlight this.

When I've fixed everything else, I'll straighten up the bonnet.