Taking off the bonnet

[steveS2]

The car is in the workshop ready for me to make a start. There appear to be lot's of 'posts' on adjustment but I can't find one on full removal. The bible seems to skip this operation as well, unless I'm looking in the wrong place.
Is it just a case of removing the two bolts (each side) through the flat plate which screw directly into the bonnet itself?.
Thanks Steve

[pwissel]

I´ve done it in this way two weeks ago...
Don´t forget to diconnect the lamp cables :-)

[GreenV8S]

If you pick the front of the car up by roughly four inches, the bonnet will open far enough to go completely vertical with the lower air intake parallel to the ground. Get the height right so it sits on the ground and it will balance in this position, taking the weight off the pivot bolts. I find the best way to do this is one jack either side of the car, jack it up to just below the right height and then tweak each side up a fraction of a time until the orientation of the bonnet is right and the weight is off the pivot bolts. If you take it too high, close the bonnet before you let the car down, otherwise the bonnet will try to take the weight of the car. It isn't strong enough, and you'll break it. Letting the car down with the bonnet fitted, and touching the ground, is a big no-no.

With the bonnet sitting on the ground you can unscrew the pivot bolts from the chassis leaving the bonnet in place but detached from the car. You'll need to disconnect the electrics and air ducts before you can remove the bonnet completely. I find the best approach at this point is to carefully walk the bonnet away from the car, leaving the car clear to work on.

In the best Haynes tradition, refitting is the reverse procedure. It's al straight forward and quite easy to do without assistance.

If the wiring to the bonnet is original they are probably badly corroded by now and may need replacing before you refit the bonnet, I recommend SureSeal but any good quality waterproof connectors will do.