Easter Bonnet?

[bugsy]

One interesting little Easter jobbie I have to do before putting the car in for paint, is the bonnet adjustment.

It looks like there is adjustment left, right, up and down but access is difficult and I wonder what is the best way of carrying this out.

Ideas please

BTW what about Jensen, what is going on there

[tvrgit]

If you can get the car up on ramps (even little ones - I made a couple out of two 18" planks and two sections of 4"square fence post) you can get the bonnet nearly vertical - access to the adjustment bolts is then much easier.

[GreenV8S]

If you look at the hinges you will see that you have three ways to adjust each hinge. It is pretty obvious what they do. Bear in mind that the 'vertical' adjustment isn't completely vertical, it also affects the fore/aft position. The vertical adjustment is also the hardest to set because the weight of the bonnet will try to move it. The best approach I've found to adjust the vertical position is with the bonnet almost closed and the weight taken by a spacer in the shut line, then reach in and nip the bolt up.

While you are adjusting the bonnet there will be times where the bonnet pins are so far out of algnment with the latches that they will jam if you shut the bonnet. Don't push the bonnet fully closed unless you're sure the latches line up correctly. If you get it wrong and the bonnet gets stuck closed, the technique to open it is to wedge the bonnet release handle in the 'open' position then take a form hold of the back of the bonnet by the catch and pull it firmly upwards and sideways, backwards and forwards until it releases. Sometimes it takes quite a bit of brute force to flex the bonnet far enough for the catch to release, but it will.

The basic approach is to use the fore/aft adjusters on each side to get the bonnet parallel with the centerline of the car. Then adjust it sideways so it is central. Then adjust it vertically so the front is at the correct height. Then adjust is fore/aft so the shut lines are correct at the wheel arch. Then adjust the latch pins so they line up with the latches. A good way to do this is to tape over the latches and see where the pins touch the tape. Each time you change one adjustment go back and check the previous ones. It's an iterative process and you may need to go round three or four times to get it spot on.

[bugsy]

Blimey, good job I've got 4 days off!

Thanks a lot guys

[keithyboy]

Good Luck - its a b*stard of a job!