first little problemette with my Chimaera... advice, please

[chrisg4.5]

Enjoying the new car immensely - when I can get the wife out of driver's seat (considering I didn't tell her I'd bought it and she'd told me some weeks before she'd leave me if I did, she seems rather to enjoy it). But today found the first TVR-ism. I am used to these, of course: all part of the charm etc. No doubt it is a TADTS and there's a simple answer... I CAN'T GET THE BLOODY BONNET TO SHUT. The catch that is meant to close over the pin attached to the bonnet isn't closing over the pin. The pin has a little sleeve of plastic over it, presumably a fix to make it press harder on the latch. I have pulled, pushed, begged and prayed. No dice. I can flick the catch shut with the bonnet open, but that doesn't get me anywhere really. Unfortunately driving like this is not much fun as the bonnet starts to rise when you get over 50 mph. In the spirit of pictures being worth thousands of words, I attach three here in the hope that some wise Chimaera veteran can see the problem put me right. Many thanks in advance...

[chrisg4.5]

Don't know why the other pictures didn't load first time...

[chrisg4.5]

[MADMAX2]

chrisg4.5 said:

Your bonnet pin looks too short or it has been cut or adjusted wrong ive just measured my bonnet pin it should be one and a half inches long including the nut.Try undoing nut to see if there is any leeway

[chrisg4.5]

I'll do that right now - thanks!

[Andy chimaera]

mine only closes if i push down hard(ish) towards the middle of the bonnet, tried that?

[JonathanT]

Andy chimaera said:

mine only closes if i push down hard(ish) towards the middle of the bonnet, tried that?

when I bought my '99 450, the dealer told me to push "firmly" on the bonnet where the pin/catch is located. do not slam (just like the boot lid).

[Andy chimaera]

JonathanT said:

when I bought my '99 450, the dealer told me to push "firmly" on the bonnet where the pin/catch is located. do not slam (just like the boot lid).

yeah, mine wont close by pushing it there, i need to push mor towards the middle, any one elses like that?

[Jonny cobra]

chrisg4.5 said:

Don't know why the other pictures didn't load first time...

That arm should be back away from the VEE opening .

JC

[666 SVT]

On mine I have to push the bonnet pull handle back in as far
as it will go then press down on the middle of the bonnet to get it to close.

[Martin W]

666 SVT said:

On mine I have to push the bonnet pull handle back in as far
as it will go then press down on the middle of the bonnet to get it to close.

Yes, exactly the same as mine - had me looking for a problem that didn't exist the other week! First time it happened to me after 5 years of ownership, pushed the bonnet release handle all the way back in, tried the bonnet again and clicked shut nicely.

[chrisg4.5]

Jonny cobra said:

That arm should be back away from the VEE opening .

JC

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. JC: the arm won't budge back - only down, i.e. towards the right in my picture. That needs to fall before the pole can go in. I checked the length of my pole - so to speak - and while it is shorter than some clearly, it does enter the vee (oo-er, missus) as can be seen if I squint under the bonnet. I finally shut the thing by pushing harder than I really wanted to. Pressing down the arm manually seems to take a lot more force than I should have expected. It may all need some calibration -- as does the handbrake, which Charles Atlas would struggle to pull on... Still, very much enjoying my first days of Chimaera ownership notwithstanding all that. Glad I discovered the hidden button that turns on the dashboard lights as well!

[haircutmike]

If you have made sure the handle in the car is pushed back, space the bonnet lock forwards, (towards the front of the car) with a couple or 4 washers on the 2 bolts behind the lock.

Quite often the catch/ pin is poorly positioned, barely making contact!

[peaktorque]

The cable is badly routed on mine (job no. 56 on the list of things to do ), so I have to physically push the bonnet release pull lever back into the dash after 'activation' (if that makes sense ), then the bonnet needs a gentle push home.

[Chris99]

I had the same problem on my '99 450.

I took the plastic sleeve off and also gave the locking mechanism several good squirts of WD40.

Also made sure to push the bonnet release in fully and it seems to be working OK now.

It needs a firm push to close but does so every time now.