Resto tip: do the bonnet FIRST

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abowie
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#1 Resto tip: do the bonnet FIRST

Post by abowie » Sat Sep 15, 2018 6:30 am

Executive summary: leave bonnet mounted to body shell. Install all bonnet hardware and catches first.

When we do a ground up resto, reassembly starts when we get the body back from Ross at the panel shop.

The body comes back on a trolley with the bonnet attached.

Image

Once we get the body in the workshop the first thing we do is take the bonnet off and put it in a safe corner and cover it with a blanket. It stays there until the car has been fully reassembled. Only then do we remount it and finish assembling it. Mostly this is for convenience because it gets in the way, and also because the chrome, all ground to fit in the panel shop, takes months to get back after the body arrives.

With my current personal resto of a 3.8 coupe, which I'm doing at home, I left the bonnet on. Mostly because due to limited space I didn't have anywhere safe to put it. So instead of leaving it til last I set about assembling it on the car. As much as anything this was because I already had the chrome, and the engine and gearbox are still out being dealt with by specialists.

What I found though was that with the car on the hoist, you can literally stand in the engine bay with the bonnet shut. This gives you a view of the bonnet catches that makes adjusting them a snack. Essentially, normally you can't see them closing at all and the adjustment process is a slow combination of guesswork, Braille and bad language. Normally, just mounting the bonnet safety catch on its captive plate is an awful job. But stand where the engine isn't and it takes minutes. Adjusting it from inside, under vision is a gamechanger.
Andrew.
881824, 1E21538. 889457. 1961 4.3l Mk2. 1975 XJS. 1962 MGB
http://www.projectetype.com/index.php/the-blog.html
Adelaide, Australia

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Richardhealey
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#2 Re: Resto tip: do the bonnet FIRST

Post by Richardhealey » Sat Sep 15, 2018 6:07 pm

Thanks Andrew - sounds like a useful tip I’ll employ - that is if my car ever comes back from the paint ‘n’ body man! :roll:
Cheers,
Rich
1969 series 2, 2+2... going for a full rebuild.. Gulp...

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Jeremy
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#3 Re: Resto tip: do the bonnet FIRST

Post by Jeremy » Sat Sep 15, 2018 7:54 pm

Very good advice Andrew. I did that, not standing but crawling inside the engine bay and then sitting in there (as I don't have a big hoist, just a small scissor lift). Only snag is, once the engine was in and the car sitting on its wheels, the bonnet catches no longer fitted so I had to adjust them again, and the hinge shims too. Then after driving a bit, we had to adjust them again.....
Jeremy
1967 S1 4.2 FHC

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