How to remove your bonnet in 10 minutes by yourself.

[abowie]

People are often a bit leery about taking the bonnet off even though doing so vastly improves access to the front of the car.

As I had to do it today I have put up step by step instructions with pictures on my blog:

http://tinyurl.com/l7azzwx

[Heuer]

Excellent!

[Red Kite]

Brilliant !

[mystery type]

And quite handy to be able to work on the front lights etc.... cause they will still be connected

[abowie]

Ok, 10 mins and 1 second....

[David Oslo]

Fantastic !! I look forward to doing this myself in 2 weeks time.

Do you have a 10 minute version on how to get the engine and gearbox out

[paydase]

I'm just discovering that brilliant tip.

I have however two questions to those who used the procedure:

When removing the balance link bolt and hing bolt on one side and carefully letting the bonnet slightly come down on the pillow, isn't there a risk that the bolt on the other side is put on strain because of the misalignment?

And when refitting back the bonnet, is it easy to lift/realign it and fit the bolts when being alone?

[christopher storey]

Serge : the method was originally shown IIRC in the Tips section of the Jaguar Club of Queensland website, and was in fact a slightly easier method, whereby the front of the car was raised sufficiently to allow the bonnet to be raised ( with the spring/hydraulic links disconnected ) to a vertical position - again with padding under the overriders - and then secured to a rafter in the roof in that position. The bolts and top hat fasteners can then be taken away without any strain on any of the components, and similarly it is easy to align the hinge components when reattaching the bonnet

[paydase]

Thank you Christopher.
That's certainly better, the bonnet being vertical and securely tightened, in principle there shouldn't be any (or very small) move when unbolting.

[christopher storey]

Actually, Serge, I've just looked at the Queensland website, and it cannot have been on that which I saw it, but someone has posted pictures somewhere of it being done in that way - it also had the advantage that if you position the car cunningly, close to a wall or corner, the bonnet can be left where it is, safely secured out of harm's way

Edit : here is an illustrated version on David Langley's restoration site - click on Bonnet removal

https://sites.google.com/site/davidlang ... estoration

[David Oslo]

When I did mine i had the car on the ground, undid both balance springs, power cable, then allowed bonnet to rotate until resting on overriders, then rope to roof, then undid hinge bolts and pulled out top hats. On taking out first top hat the bonnet wants to twist slightly so i replaced the top hat with a dummy pin using a 1/2" socket extension bar. Then undid the other side and let the bonnet settle. Then pulled out the extension bar. No damage.

Thinking about it again i recall using 5cm thick Styrofoam under the mouth / nose as opposed to the slightly wobbly overriders. The bonnet weighs a ton and i didn't want to bend any overrider brackets.

It's all self explanatory when you do it.

[288gto]

I used Andrew's very helpful method but found that putting the front wheels on some planks placed on the floor to raise the nose a little allowed the bonnet to open into a more stable vertical position while still being able to roll the car backwards. It also helps when offering the car back up to the bonnet because you can see the hinges better.

Simon

[abowie]

Excellent tip; I shall try it next time. Getting the bolts back in is hard my way because you end up with the bonnet at 45 degrees or so resting on your shoulder. More upright should equal less weight on you which should make it easier.