http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/to ... ggestions/
This shows most of the detail construction from when I did the Van.
No pretence at inventing anything here, just thought it might help someone to know how it all balances if ever they were tempted to do something similar.
All the weight is in the nose, so as long as your spider is sufficiently robust at the front, the rear-edge carries virtually no weight and with the spit-tube up almost against the rib the two mounting holes for the chrome grill are more than adequate to carry the rear mounting bracket.
I first used the 8 anchorage points for the radiator grill, with the #12 self-tappers, to just carry two separate lengths of 30 x 30 x 3 angle-iron, and then made four separate 30 x 30 x 3 "Tee" fingers which are bolted on their outside ends to these side-members, and welded (tacked in situ) onto a central collar.
(Bolted because an all-welded frame would be very difficult to dismantle and extract.)
When it's flat, the loads on the bonnet screws are in pure shear, and when it's at 90° the load is taken on the upper legs of the spider with no load on the screws, which were of course not designed to carry the weight of the bonnet.
With the tube located centrally, then, in the mouth of the bonnet, the balance is well-nigh perfect and the bonnet can be rotated with one hand, then blocked with the split-ring.
and now have found a fhc xk 140 
