Hello to all.
I have just removed a fibreglass bonnet from my early 1964
3.8 FHC which I am going to replace with an all steel unit.
Upon removal I noticed the front bonnet carrier rail
differed from my ‘67 series 1 which has a single tube going
across the front with the angled brackets attached to the
ends of it. On the 3.8 there is a pair of equal tubes, one
above the other. The bonnet brackets ( which I am unable to
remove so far ) are mounted to the upper tube. Now that I
have the steel bonnet all assemble and trial fitted I have
one area which has less than a perfect shut line / gap.
This is at the forward edge of the front cille on the driver
side (RHD). There is nearly a 1/2’’ or 13mm gap to the
lower corner of the front wing above the end of the cille.
Looking up behind the front lower wing there is also a
corresponding, if not more excess gap to be seen above the
adjacent inner splash guard.
I have no shims at all fitted to the right angled bracket on
this side as there is a need to further lower the front of
the bonnet on this side. On examination of the lower front
cross tube I have found the ends of it similarly threaded at
their ends leading me to believe I could use the lower tube
to attach the right angled mounting bracket which would in
turn solve the gap problem I have and also provide the
opportunity to add shims as required to perfect gaps all round.
Can anyone confirm if the lower front cross tube ( which is
also threaded to take the end bolt ) is the correct one to
use for mounting the bonnet carrier brackets as I believe
the upper tube may have been used as a compromise when the
previous owner ( or someone ) fitted the fibreglass bonnet.
Thanks in advance. Eugene
AKA old jag man.–
old jag man
ARMAGH, United Kingdom
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
In reply to a message from old jag man sent Fri 25 Apr 2014:
Looks like you have an odd-ball bonnet frame because the 3.8
should only have one cross tube and that tube is threaded on
the ends for the 3/8’’ bolts that hold the bonnet hinges.
I don’t think there was any difference in that frame between
the 3.8 and later cars. ( Except the very early 3.8 used
studs instead of threads but that was soon changed because
removing the bonnet necessitated disturbing all the hinge
shims.)–
Clive, '62 Coupe 860320
Ontario, Canada
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
In reply to a message from Clive Wilkinson sent Fri 25 Apr 2014:
Thanks for your reply Clive.
Yes, for sure it has a pair of cross tubes, one above the
other and both threaded to take the bolts.
Eugene–
old jag man
ARMAGH, United Kingdom
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
In reply to a message from old jag man sent Fri 25 Apr 2014:
Hi,
My '63 bonnet frame has one tube so I suspect your was modified or
home made? Time to consider a replacement bonnet frame.–
The original message included these comments:
Yes, for sure it has a pair of cross tubes, one above the
other and both threaded to take the bolts.
Eugene
old jag man
–
jcarey : (888373) Bettie IV - my '63 S1 FHC in progress
Los Gatos/California, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
In reply to a message from jcarey sent Sat 26 Apr 2014:
John,
Not sure I understand, didn’t you say in the first post that
you had two tubes that could possibly mount the bonnet?
I checked, and my '64 – January '64 FHC – has only one
cross tube onto which the bonnet hinge bolts, and the two
frame tubes from the picture frame attach to the cross tube
with a triangular plate that has a hole into which the cross
tube fits, and which completely surrounds the tube. No
possible way to mount two tubes to that assembly. I don’t
know very early cars but I have never seen a 3.8 with two
cross tubes there. Or perhaps I am not understanding which
tube you are referring to?
My single cross tube’s center is 8’’ above the floor when the
picture frame’s bottom is at 9 1/8’’ or so above the floor,
if this helps.