You bet. Car is complete.
There IS a problem with this method. You can get a “shadow” where the edges butt on the exterior. Best handled by leading the seam - problem is the adhesive bonding the reinforcing brackets is not heat proof. What I did is use an adhesive which is stable - some body panel adhesives are not really paint stable and will sink out or shadow. You’re only dealing with maybe 0.032" (or so) metal at the edges, but you still can bevel them and skim with quality body filler, mixed properly and fully cured. If a shadow shows later, while hardly ideal, the line will follow the edge and will look no worse than the original, while falling short of perfection. No way it should crack or look stupid if the filler is cured and mixed properly.
Geoff, do you mean, “even with all the shims that control forward movement removed there is still a 1/2” gap".
You cannot setup the bonnet without the Hinge Springs or the Bonnet strut fitted.
That 1/2 inch gap was with no shims and the bonnet in its as assembled condition with no pulling. I now have it where there is a 3/16 gap and 1/8 inch of shims for further adjustment if necessary. Springs will be added and the frame rails loaded with enough weight to simulate engine weight before the final adjustment and trimming
where necessary to get a straight line. I am confident that I am close enough now to weld in the new lower panels at the back of the wings and to add a small amount to the rear edge of the right wing which is about 1/4 inch shorter than the rest of the bonnet.
Geoff, the first thing you need to do is fit the springs, without them you are waisting your time.
And as far as adding engine weight, this will have zero, if any effect on bonnet position, trust me, have been restoring/rebuilding E’s for over 20 years.
Thank you for the advice. Easy enough to fit the springs at this point so I will. Interesting that you say that engine weight has no effect as I was relying on the advice of Bill who believes that it does. It will be easy enough for me to add in weight so I think I will just to see what happens. Any and all advice by people with experience in fitting bonnets is appreciated as this is my first kick at the cat.
Yep, I set up my bonnet, doors( with estimated hardware/glass weight), and rear hatch while my car was on an roll around stand. Painted it that way, body totally together. After supporting the car on stands and removing the rolling stand, I removed the bonnet to a stand and removed the trapeze and picture frame from the car. Rolled the engine in from the front and then replaced the picture frame and trapeze. Bolted the bonnet back on when all work was done and it fit back perfectly.
I don’t have springs but Norman is spot on about the weight thing.
Norman. Just out of curiosity how much effect do you expect installed springs to have on a bonnet. I guess they would increase the bonnet gap? Do they also change the angle of the gap at the rear of the wings?
They don’t effect the bonnet angle, but they will pull the bonnet forward close to 3/8".
I’m a bit surprised it didn’t shift a little bit? Did you drill for a taper pin in the picture frame to help with realignment?
-Steve
That is not great news! I will be fitting them this weekend to see how much change I get. I will report on what happens.
Norman. I installed the springs today and they pulled the bonnet forward between 1/16 and 1/8 inch so maybe I have gotten lucky. My gap is now just a hair over 1\4 inch and I have about 1/16 inch of shims that can be removed to bring the bonnet back towards the rear. Between that and the paint and primer buildup I think I can maintain my 3/16 gap fairly comfortably and avoid adding metal. Thank you for pointing out the need for installing the springs. It saved me from making a wrong assumption.
I can confirm this. My perfect fitting 2+2 bonnet had later dampers fitted so I replaced them with original springs. I was shocked at the effect on the gap! In my case, it opened up!
Can I safely assume this bonnet springs/bonnet gap issue dos NOT apply to Series III. I don’t recall any springs up front – the bonnet is held open by a strut vs springs. Inquiring minds want to be sure.
I have BOTH (I had to modify the shock located bracket a bit for this to work -( most guys said it couldn’t be done!). Can’t say I noticed a fit change from “nothing”, but this also disagrees with most guys comments. I do have all new parts as far as bushings and such.
Geoff, I assume you used the old springs. I know when we used new springs when fitting new bonnets the pulled up to 3/8", but then there was no way of knowing if the new springs had a higher rating.
That would not have surprised me because the OE springs were marginal for keeping bonnet open if nose was pointed uphill.
Yes I did use the old springs. The bonnet just barely stays open with them but the bumpers and headlight assemblies are not yet installed. I am happy that it looks like I have dodged the bullet so far but will wait for a few days to see if the continued pull does open up the gap more. Still hopeful that the welder does not have to make an appearance.
Larry, have experienced some movement on S3, and it tends to be uneven as you only have one strut.
Only one comment on your installation, you have the bracket the wrong way round. Pin should be at front of frame.
Addition of strut would definitely overcome problem of bonnet weight as I said to Geoff.
And the strut is on backwards. If you correct the bracket on the picture frame you will get just a bit more throw from the strut.
Maybe the position of the bracket is determined by the closed length of the strut?
