Can anyone advise how I can make this gap narrower?
By removing shims between the bonnet and hinges.
If the bonnet is original to the car, removing some of the vertical shims ought to do it.
If it’s a replacement from another car and it’s still too short there are special hinges available or, as a last resort, metal would need to be added to the rear edge of the bonnet.
Assuming the gaps at the cowl (sides) and sill are acceptable and even, then adjusting the vertically placed shims at the bonnet hinge will change the gap at the rear of the bonnet but also the gap along the sides.
If the side cowl gap is not even (wider towards top) then it may require a horizontal shim to ‘level’ the bonnet to the body. This will affect the rear, side and sill gaps.
If you do adjust the bonnet, keep in mind a crucial alignment is the rear of the wheel well with the sill. This should be a nice unbroken curve and will stick out like a sore thumb if it is not.
If you can get the bonnet gaps correct but the wheel well is not aligned, you can add/cut material from the rear of the bonnet, but that is not really practical unless the body is stripped. Another alternative would be to reshape the sill curve to match the bonnet, still requires metalwork (leadwork) and paint, but much less so than if you trim the bonnet.
As you no doubt know, the bonnet shape and position seems best described in 5 or 6 dimensional space and can be real frustrating to adjust, but it can be done.
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Who has the hinges Frank
Thks Jeffery
Thank you everyone for your help.
Ross
Send pictures of both sides of bonnet and sill
And a top shot of bonnet
Also a side picture of whole car both sides
That would make it easier to figure out what is going on