On Thu, 21 May 1998, dave eaton wrote:
> I'am sorry but I must disagree with Joe on the source of cracks
> around the bonnet latches...
> have cracks around my latches.
> I feel the cause for the cracking is improper ajustment of the bonnet
> posts (little rubber cones). I have seen many cases where this poor
> adjustment cases the latches to pull the bonnet down and the latch
> to be very very tight. This causes the latch to become over stressed
> and the stresss is transfered to the opening for the latch...
I suspect one could make a convincing argument for either side of this
issue or, perhaps, either side of the bonnet. ;-) I'll go along with Joe
in that, ideally, one should not rely solely on the latch to lift all that
sheetmetal, especially if there is only one person lifting on only one
side. But I think Dave is onto something here as well.
To further expand on Dave's theory, I'll speculate that it is not merely
adjustment of the rubber cones. I do agree that if the cones are set 'too
high' and thus require a lot of force to close the latch, this could
easily cause the stress. The same can be true if the catch on the side of
the bulkhead is misaligned. Further problems can be caused by missing or
broken cones, particularly if the metal "head" remains. I've seen these
actually catch in the seat for the cone.
Finally, any misalignment of the bonnet latches, catches, cones or at any
point of the hinge pivot tube on either side is likely to cause you grief
when opening or closing the bonnet. Of course, ANY collision damage will
only exaggerate the problem.
There was that lovely ;-) handle on the top of the Herald 948 and early
1200 bonnet. Given a correctly adjusted (and undamaged) bonnet, it is
amazingly easy to raise the bonnet with this handle. But the Herald bonnet
is shorter and rather better braced and balanced, with the pivot point
more nearly UNDER the front. The extra length of the Spitfire bonnet,
combined with a pivot point that extends out beyond the bonnet itself,
makes for rather a better aerobic exercise (STEP-LATCH-LIFT-OUCH
STEP....); just remember to lift with the legs, not with the back (or
latch alone)! ;-)
Oh and Larry, as for your near-perfect bonnet: consider yourself lucky!
--Andy
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