Chris Vaught wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chris Vaught <CVaught@Hawaii.rr.com>
> To: tigers@autox.team.net <tigers@autox.team.net>
> Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2000 1:45 PM
>
> i seem to recall a fail safe procedure for lining up the hood but i can not
> find it. if anyone save it please forward it to me.
> chris in hawaii
Chris,
Glad you are finally getting to know why you did all that work.
You asked about 'fail safe' hood alignment. I went to our search engine of our
"soon to be released" (really) Tiger web site, and came up with the following
archived hints in the "Body" section of the Technical Tips Chapter. Since I
wrote
it, I can stand behind it's accuracy as the best/easiest way to do this job
once,
and be done with it from then, on. My son, Jay, added some information I did
not
have, to make it even better.
For those who have no interest in how to get your hood aligned , easily and
permanently - and be able to remove and re-install it with ease - hit the delete
key now. It is simple, but not short.
Steve
Subject: bonnet release
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 22:23:14 -0700
From: Steve Laifman - B9472289-
To: "James E. Pickard"-
"James E. Pickard" wrote:
> To open the bonnet on my MkI, I have to pull the
bonnet release with
> one hand and lift the bonnet with the other hand at
the same time. I
> know it isn't suppose to work like this. I should
be
able to pull and
> release the bonnet handle and the bonnet should pop
open enough to lift
> without further use of the release handle. Anybody
know how to fix the
> problem?
>
> Jim Pickard
> B9473298
Jim,
Having just gone through that agony, including
locking
the hood on the
safety catch and not being able to open it at all, I
thought that there MUST be
a better way. When I installed the LAT hood I found
the
lost secret of the
alignment process. Or invented one where there never
was a good way.
Here's the "Magic":
1) Make sure the body mounted receiver is far enough
forward, and the rod
(cable) length adjustment adequate, to allow the
simple
pulling, without
deforming anything, to open the retaining jaws and
bring the secondary
catch to the limit of its forward travel.
2) The resulting position should be fairly centered
in
the body, but not
critical. AS long as a full pull opens the jaws all
the
way and brings the hook
to the forward end of its travel 'cage'.
3) If you have a stock hood you will only need the
hood
mounted spring to
be in good condition, with all the parts, like the
ring
at the bottom end and
the secondary hook body. Make sure the small
screwdriver slot at the
bottom of the pointed end is adequate for using a
screwdriver. Clean up
with fine hacksaw blade or jewelers file till you can
actually insert a small
screwdriver.
4) Make sure you have all the mounting hardware
bolts,
washers and lock
nuts.
5) Make sure you remembered which face of the hood
mount the catch
faces. The mount is not symmetrical. Mark it before
you
remove it.
6) Remove the hood-mounted hardware. and remove the
rod
from the plate.
7) Place masking tape on the hood covering the
elongated hole that the
threaded rod-spring assembly enters.
8) Put the removed rod in the hood release mechanism
deeply enough so
the end is captured by the jaws of the opener.
Release
the opening pull rod,
and the rod should be firmly captured in the jaws and
be sticking into the
air.
9) Take some of your wife's nail polish (or your own)
or some wet paint and
coat the end of the bolt sticking out.
10) Lightly lower the hood till it just touches the
tape, then open the hood
and make sure you have left a clear mark.
11) Place the bracket (right way oriented) on the
bolts
and lightly thread it
towards the tape. The object is to align the threaded
hole with the paint
mark. A flashlight will help.
12) When you are sure it is aligned with where the
bolt
wants to go, snug up
the bolts. The unit should be fairly straight with
the
hood rear edge, and you
can rotate it around the paint mark until it is.
13) Use a center punch (automatic spring load is
best)
and put two marks
on the flat steel plate, on each side of the center
hole.
14) using a new 1/8-inch drill bit (preferably one
with
a bullet nose that self
centers the drill with a smaller size drill in the
center (Home Depot), Drill a
hole through the plate and the hood sheet metal. Be
careful to only go
through the inner panel, not the outer hood.
15) Do the same with the plate on the body, but you
may
want 4 holes.
16) These holes are for alignment purposes, and can
be
used again if you
ever have to take the thing apart.
17) Remove the hood plate, masking tape, and remove
the
bolt from the
body catch.
18) Re-assemble the hood-mounted hardware, making
sure
the spring
ring is on, the hook is on the correct face, and is
facing the correct direction
that you noted before. Screw the bolt in enough to
stick out the other end
about 1/4 inch.
19) Lightly bolt the assembly in place on the hood,
then align the plate
using the shaft end of the drill bit, to the
pre-determined position. Check
both holes and snug up the bolts. Check them again
and
do it over until the
bit shank shows correct alignment. Snug the bolts
tight.
20) YOU ARE DONE.
The hood bolt will now go exactly into the center of
the body hood catch. The
only thing left is to back off the rear shaft nut,
that
locks the assembly to the
mounting plate, and screw the bolt in until the hood
is
resting on the 4 new
rubber feet you bought from Sunbeam Specialties or
Classic Sunbeam.
(another pair goes in front). You can now remove and
replace the
hood-mounted hardware, or the body mounted hardware
at
any time and
regain perfect alignment. If you are going to get at
the heater core, you better
drill a few more guide holes in the large plate/body
on
the edges where the
bolts are to put this back in the same position. If
you
are going to remove
the hood, do the same guide hole trick with the front
hinges to hood. Need
at least two diagonally opposite holes per hinge. If
you are removing the
bottom part of the hinge, do the same. The hoods are
really tough to get into
alignment (providing they are aligned already) If
your
do not like your hood
alignment, do it first, and drill it, before
attempting
the rear catch. The bolts
between the hood and the hinge are ONLY for fore/aft
movement. Sideways
tweaking will bend them. The bolts on the bottom of
the
hinge are for
left-right and with spacer shims, up/down in the
front.
Although I mention
these last, this is where you start, if it isn't
right
to begin with. You don't want
to force anything in order to align it when shutting
the hood. To be
PERFECTLY SAFE, running some high-test safety wire or
fish line from the
safety catch through the front of the car will allow
you to release the hood if
the safety catch can't be moved back far enough by
the
hood release lever.
This shouldn't happen if you have followed the
directions. Hope this helps.
It sure worked slick for me.
Steve --
Steve Laifman - B9472289
Well, who says you can't learn from your kids? Here
is
a recent message
from my son Jay, giving some valuable information on
the many varying
types of "hook plates" that Sunbeams have had, and
how
to align and use
the rod limitations on stroke. I found that mine
seems
to have full travel with
a rod, but I am VERY close to the forward well edge,
and may be damaging
some paint with the pull rod end full released. The
suggested 'notch' in the
hook was discovered while comparing the three Alpine
ones Jay had with
mine. Mine definitely has a curved area that meets
the
pintle. If yours
doesn't, I suggest you follow Jay's advice and get
out
your files.
Steve
Subject: Hood Latch Discovery!
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 07:56:36 -0800
From: "Jay Laifman"
- While I was trying to get my hood latch to work
right, I discovered that I had
three of the hood side spring parts - one from a S3,
a
SIV and a SV, and
each was different at the safety latch. The S3 was
the
biggest/longest and
the SV the shortest. What I mean by that is that the
safety latch is in a shape
of a "J", with the bottom part of the "J" being the
part that hooks on to the
safety hook. On the S3 one, that bottom part of the
"J"
sticks out just over
1/2" for a "healthy" hook. On the SV one, part of
that
bottom part was cut
straight across so that it only sticks out 3/8".
(Other
than that, they are
identical). This 1/8" makes a huge difference. Try
as I
might, I could not get
the S3 one to fully disengage properly every time.
The
SV one works like a
charm every time (and the safety hook does still
catch
the hood if it slips
open - even though of little use with the front hinge
hood). So, in addition to
my suggestion last week that if you ever run into
trouble, to try unbolting the
bonnet release bracket near the dash so you can get
that last tiny bit of
travel to open a stuck hood, I suggest cutting the
safety J down to 3/8" The
SIV one, by the way, was like the SV one, in that
there
was only a 3/8" hook.
But, it was not cut cleanly straight across like the
SV
one. Rather, it was cut
out in a circular path, with the deepest part in the
center, curving up and out
to the edges of the hook. At first I thought it was
from wear, because it is a
little rough. But, after seeing the SV one, I
realized
it was probably
intentional, and even though a little rough, too well
formed to be from
haphazard wear. It seems way back in 1963 the factory
knew this was a
problem and started down the road to curing it. So
good
luck to you. May you
never have a stuck hood again!
Jay Laifman
--
Steve Laifman < Find out what is most >
B9472289 < important in your life >
< and don't let it get away!>
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