The List; I need advise on the bonnet release thing. Last fall I bent my
freshly painted hood of my 66 TR4A during installation. Since the car
wasn't finished, I put it aside until the weather warmed this spring.
During this last month I repainted the hood, and went to install it. It
lined up nicely, and things were going well until I installed the bonnet
release. Both pieces are new reproductions, with the safety hook. The
cable is new. I installed a safety cable (inner cable only) with a stop
additionally, just in case. I put the pin into the plate without the
hood, and it worked fine. A firm pop when released. The plunger bolt was
adjusted so the threads were even with top of the plate on the bracket
which holds the plunger. I then installed it on the hood, and both the
regular and the safety would not open the latch. In fact I pulled hard
enough to bung up the outer cable, and bend the safety cable. I had to
remove the bolts that attach the brackets to the car, and then from the
hood. Then, with the brackets released, the latch opened. I have great
fear about installing the latch again. Is there a starting point? The
manual says less spring pressure is obtained by unscrewing the plunger.
I've got it adjusted so no threads are exposed. Ideas? Jerry
Oliver DANMAS@aol.com wrote:
>
> Listers,
>
> Many of you will remember the "bonnet from hell" episode from last year,
> where Leon found himself with a stuck bonnet in my TR6. If you remember, I
> used rather draconian measures to "unstick" the bonnet.
>
> When I got the car home, I found that it was the cable itself that had hung
> up, so I replaced it with a new one. The new one worked perfectly for 6
> months, and then suddenly stuck, just like the old one (except it took 9
> years for the old one to stick). When I say suddenly, I mean suddenly; It
> worked fine one day, and not at all the next! Thanks to the *fix* I
> implemented last year, getting the bonnet open was not a problem this time.
>
> When I did, I found the new cable was the problem. If I removed it and
> straightened, it worked just fine, but when it was routed around the engine
> compartment as it should be, I could not open the bonnet. I rerouted it,
> making sure there were a minimum of sharp bends, and it now works again, but
> it still takes a LOT of effort to get it to open, plus the cable is very
> unsightly now.
>
> Enough is enough -- time for drastic measures again! I have ordered a
> powerful solenoid, and I will reroute the cable to the passenger side, with
> NO BENDS, and connect it to the solenoid. I will add a button in the hole in
> the bracket where the handle used to go, on the drivers side, so I should
> have NO MORE TROUBLE WITH THE #@&^#%# BONNET RELEASE!
>
> The solenoid will be here in a day or so, and I will install it as soon as it
> gets here. In the meantime, if any one is interested, I have posted photos of
> the hole I cut for access on the Internet (I'm getting to where I like this
> Internet thing!). After I install the solenoid, I'll post details of that on
> there as well. If for nothing other than a laugh, you might want to check it
> out. It's at:
>
> http://members.aol.com/danmas4/bonnet.htm
>
> Dan Masters,
> Alcoa, TN
>
> '71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
> '71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion - see:
> http://members.aol.com/danmas/
> '74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition - slated for a V8 soon
> '68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74
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