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Bonnet(hood) Fitting  Rating:  Rating
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 Posted: 01-17-2013 10:59 am
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roland11a
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Hi

 I was interested to read that there had been an article in a recent club magazine about how to fit the Bonnet.(or 'Hood' for you over the pond)

As i've only just joined unfortunatly i don't have a copy, so i was wondering if anyone could scan it and post it on the forum

Thanks Roland

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 Posted: 03-15-2013 09:18 pm
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roland11a
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It looks like I'm mistaken  about the magazine article.

However does anyone have any advise on fitting the bonnet and getting it to shut and line up properly.

During the rebuild of my car I took the bonnet off and I now realise it was a mistake to remove the hinges as well. looking at pictures of other re-builds on here it looks lke the trick is to leave the hinges in place.

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 Posted: 03-16-2013 12:47 am
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Gary Martin JH 15371
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The two bolts on the hood side of the hinge simply move the hood forward and back. The two bolts where the hinge attaches to the cowl adjust the hinge, and hood up and down. I had a similar issue trying to get the hood to sit down all the way at the rear and be level with the top of the fenders. I don't recall which, but on my car I raised the front bolt while keeping the rear bolt down, or vise versa to get the hood to fit. The hood should sit all the way down on the rubber stops, which are also adjustable. Also use rags between hood and fenders to keep from scratching paint until you get it adjusted.

Gary

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 Posted: 07-10-2015 10:57 pm
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timeforwalkies
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Hi all.
I hope this helps.  I was looking for an answer to this question myself.  I had a shop try and they gave up so was a bit frustrated with the bloody brits.
Here is what I discovered.  The biggest problem to making this adjustment is the hood support.  It puts a twist into the hood making adjustment impossible. 
I disconnected the hood support, bottom only and let it hang (wrap the bottom of the hing with cloth).  Then I supported the hood at the front about 16 inches off the front bumper.  The old rear stop bumpers were still in place so I knew about where the hood should sit and could tell that at the angle created by the support the rear tips of the hood where going to sit below the fender line.  I loosened both sets of nuts just enough so I could force the hood down and it wouldn't move back (friction).  My wife and I pressed down, her on one side, me on the other u side until both sides were hitting the stop bumpers.  I then reached up inside and tightened the nuts on my side and then my wife's.
I lowered the hood and Wahlah.  The hood is sitting down where it belongs.
I also discovered that the bolts on the hood not only adjust the forward/back position, but also the side to side.  There is enough clearance to get about a 1/16 move side to side and a bit more forward or back.  Not sure how this works since it's a round hole but it does.
One other hint on adjusting the hood.  Be sure to wrap any tools you are using with a couple of layers of cloth along with the block of wood you might try to pry with to prevent scratching.
Good luck

Last edited on 07-10-2015 11:03 pm by timeforwalkies

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 Posted: 02-12-2016 02:50 pm
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NigelK
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Hi

On my GT the o/s rear of the bonnet sits about one cm proud of the o/s front wing. I tried out the above technique to improve the fit of the bonnet, unfortunately without success as the o/s rear corner of the bonnet still sits proud of the front wing when closed.

It's not the rear rubber stops, as I have carefully adjusted these so when I press down the rear of the bonnet, it sits on the rubber stops and it is level with the wings. On the n/s the bonnet stays down, but on the o/s it springs back up. It feels like the spring is forcing the bonnet back up.

The other issue I had was accessing the rearmost 1/2" nut with a ring spanner to tighten it when the bonnet was nearly closed. A stubby ring or ratchet spanner might work but I suspect it would be hard to exercise sufficient leverage to tighten the nut properly.

Anyone have any ideas?

Best wishes,
Nigel

Last edited on 02-12-2016 02:54 pm by NigelK

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 Posted: 02-13-2016 09:56 am
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NigelK
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Thanks to a fellow Jensenite in the UK, I've now sorted the bonnet fit on my GT. Here's the technique he suggested:

1. In most cases the problem is that the angle of the hinge piece which is bolted to the angle iron welded to the bulkhead is wrong, relative to the horizontal surface of the bulkhead. This hinge piece should be high at the front and low at the back.

2. You can achieve this, one side at a time, by slackening the two 5/16" nuts slightly, then with the bonnet raised, wrap one hand around the front corner of the bonnet and pull the bonnet rearwards. This will tilt the hinge piece down at the back and up at the front.

3. Holding the bonnet in this position, use the other hand to tighten the 5/15" nuts so the hinge piece stays in this orientation.

4. Do the same on the other side.

NB I have the later "GT style" bonnet stay on my GT i.e. the solid steel rod which supports the front l/h corner of the bonnet, and not the earlier J-H ratchet type bonnet stay. I suspect you may need to unfasten the ratchet type stay before doing the above to avoid distorting the bonnet when you pull back on it.

Apparently the orientation of the hinge springs can also make a difference - I have noticed that the loop is longer on one end of the spring than the other. Sometimes if the springs are fitted "upside down" it can lead to a poor bonnet fit.

Last edited on 02-13-2016 09:59 am by NigelK

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 Posted: 07-31-2016 02:15 pm
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redracer
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For ALL the hoods/bonnets I have reinstalled, they have all been the same: namely the front bolt goes as high as possible and the rear bolt as low as possible. To prevent sideways movement, removing each hinge assembly(put a pad on the back corner of the hood for the side you are removing to prevent paint damage) separately and use a small press/or whatever on the 2 large rivets to "tighten" them up. Reinstall and do the other side

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 Posted: 06-22-2021 03:17 pm
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DonBurns
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I was searching posts about the bonnet hinge and came across this, so I thought I would share a "discovery" here, that probably everybody else knew but me.

The body shop that is working on 15800 removed the hood, and completely disassembled the hinges. When they put back together the right rear corner would not come down all the way. They tried "everything" and were about to try to find new hinges. Turns out the person who was assembling was not the same that took it apart. Hinges were assembled without the clear plastic sleeve over the spring. Turns out that sleeve is not just cosmetic, but keeps the spring from bowing, or keeps them in line, or something, when the bonnet is closed. With the sleeves back on, all was good. I don't quite understand the dynamics of this, but definitely only worked with the sleeves on.

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 Posted: 08-27-2021 04:17 pm
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Ralph H
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I just have to shout THANK YOU to the past posters on this thread way back in 2013 , 2015 and others I am sure I just saved myself hours of frustration and fetteling (yet again) by checking in here first to see what previous JH owners have learned. As others have stated the bonnet did not close properly with alignment issues in all three axis. near impossible to get securely locked down and when it was secured it was totally impossible to "pop" with the bonnet release. Oh it would "pop" but only doing subsonic speeds on a busy four lane highway. A quick read in here and back to the car for 5 minutes and it works wonderfully.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU ALL

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