I struggle with getting the bonnet aligned and figure out I have a problem that may be bigger than I had originally thought. Now, how to correct it? Please visit my website at www.roundtailrestoration.com.
I have a few thoughts here. I don't remember what the inner fenders look like on my Spitfire, but I am pretty sure they are not flared like that. So I would definitely try to play with their shape first and see if I could make more room for them to move back. And since the passenger side fits well you can take some measurements, and try to copy that on the driver side. I don't think that readjusting the supports will help as the inner fenders are attached to the bonnet and will always prevent it from going backword no matter where the supports are. However I could see that the driver side hinge all the way at the front is more forward than the passenger one and that is one more clue that the whole driver side needs to move back. And last, keep in mind that the gap can also be adjusted by lifting the front end of the bonnet up. That might close it a little without moving the inner fender backward, but I doubt it would make such a big difference. That would change the angle of the rear end of the bonnet where it meets the door so you are kind of limited by the door line. Liten48 is right. You should put the doors to give you some guidance, but again, the seil panel is what determins where everything else goes in a first place. I haven't caught the very first videos and I am not sure what have been done to the a-posts, but is there any possibility that the whole front end of the body was twisted in any way? Just asking. I don't see a reason why the bonnet wouldnt go back. But again, by taking some diagonals of the body and bonnet you should be able to narrow the error down to body or bonnet and then go from there.
Yes, I didn't support the bottom A-post properly, but I don't think it would have resulted in a twist to it. Something to look at and play with and hopefully I can get it close enough.
The bonnet inner wheel wells do have a flare on the rear of the lip that kicks in towards the chassis. It's evident on both sides. It's easy for these to get bent and hang on the chassis if the bonnet is dropped down clumsily. Here's a good photo online of the lip flare: car-from-uk.com/ebay/carphotos/full/ebay15735.jpg www.british-pistons.fr/wp-content/gallery/2010-05-02-triumph-spitfire-1500-fh/triumph-spitfire-1500-fh-21.jpg
Hi Chris.. a bit off topic, but when I responded to the query about the body to outrigger mount missing thye captive nut, I should have mentioned thay=t I would have used a hole saw cut from the bottom of the outrigger. That way a bolt could be threaded into the cative nut and welded in correct location, then close off the spud from the holesaw cut. You would have good access with the mig torch and the chassis underseal world hide any witness marks.
Hi, B. I understand what you're say, but I'm not sure that that would work. I don't think I would have enough room to get the MIG gun up into the outrigger far enough. And I'd have to do it on my back as well. Maybe I'm not understanding you?
Yes. You can see the difference between the angle of the hinge bracket on the RH side (it's raked back noticeably) as compared to the LH side, which is straight up and down. The problem is that the bonnet is hitting the bulkhead, so it just won't move any more. I don't think I took any good pics of the comparison, but I will for posterity if nothing else. But, I definitely have movement ability on the hinge bracket, that's for sure.
