Hey hey,
So I just finished fitting the Minivation v3.5 hinges to my '81 City 1000 round nose. I thought I would briefly share my experience for anyone considering the product and the undertaking.
Firstly the product - I purchased directly from the Minivation site, it was very easy and the delivery was a fair price (I live in New Zealand). The shipping was quick too, 10 working days.
The product is well packed and nicely presented. Its is exactly what I expected if not better in quality and detail. The instructions, which you download from the site, are good too.
The hinges are supposed to be a direct "bolt on" product and they are but it took a lot of fafing to get it in.
The process - Getting the bonnet off is easy, we have all done that a thousand times. I hope, I never have to again. Getting the bolts undone under the scuttle panel not so much. Unless you have the hands of a 7 year old girl....which I don't.
Getting the hinge bolt back in, with the new hinge in place was interesting. I had to tape the bolt to the spanner, mount the head light and hold my tongue just right before i was able to get it in. Getting it all done up was less painful as I went out and bought ratcheting spanners by this point (which by the way will save your knuckles and dignity).
The only major problem I had, the hole marked "Saloon" was the wrong one. Unfortunately I found this after, I had tightend everything under the scuttle. It simply would not have allowed the bonnet to open in that position. I was very annoyed and searched the internet for an answer but didn't find one.
So, I installed the other side on the "Clubman" hole and viola, a perfect fit. Now I just had to re-do the side I had already done.... insert swear words here....
The struts were easy to fit to the existing holes in the bulk head. However, I did knock off the captive nut on the one side to get a flush, symmetric fit. Also, I had to play around with re-positioning the wiper motor slightly, the strut still touches it now but the bonnet closes so it will do.
I adjusted the bonnet on the new hinges and found the bonnet mounting bracket is now fouling the hinge in the up-right position but Ill deal with this another day.
In summary, I very happy with the product and result (and my new ratcheting spanners). The process was frustrating and slow. I have rebuilt the brakes and suspension on the car, in full and this was far more annoying due to the tight space under the scuttle.
If you are not good with a spanner think twice and ask a friend (with tiny hands) to help you.
Cheers
Air
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