24 replies to this topic

[IronmanG]

I had a good chat with th guy last year. He has the drawings and is open to offers I believe

To clarify do you mean he is prepared to sell the drawings or make the hinges?

Sell the drawings

[Tornado99]

Youtuber Classic Mini DIY did a video installing these. Sometime later he reported he'd removed them and gone to lock down pins because the hinges were causing metal fatigue on the bonnet.

[sonikk4]

Youtuber Classic Mini DIY did a video installing these. Sometime later he reported he'd removed them and gone to lock down pins because the hinges were causing metal fatigue on the bonnet.

 

If its a roundnose then the bonnet is flimsy at the best of times, so thats when you need to think about adding reinforcement strips down each side to beef them up.

 

The Clubby bonnet is ok as that is much beefier, however without the modified lower mount for the dampers it pushed the rear corner of the bonnet up.

[sonikk4]

 

 

I had a good chat with th guy last year. He has the drawings and is open to offers I believe

To clarify do you mean he is prepared to sell the drawings or make the hinges?

Sell the drawings

 

 

Ben Edmonds

https://www.facebook.com/innovationben

[Tornado99]

 

Youtuber Classic Mini DIY did a video installing these. Sometime later he reported he'd removed them and gone to lock down pins because the hinges were causing metal fatigue on the bonnet.

 

If its a roundnose then the bonnet is flimsy at the best of times, so thats when you need to think about adding reinforcement strips down each side to beef them up.

 

The Clubby bonnet is ok as that is much beefier, however without the modified lower mount for the dampers it pushed the rear corner of the bonnet up.

 

Agreed....my roundnose bonnet was failing just forward of the back corner reinforcing gussets...both sides...just with regular prop rod. I think the previous owner has the oem hinge pivot bolts too tight making for too much resistance lifting/closing the lid and stressing the filmsy metal. Look for creasing along the vertical side edges of the bonnet in front of the rear corner gussets....they will gradually crack and creep towards the top upper side. My (temporary) fix was to fit a length of angle alu along those edges, underside, stuck in place with high strength thickened epoxy. Completely unnoticeable from top side and is doing a great job stiffening the structure until hood is due to a proper re-paint...then I'll get welded steel angle put on. 

[MikeRotherham]

Thanks for the replies, hope someone starts to remanufacture them.

 

I intended to buy a set but always had other priorities for my money.

[sonikk4]

A couple of things i have found with them is the locking pins are not the strongest. i snapped one off and had to have a replacement hinge assembly.

 

The 2nd is that the cutout the locking pin locates in is softer than i thought.

[Red Riley]

I have a set of the ones for the Elf/Hornet. They worked well in the up position, but after many many many hours spent trying to get them to shut in the rear I finally gave it up.  I really think that they were a good idea, but the sample size of one (Elf Rod) for testing and development was just too small in my opinion, and didn't allow for enough adjustment for differences between cars. When laying the hinges on top of my ones that work on my car, the mounting holes are just too far off to make them work. Probably with some time spent cutting them up and re-welding I could make them fit, but by the time I had them on and off a few dozen times the pins and pivots are pretty much shot and the threaded studs are nearly stripped. Add to that the lifting struts and mounts probably would have to be left off in the end, as that seems to be the main issue with the rear corners sticking up. 

 

 

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[sonikk4]

I have a set of the ones for the Elf/Hornet. They worked well in the up position, but after many many many hours spent trying to get them to shut in the rear I finally gave it up.  I really think that they were a good idea, but the sample size of one (Elf Rod) for testing and development was just too small in my opinion, and didn't allow for enough adjustment for differences between cars. When laying the hinges on top of my ones that work on my car, the mounting holes are just too far off to make them work. Probably with some time spent cutting them up and re-welding I could make them fit, but by the time I had them on and off a few dozen times the pins and pivots are pretty much shot and the threaded studs are nearly stripped. Add to that the lifting struts and mounts probably would have to be left off in the end, as that seems to be the main issue with the rear corners sticking up. 

 

The rear corners sticking up is an issue with the struts and not their compression strength either (tried that with my car.)

 

The repositioning of the base mount for the struts made all the difference and now the bonnet protruding is no longer an issue.

[IronmanG]

I think it's a great idea. Perhaps a little more refinement is needed? I have been looking through ebay at other hinges that might be adapted to suit. There must be something similar available