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Triumph TR6 - Bonnet question from the land of many hurricanes

Hey guys, it was sort of fall here this weekend. Saturday was beautiful, with a low in the high 50's and a high of around 80. I had a nice cruise up the beach road.

Over the last 3 or 4 months, the bonnet on my 71 TR6 has developed an annoying problem. It won't stay all the way down, even though the latch and safety hook seem fine. The Bonnet latch assembly has a spring with a screw in the middle--tightening the screw tightens the large spring and pulls the bonnet down tighter when I close it. But it loosens back up when I drive.

Is there a danger of getting it too tight? Also, if it keeps working loose, is that a problem with the latch assembly, or the striking plate or whatever, or is it a problem with those little cone things that are referred to in the catalogs as buufer cones?

It is finally getting to the time of year when one can actually tighten screws, etc., without dripping buckets of sweat all over the car!

John, from the land of many hurricanes!

JL Bryan

John,

Does your striker (the component on the bonnet) have a lock nut on it? I remember that because it was fairly difficult to get a wrench through the coils on the spring to loosen for adjustment and tighten down after I got it where I wanted it.

Rod
Rod Nichols

John
Yes there is a problem if you have the "Bonnet fastener" to tight...you will not be able to open the bonnet and you know what that means.
At the base of the threaded rod (inside the spring) is where the "lock nut" is....see TRF plate FD68. It sounds like you need to tighten the spring a little and lock the lock nut.v Also make sure the catch plate (TRF Plate FD72) is not sticking open and moves freely with the bonnet release cable. If the catch plate does not fully "close" then the bonnet can pop open. The critter that actually does the locking is TRF Plate FD67. Are the 2 mechanisms alligned correctly? The hood buffers are to just touch the "sockets" in the bonnet itself. There should be verry little pressure from the buffers "pushing up" the bonnet...is there good body alignment between bonnet and fender?

As a side note all TR6 owners should have the "extra" hood release cable installed. It is WAY to difficult to pop the bonnet when you have a non operating bonnet release cable. Besides, have you noticed there is a hole on the right side fire wall for a cable and gromet...hum??? One other purpose of the extra release cable is so that you can pop the hood and be on the same side of the car to release and open the bonnet!
Rick C
Rick Crawford

John, just a thought but I had a similar problem a couple of years ago. It was because one of the bolts on a forward hinge had sheared causing enough vibration to cause the hood to come loose when driving. This I found out after replacing all of the release hardware and, yup, I did put in the extra release cable. Bill V
B Vogan

Thanks, guys. I'll check those tonight or some night this week. And maybe even get the extra release cable.

Rod, the alignment has been fine. I'm guessing its either the lock nut, or maybe what Bill mentioned--it didn't occur to me to check that.

John
JL Bryan

John - I suggest you replace 'maybe' with 'WILL' in your last post! It is very good advice from Rick, particularly if you are fiddling around with tension on the catch. I used a couple of metres of plastic coated cable (fishing trace) which remains coiled up under the dash waiting for the fateful day..... never had to use it yet, but have heard a horror storey or two.
R
Roger H

John
YES!!! do the WILL thing.

I went out last night to put my new little battery tender on the car. I tried to pop the hood using the OE hood release drivers side...I think if I pulled it much harder I would have broke the cable...NO hood pop!!! So over to the extra release cable hidden up in the passenger foot well and success!!

I suppose it is because I use the extra release cable all the time just because it is more convenient. I have not used the OE one in about 2 years. I guess I have some adjusting to do this winter.

Here endith the first lesson.

Rick C

PS Roger give it a try.... just for the heck of it:)

THE FIX: MOSS PN 807-088 Price $10.25...from LBCarC..less $.

It even comes with the gromet for the fire wall!
Rick Crawford

Okay, I give up and will order tonight.
The current problem was that the retaining nut was a little loose, so I was able to tighten it and solve the problem.

Roger, what test poundage is your line? I have some of that stuff laying around.

John, ftlomh.
JL Bryan

Not exactly sure John. I do know that if I wrap it around my fist and hang off it I would lose a few fingers before the cable would break!!

It's in the order of 1mm wire diameter (40 thou?) - my fishing exploits are sporadic so I tend to be heavy with equipment choice!!

(btw what's 'ftlomh'? - assuming it's OK to put in print!)

Roger
Roger H

A real easy and cheap bonnet release backup can be made from a couple of zip ties. Zip one around the release lever near where the cable attaches. Then slip another one in a ways to lock it. Then the end goes into the passenger compartment through the most convenient grommet. I suppose that would be easier to do before you hook the 2 together, wouldn't it (sharp end first from the inside)? Maybe they make 'em long enough to not need 2, these are just what I had laying around. You could probably get real clever and make a loop on the end where you grab it, never thought of that 'til now.

The first thing I noticed on testdriving my car before I bought it was the hood popped going over bumps. The main problem there was the dang safety hook was hitting the wrong side of the catch. Had to solder a shim there to put it in its place. And adjust the bumpers on the corners. A couple hours of fiddling later, I'm happy with the way you just push lightly in the middle and it clicks.
Tom

I got a little carried away with the fix on my TR6. I used a 3" hole saw to cut a hole in the passenger's footwell, right next to the hood latch, and filled it with a TR6 floor drain plug. Now, if I have to, I can pop the plug and get my hand in there with a wrench and remove the entire latch assembly. It actually looks like it came from the factory that way, and doesn't detract from the under hood appearance at all.

I also added an electric solenoid, with a short cable, to operate the latch under normal circumstances. Total length of the cable is about 12" with only two very mild bends. Works a treat!
Dan Masters

Roger, it means "from the land of many hurricanes". Its my new name for where we live. It used to be the "Treasure Coast" of Florida, but no longer.

Dan's idea sounds like a lot of work!

I'm gonna order the backup release, but jury rig something meanwhile.

Thanks, John ftlomh
JL Bryan

"Dan's idea sounds like a lot of work!"

It took all of five minutes to do. Not that I'd recommend it to everyone. Adding the solenoid took a little bit longer.

There's a long story as to why I took that approach. I had loaned my car to an Englishman to use on his two week vacation in the states. On the second day out, he decided that the hood latch needed adjustment, and did so (even though it had been working perfectly for 12 years prior). The hood never opened again. During his travels, he had several experts try to open the hood with no luck, so I figured the latch was misadjusted so bad that it would need to be removed to get the hood open.

A drastic approach, but now that I've done it, I'm very happy with it, and I'm going to do the same thing with my other TR6, except I'm going to use the oval firewall plug from an MGB to allow more hand room.
Dan Masters

Hey John
Life's full of GLR's - your's just happened to be a fairly big one!!! sounds as though you came through with a smile though ;-)

Cheers

Roger ftcotss (from the coast of the setting sun!)

Oh yeah' GLR = God's Little Reminder!!
Roger H

This thread was discussed between 18/10/2004 and 21/10/2004

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