408 replies to this topic

[stuart bowes]

meanwhile, I've been playing with a bit of cardboard and trying something out..



would you believe measured pretty much freehand (guessing a bit) and pumped that into solidworks as a sheet metal part, fitted perfectly first time, that's a bit of luck

perpective makes it look a bit off centre but it's bang in the middle

trying not to have it sticking out too far, but allowing space for wiring and a nice viewing angle trading off against the angle of the bulkhead pretty much decides the positioning for you really

I know you can get really flat cheap panel things but I want something with a decent amp built in

and then 20mins of mucking around with ms paint



it's a bit of an eighties look but with a modern screen, I might have to smooth out some of those edgy corners a bit though

I'm thinking spot welded or even pop riveted centre section from folded sheet (easy to revert to original) and two separate side sections for easier removal / access, with some sort of leather / pleather / vinyl covering to tie it all in together

Not totally sold on this yet, will play with it a bit more to see if I can find something I really like

Edited by stuart bowes, 06 April 2025 - 08:54 AM.

[stuart bowes]

back to more sensible real stuff that is actually going to happen 

 

before I start painting the inside of the engine bay I want to make sure this bonnet hinge arrangement is going to work, and work out the positioning for gas struts:

 

firstly fitted the hinges and cable tied in the washer motor to check clearance:

 

 

it's close, but does not touch

 

also the other side works obviously, no clearance issues there

 

 

and then tried to work out the effective 'weight' of the bonnet (trying to take spring force into account)

 

 

measured up hinge distance, estimated gas strut positions, lengths required.. did some maths to work out the right gas strut force and give it a go now while I can still get easy access and make holes where required

 

also with the wiper spindles in place I can get a reasonable idea of where the right stopping point is, to make sure no collision to back edge of bonnet

 

have ordered 2 x 30N struts (60N total for bonnet, where calculations show about 40n total is required minimum), 100mm travel, 270mm full length inc. end mounts (centres).  fingers crossed they're right because they're £90 the pair, ouch

Edited by stuart bowes, 17 March 2025 - 10:51 AM.

[stuart bowes]

update, I did the maths wrong.. oops.  2 x 30N is not enough to keep the bonnet up.  length and stroke still seem correct, getting them re-gassed to 2 x 60N

 

don't want to go too strong obviously as you get into the area of bending the bonnet when closing

 

also I need to make a bit of an adjustment to the geometry of the brackets

Edited by stuart bowes, 02 April 2025 - 02:54 PM.

[stuart bowes]

continuing the bonnet hinge saga now the wipers have been ordered for checking clearances, I knew it would be tight

 

I'm measuring about 15deg improvement, and about 2mm to the window wipers at closest point (guessed slightly, the screen will probably push them out a little more) so I might shave a couple mm off the dipped part of the original hinge just for a tiny bit more space maybe

 

 

showing the normal and improved positions

 

 

you might be thinking was it worth it.. yeah me too, but I've started now and every little helps I guess..

 

I needed to add a bit of meat to the part where the gas strut goes:

 

 

 

(I'll be redoing these anyway to improve the angles and these are all a bit battered and tool-marked now)

 

the result looks a bit like this

 

 

and then I need a couple of brackets for the other end

 

 

stepped up in the middle for clearance around the indicator lights wiring hole.  these will have a captive nut for bolting from the other side.  and they'll be trimmed down to a nice shape once I know where the fixing point is

 

all 3mm steel, proper solid :)

 

the bonnet gaps aren't bad, within range of some fettling at least

 

 

 

next step make the hinges again and start marking up for fixing positions, working out the arcs for the gas struts etc, will be fun

 

struts have 100mm throw, and 60n each (120 total) holds the bonnet up perfectly well.  seems like it will be a nice smooth open and close as well, no deforming but also doesn't lift by itself which is probably the ideal 

Edited by stuart bowes, 02 April 2025 - 02:52 PM.