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Ooops. New bonnet time :(
-matt - 13/1/13 at 01:43 PM

After the power steering pump went on my Alfa, I had to drive the 7 to work last night.

Only forgot to do the bonnet catches back up after untucking the cover.

I nailed it at a set of lights, to see my bonnet go flying up into the air straight over me!!! (thankfully there was no one behind)

And here is the damage











There goes another £200!! I think I will be paranoid about the catches from now on.

[Edited on 13/1/13 by -matt]

whiz - 13/1/13 at 01:49 PM

your not the first and won't be the last
andy

David Jenkins - 13/1/13 at 02:23 PM

quote:
Originally posted by whiz
your not the first and won't be the last


Absolutely! (been there, done that...)

ASH3 - 13/1/13 at 02:41 PM

Oh yes "Ditto" such a gutter

RK - 13/1/13 at 02:50 PM

there are many vids of how to repair this, but it's your money! Sorry about your situation.

Westy1994 - 13/1/13 at 03:33 PM

Yes done that myself 3 years ago, still wear the battle scars in the form of millions of stress cracks in the gelcoat, luckily nothing ran over it so no tears in mine, but a sicking feeling of what could have happened to the drivers behind me still haunts me today. Just be thankful no one was hurt and I can guarantee you wont do it again now, for the same reasons I will not drive off without the fuel cap reattached - once bitten and all that.....

Hope you get the damage sorted .

Proby - 13/1/13 at 03:44 PM

Yep, I too did this in my Westfield. Forgot to lock the bonnet, drove off the estate, down a country lane, opened her up and the bonnet whipped off and went straight over my head. £180 for a new bonnet (10 years ago). ( gutted.

sdh2903 - 13/1/13 at 04:19 PM

I'm surprised that these type of bonnet catches havent been outlawed in some way. Production cars have a 2 stage lock to prevent this so why not kits? The amount you hear of this happening it's lucky no one has been killed yet.

James - 13/1/13 at 04:31 PM

quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
I'm surprised that these type of bonnet catches havent been outlawed in some way. Production cars have a 2 stage lock to prevent this so why not kits? The amount you hear of this happening it's lucky no one has been killed yet.


Except I know of it happening to more tin tops than I do kits... so why disadvantage every single kit builder due to an unlucky few!

sdh2903 - 13/1/13 at 04:37 PM

How many tintops on the roads vs kits though? How is a safety feature considered a disadvantage?

I'm pretty sure that if we are capable of fitting v8's and superbike engines into our cars then we could engineer a better way of fitting a bonnet?

David Jenkins - 13/1/13 at 04:50 PM

I quite like the Westfield way of doing it - 2 pins at the front of the bonnet slot into the back of the nose cone, with 2 locks at the back to hold everything down. Even if you forget to lock it, the worst that would happen is that the back would flap around a bit.

Otherwise - I suppose some form of warning light could be set up - a bit like the 'door/boot open' warning you get in most cars these days.

redeye - 13/1/13 at 04:51 PM

-Matt Where abouts are you based?

I have a red mk bonnet with scoop that I can sell you

Its got a very slight chip on the front but wouldnt take much to fit

I was going to fit it to my car but dont think Ill be getting round to it anytime soon
Its also the wrong colour for my car

U2U me if you're interested.

Westy1994 - 13/1/13 at 04:57 PM

Personally I treat the bodywork on my car in the same way a tintop would attach luggage to a roof rack or similar, i.e its the users responsibility to ensure the load he is carrying is safe and won't fall off whilst in transit , in my case I was just stupid and did not check that the catches were 'done up' correctly, its no real difference than a tin top who has forgotten to strap his load down before he drives away, the fact that it was part of the bodywork is academic.

Simon - 13/1/13 at 06:18 PM

quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
I'm surprised that these type of bonnet catches havent been outlawed in some way. Production cars have a 2 stage lock to prevent this so why not kits? The amount you hear of this happening it's lucky no one has been killed yet.


If you consider what happens to a production car when the bonnet flips up - it a) smashes into the windscreen, probably shattering it, b) you may end up with broken glass inside car and c) you won't be able to see where you are going.

With a bonnet coming off, a) it'll only be blocking your view for a short period of time, it comes off in the direction of travel and slows down very rapidly so pedestrians are unlikely to get hurt and c) following cars are more than capable of crushing said bonnet out of existence without second thought (ie the drivers might get a surprise but nothing more, unless they are not in a tintop).

All in all, I'd say the pro's of the bonnet coming off outweigh the cons

Of course, I made mine in one piece with the nose cose and hinged at the bottom thereof. Even that hooked under from chassis rails so even if I hadn't bolted it on or done up catches it was ok. So na na na na na

ATB

Simon

Proby - 13/1/13 at 06:53 PM

David,

Mine was fitted the way Westfield do, two pins at the front, two locks on the back, and trust me, it doesn't just flap about a bit at the back if you forget to lock them!!

sdh2903 - 13/1/13 at 07:06 PM

quote:


Of course, I made mine in one piece with the nose cose and hinged at the bottom thereof. Even that hooked under from chassis rails so even if I hadn't bolted it on or done up catches it was ok. So na na na na na

ATB

Simon


As have I so na na na na na na back!

I have also used aerocatches which stick out a fairway if not closed.

macc man - 13/1/13 at 08:45 PM

I used the IVA approved rubber straps but did not trust them for track use. So I fitted 2 dzus clips front and rear of the bonnet.
Holds firm and stops any rattle.