Please gentlemen I would like your valued comments on fitting the nose cone. i have attached a sketch (im no artist so please forgive) showing the 4 locations i intend to fix the nose cone to.

i was planning to use 4mm bolts into rivnuts, are these bolts big enough or do i need bigger bolts?

are 4 number fixings adequate?

regards

Ditch
Rescued attachment nosecone.jpg

Ive seen nose cones fitted with only the top 2 bolts. I have gone for 4 on the top but it might be overkill.

What about a pair of bonnet catches on the bottom - make it quicker to remove.

A few people, including myself, have gone for two brass hinges at the bottom and one dzus fastener either side, this allows the nose to swing forward for access to the radiator,steering gear etc.

One or two just have the brass hinges, the nosecone being located by being trapped by the bonnet but i'm a belt and braces man!

Yiou need a strap or wire to hold the front from hitting the ground when it's open.

This method gives you great access without having to take the nose off.

Cheers

Chris

The idea was to allow for easy access to wire up the indicators, and allow for their changing to a more stylish type at a later date. it was only a thought. it might be over kill but i have thought of ease of access for maintainance through out the build.

but you are right the hold nose cone can come off easily and i might be making more work for myself.

Ditch

I was thinking of doing the hinge and DZUS thing.

But then again, how often do you need to do maintenance under the nose cone? I don't know as I ain't finished the car yet but I suspect that it won't be often enough that undoing a bolt would be a problem? Or maybe I'm kidding myself over the reliability of my build!

Cheers,
James

I agree with you James. I have an utralight-spec nosecone, so the hinge is out of the question. But the nose is so easy to remove, that the added hassle of the hinge didn't see worth the trouble. But, at the same time, it would look cool to see the bonnet off and the nose hinged open.

--Chris

[Edited on 29/7/05 by chrisf]

3 Dzus fasteners on mine (1 under plus one on each side at the top). The whole lot pops off in about a minute.

You'd be surprised how many times you need to remove it. Mine was on four dzuz fasteners and grubbing about on the floor to undo the two bottom ones was a right pain in the arse.

And it loooks cool.

But they're all different - sort of adds to the appeal.

Cheers

Chris

I have bonded and rivited a strip along the inside front of the cone. It has a couple of Tabs that align with the steering rack mounting plate. Then I just drilled two holes in the rack brackets, and put a bolt through to a captive nut on the bracket in the nose cose. Its very solid, and just two bolts underneath and the two on the top sides.
A couple of piccies in the Archive, marked Lower nosecone 1 and 2.

However, I did it this way so I didnt drill the front lower chassis member as it would then have more of a chance of water ingress and rusting from the inside.