Hand Formed Aluminium Body

[John Bonnett]

Thank you all of you for your kind words which are very welcome and always give a boost to the old motivation particularly at a time of the year when energy levels can be on the low side.

I'm taking a break from panel work and will be concentrating on the bonnet supporting frame and the hinges. I have a very high regard for the young Canadian who is showcasing his GT6 restomod on his Youtube channel and I'm hoping to copy his design for the bonnet hinge arrangement. I have sourced the same hinges which are double acting, very compact and light being made from aluminium. The clever thing about his installation is that it prevents bonnet twist as both hinges operate as one thanks to the interconnecting round tube. The clever bit is mounting them in the optimum position so that the bonnet opens fully. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Hamish]

I have been looking up the Triumph SLR  and what TR Enterprises are doing with their recreations. 
i found this blog that reminded me of all your hard work John especially the buck ? Wooden form. 
https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/204081/1962-triumph-tr4-slr

[Nick Jones]

21 hours ago, John Bonnett said:

have a very high regard for the young Canadian who is showcasing his GT6 restomod on his Youtube channel and I'm hoping to copy his design for the bonnet hinge arrangement

Me too. Good plan 

[John Bonnett]

Thank you the link Hamish. It must be a huge advantage to be able to scan a car and then feed the results into a CNC router to produce the egg box buck. A costly exercise nonetheless but it has to be absolutely accurate. RetroPower are doing the same thing at the moment on the rear bodywork of an E Type. Disappointingly, they are farming out the panel work to a specialist rather than doing it in-house, something I would have thought well within the capabilities of Stu and Tom, and which would have been of great interest to the majority of their YouTube viewers.

[BiTurbo228]

On 3/28/2024 at 12:52 PM, John Bonnett said:

Thank you all of you for your kind words which are very welcome and always give a boost to the old motivation particularly at a time of the year when energy levels can be on the low side.

I'm taking a break from panel work and will be concentrating on the bonnet supporting frame and the hinges. I have a very high regard for the young Canadian who is showcasing his GT6 restomod on his Youtube channel and I'm hoping to copy his design for the bonnet hinge arrangement. I have sourced the same hinges which are double acting, very compact and light being made from aluminium. The clever thing about his installation is that it prevents bonnet twist as both hinges operate as one thanks to the interconnecting round tube. The clever bit is mounting them in the optimum position so that the bonnet opens fully. I'll let you know how it goes.

Haha interesting to see this catching on as it was me that came up with it! The video clip at 1:19 is yours truly some 6 years ago.

I do think he's done it much better though (unsurprisingly considering the quality of his work). Both tying them together, and angling the hinges upwards in their resting position which helps lift them over the bumper rather then pushing the bonnet through it.

Really I'm just chuffed I've helped contribute something to Triumph posterity 

[John Bonnett]

22 hours ago, BiTurbo228 said:

Haha interesting to see this catching on as it was me that came up with it! The video clip at 1:19 is yours truly some 6 years ago.

I do think he's done it much better though (unsurprisingly considering the quality of his work). Both tying them together, and angling the hinges upwards in their resting position which helps lift them over the bumper rather then pushing the bonnet through it.

Really I'm just chuffed I've helped contribute something to Triumph posterity 

Yes it was your idea and a great one at that. He did acknowledge you in an earlier video if I remember correctly. The round tube and box section have just arrived and I'm looking forward to getting started on the hinges before too long.

[John Bonnett]

Sadly, I could make the Bemer hinges work for me. No matter in what position I placed them, they clashed with either the grilled frame or the chassis on opening. It was a shame because they are nice hinges, light and well thought out and I had spent a lot of hours working on them before deciding they had no future on my car.

So, I designed my own which have actually worked out very nicely, fully adjustable in all three directions and allow all the movement we need.

Along with the bonnet frame which supports the skin which is underway, parallel work is also taking place on the interior with the Dynamat going in and the mountings for the interior light and the sun visors.