Nose Cone and Bonnet

At the end of my last post, I was not too happy about the fitting of the bonnet and nose cone.  I raised a post on the RHOCaR forum and got some useful help and advice.  Apparently, there is a new nose cone on the newer cars that fits as it should but I wasn't about to drop a few hundred pounds to get one.  First I had to see if I could resolve the issue myself.

First job was to try and establish some sort of datum to work from.  The only way to do this was to fit the bonnet without the nose cone and clamp it in place so I could see how high the nose cone needed raising.  I did this with the use of a couple of clamps as can be seen in the picture below.

Once secure, I re-fitted the nose cone using the bottom fixing only.  I worked out it needed to be raised by about 8mm to 10mm each side.  The only problem was I was doing this on my own so how to actually do it and hold it in place was another problem to overcome.  I made use of some cardboard strips and taped them together to make a block.  I started with 2 pieces and then went to 3.  I wedged them in un the sides of hte nose cone by the headlamp brackets and this was sufficient to raise the nose to the right point.  Some judicious use of masking tape and a pen and I was able to mark where the nose cone needed to be.  I was able to then remove the nose cone, un-clamp the bonnet and remove it before replacing the nose cone, resting on the cardboard blocks.  I then simply drilled new holes for the fixing bolts.  Below you can see the amount the nose has been raised.  By the time it has trim on it, it won't be so apparent.

With the nose now fitted and secure it was time to re-fit the bonnet and fit the catches to hold the bonnet on.  I devised a little guide tool to help me get the holes on the right place and also to make sure the catches were all positioned the same.

It was a simple job of marking the holes, drilling, removing the plastic covering and then riveting the catches in to place.  With all four done, it looks like this.

And from the other side.

I still have the edge trim to put on to it and some rubber strip, but I am reasonably happy with the finished result.

Next job will be to go round the car and start making a list of all the jobs that still need to be done.  There is still plenty to do but it will be good to start ticking things off so I can see how much closer I am getting to the end of the build.