Front Bonnet Gap

Post by **David53** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 3:48 am

Having rebuilt my Morrie and back on the road I am now at the stage of sorting all those fiddly little jobs.

One is the front bonnet gap which is too wide. If I screw in the adjuster under the front lip it closes the gap but then the bonnet doesn't lock down securely and will pop up when driving. Having experimented around I find that to get a good tight lock I am forced to have a gap of about 1/2 inch between the top of the grill panel and the bonnet lip.

Do I need to raise the grill panel somehow? Any suggestions?

Post by **tortron** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 3:58 am

i have this gap too

Post by **stag36587** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 11:39 am

Not sure you'll do much better than half-inch gap!

Post by **David53** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:36 am

Looking at old pics the car originally had a much tighter gap, more like less than 1/4" all along. Currently at least half inch

Post by **mike.perry** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 3:46 pm

Only half an inch? That's not bad for a Morris Minor. On the later Morris 1000s the bonnet gap is higher on one side than the other.
You can try screwing the adjuster in the bonnet section of the lock up or down, or you might be able to get a bit of sideways adjustment out of the plate on top of the grill panel

Post by **Sidney'61** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:13 pm

mike.perry wrote:On the later Morris 1000s the bonnet gap is higher on one side than the other.

Any particular reason why?

Post by **d_harris** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:17 pm

not on mine.....

Post by **mike.perry** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:25 pm

Rumoured to be the pressing tools getting old. The gap on the n/s is definately more than the o/s on my '68 Traveller

Post by **alanworland** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:28 pm

Could you not shave a bit off the bonnet stop cushion and even it up a bit?

Post by **aupickup** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:33 pm

nor on mine and its a 69 model

Post by **mike.perry** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:53 am

The front left corner of my bonnet definately sticks up further than the right corner and I'm sure that mine is not the only one

Post by **Sidney'61** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:01 pm

You'll need to examine a few cars that havent been restored, I imagine most restorers will try to correct it.

Post by **MarkyB** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:46 pm

The twist in the bonnets might be caused simply by being opened many times over the years.
It is quite difficult not to "over open" the bonnet which eventually leads to the cross member detaching.

Post by **mike.perry** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:53 pm

This calls for a photo gallery of bonnet gaps!!

Post by **aupickup** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:54 pm

well you can see mine from the photo in my sig

Post by **PSL184** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:32 pm

Here's mine

Post by **David53** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 12:22 pm

OK, well here's the gap on mine. It looks better in these pics than real life. And don't ask me why the colour looks so different.....

Post by **David53** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 12:25 pm

I should mention that the radiator mounting panel is a slightly different green - We forgot to spray it when doing the bodywork so I had to use a spray can...the green is a bit too bright

Post by **les** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:36 pm

should mention that the radiator mounting panel is a slightly different green

that would explain the gap!

Post by **mike.perry** » Sun Jul 19, 2009 5:09 pm

Here is my bonnet gap on the Traveller, must get some proper primer on the fibreglass bumper valance.