Bonnet Storage Idea...

[Paul T]

I've always found the bonnet a pain in the a$$ as I'm terrified of damaging it when it's off and I'm working on the engine etc. In the past I've put it on the garage floor, on the lawn or awkwardly balanced it on the trans tunnel.

 

I know some people have built some clever wooden frames to go between windscreen and roll bar which I considered, but didn't want to have to store something else in my already packed single garage - this may be something I've just been missing but I had the idea to just hang it up with paracord on the bonnet catches....which works a treat! might be useful for someone else...

 

 

 

At the moment it's just hanging on screws but to be doubly secure I'm going to put some hooks up (just hope I don't forget and open the garage door in a rush from the outside 😁

 

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Dangled my bonnet from the garage ceiling, so that it was out of the way, otherwise it used to be the same round of leaving it on the lawn etc.

 

Might fit some more permanent hooks, in time, even pondered getting one of those cargo nets you can buy, for stopping things sliding round in car boots!

[Jim RS]

So where's the Mother-in-law going to stay when she visits lol?

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

That's what garden sheds are for!

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

On reflection, that's a terrible idea, so...

 

2 minutes ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

That's what garden  neighbours sheds are for!

 

[Jim RS]

6 hours ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

On reflection, that's a terrible idea, so...

 

 

I would do that but I like my neighbours😁

[tex]

One thing to watch for with it being fibreglass deformation. Mine can get wider if it's not supported for a few days or so. I put a thick wire support from one catch to the other holding it at the same width. You can stand it front down on the rear deck if your car has a lip. Leaning against the roll cage /bar if fitted. 

I put mine on a carpet central in the garage.. Won't miss that... Out the way, then fell right on it putting big crack in it... Hmmm. fixed now though. Where ever you put it it needs to be out the way! And out the wind

[Jim RS]

And out of the way of the doors, my power door had a hissy fit and decided to operate on it's own - came into garage with it merrily humming away crushing the bonnet, puff of smoke later and had to get scissor jack on door to lift if off. Amazingly survives with only a few stress crack, surprising how strong fibre glass is🤔

[tex]

1 hour ago, Snags said:

And out of the way of the doors, my power door had a hissy fit and decided to operate on it's own - came into garage with it merrily humming away crushing the bonnet, puff of smoke later and had to get scissor jack on door to lift if off. Amazingly survives with only a few stress crack, surprising how strong fibre glass is🤔

After I fell on it... Fixed now tho... 

[Paul T]

6 hours ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

 

Might fit some more permanent hooks, in time, even pondered getting one of those cargo nets you can buy, for stopping things sliding round in car boots!

Cargo net on ceiling is a good shout, can even make your own to spec with a reel of paracord

 

 

[Jim RS]

14 hours ago, tex said:

After I fell on it... Fixed now tho... 

I think I saw your thread on the repair, how easy/successful was it?

[tex]

1 hour ago, Snags said:

I think I saw your thread on the repair, how easy/successful was it?

Yea, it was a tricky one.. The natural tendency of the cover broken is to open wider. So to help keep its shape I embedded steel bar with PU adhesive behind the vertical lip. Once dried and settled the top face was to be painted anyway... So no repairs required matching coloured resins. To repair the crack /chasm first all loose chips were removed. Then using a v shaped narrow burr in the dremel mill out all over the crack and any surrounding hairline cracks so the crack then became shallow walled rather than vertical walled. This gives a longer distance for bonding. Before any resin is mixed I cut multiple layers of fibreglass sheets cut to fit the hole shape but not bigger than the hole as when set and you've to sand it smooth you don't want strands sticking out! Wet the area with your resin using a sacrificial brush, lay one mat. Dab it in. Lay, dab, lay dab, top off with resin. In this instance I had to hold the resin in place with a "forming" strip of metal. Held on the edge as resin would run out of the hole. Once sets and back with 150 grit. Let it sit for few days to go properly hard. Fill and sand with filler, prime with plastic primer (I just used rattle cans) Dries quickly and sand between coats with 1200 grit and use water to avoid clogging the paper which will scratch if it does.

and paint (choice of paint is up to you either 2k colour with hardener or as I used simply because it was an easy to repair in the future white)

Clear coat you've 2 choices really, either

2k clear with isocynates (both the hardener and the actual clear has nasty poison in) or

2k clear without isocynates (just the hardener contains isocynates) so if working from home without the breathing gear... 

 

There is a downside with non isocynate clear I've found out AFTERWARDS Hmmmm it takes a lot longer to go hard, like a week or so and still going off.. Its working but much much slower than the full monty nasty stuff. 

Can you do the repair at home? Hell Yea... I'm no painter, I painted my dax rush with white cell years ago and was happy enough with it. 

 

More tricky colours like metal flakes, sparklescent and flips I'd leave to the experience of a good painter. Still paint... Have a go... It saves a fortune only the cost of the paint. Think I paid about

£60 for celly, thinners

£70 for the clear coat X2 (clear, hardener +thinners

Consumables such as strainers, measuring cups, etc. Not much cost

Spray gun, cheap will cost about £60 - £100 gravity fed. 

You'll need a decent compressor though to keep up with the demand as you spray. Mines I think 14cfm so it should replace into the tank 14cubic feet per minute. 

Set at about 3.5bar to paint... 

The rest is getting used to the gun and getting the right consistency of paint. How do you know though. You can buy little cups with a hole in it, by timing the run out of paint you've got the rate of flow, or guess it... Pretty runny is a reasonable guess. If its like dulux it'll not atomise through the gun. So using thinners you can make it useable 👍

 

... 👍 

[Jim RS]

1 hour ago, tex said:

Yea, it was a tricky one.. The natural tendency of the cover broken is to open wider. So to help keep its shape I embedded steel bar with PU adhesive behind the vertical lip. Once dried and settled the top face was to be painted anyway... So no repairs required matching coloured resins. To repair the crack /chasm first all loose chips were removed. Then using a v shaped narrow burr in the dremel mill out all over the crack and any surrounding hairline cracks so the crack then became shallow walled rather than vertical walled. This gives a longer distance for bonding. Before any resin is mixed I cut multiple layers of fibreglass sheets cut to fit the hole shape but not bigger than the hole as when set and you've to sand it smooth you don't want strands sticking out! Wet the area with your resin using a sacrificial brush, lay one mat. Dab it in. Lay, dab, lay dab, top off with resin. In this instance I had to hold the resin in place with a "forming" strip of metal. Held on the edge as resin would run out of the hole. Once sets and back with 150 grit. Let it sit for few days to go properly hard. Fill and sand with filler, prime with plastic primer (I just used rattle cans) Dries quickly and sand between coats with 1200 grit and use water to avoid clogging the paper which will scratch if it does.

and paint (choice of paint is up to you either 2k colour with hardener or as I used simply because it was an easy to repair in the future white)

Clear coat you've 2 choices really, either

2k clear with isocynates (both the hardener and the actual clear has nasty poison in) or

2k clear without isocynates (just the hardener contains isocynates) so if working from home without the breathing gear... 

 

There is a downside with non isocynate clear I've found out AFTERWARDS Hmmmm it takes a lot longer to go hard, like a week or so and still going off.. Its working but much much slower than the full monty nasty stuff. 

Can you do the repair at home? Hell Yea... I'm no painter, I painted my dax rush with white cell years ago and was happy enough with it. 

 

More tricky colours like metal flakes, sparklescent and flips I'd leave to the experience of a good painter. Still paint... Have a go... It saves a fortune only the cost of the paint. Think I paid about

£60 for celly, thinners

£70 for the clear coat X2 (clear, hardener +thinners

Consumables such as strainers, measuring cups, etc. Not much cost

Spray gun, cheap will cost about £60 - £100 gravity fed. 

You'll need a decent compressor though to keep up with the demand as you spray. Mines I think 14cfm so it should replace into the tank 14cubic feet per minute. 

Set at about 3.5bar to paint... 

The rest is getting used to the gun and getting the right consistency of paint. How do you know though. You can buy little cups with a hole in it, by timing the run out of paint you've got the rate of flow, or guess it... Pretty runny is a reasonable guess. If its like dulux it'll not atomise through the gun. So using thinners you can make it useable 👍

 

... 👍 

No probs with respray although haven't got a decent compressor at present. Owned a Hire company some years ago so had lots of things to pretty up after nice customers had trashed them, biggest being 1 of my 7.5t trucks and a 17m cherry picker. Have extra bodywork in aluminium on car which I have done with rattle cans but paint quality iffy. Just fibre glass to master.

Back to the storage, must admit I've got so much c**p up in every possible roof void that I wouldn't risk putting the bonnet up there especially as any slamming of doors tends to dislodge items. Will be interesting when me and the wife decide to down size, I will need a fleet of grab lorries😨

[Hornet600]

Way to high... 3.5 Bar. You want 25 to 30psi max 1

[tex]

3 hours ago, Hornet600 said:

Way to high... 3.5 Bar. You want 25 to 30psi max 1

Depends on the paints spec sheet. 1.4 nozzle gun