Hood fitment on the MkIII

[skullandbones]

I am ready to mount the hood on the hinges but have had a hard time accepting the idea of using rivets for the mounting. I would like to have an additional point to fine adjust with bolts of some kind. Also, it would be good to be able to remove the hood if need be. Has anyone used jack bolts or revnuts or some other sort of fastner to accomplish this? I thought this was going to be an easier task but now I'm not so sure. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you, WEK.

[David Hodgkins]

The rivets are only to mount the rod pin bracket and the top part of the hood hinge, correct? You will have the adjustability you need using the bolts that mount the hinge to the frame. Am I missing something?

:)

[skullandbones]

David,

Yeah, that's what I thought. But I wanted to have bolts into the hood instead of rivets. Maybe if I used stainless steel rivets, I would be more confident about them. Right now, I don't like the idea of mounting it with rivets. WEK.

[David Hodgkins]

I'll take pics when I get home so you can see how mine is set up

:)

[michael everson]

I used 10-32 stainless screws to secure it. FFR puts metal in that area that you can tap into. Mine is very secure. If it ever fails, you can still drill it out for 3/16 rivets.
Mike

[edwardb]

Lots of guys rivet it on successfully, just like the instructions say. I chose to bond mine with HSRF before paint. Roughed up the brackets and the contact areas on the hood until the glass was showing. Then bonded with HSRF. The rivets clamp them place while the HSRF sets up. The brackets were painted along with the underside of the hood. Nice and clean and they're not going anywhere.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Exactly what Edward said! You can even add a couple of additional holes for the HSRF to ooze/bite into for extra grip:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_2423.jpg

Be careful with the length of the rivets---too long and they'll "reverse divot" the top side of the hood (not that I'm speaking from personal experience or anything :p)

Jeff

[skullandbones]

Thanks, David.


Mike, you said you tapped the metal buried under the fiberglass mounting pad. When you did that, it must have given you enough "purchase" with the tap to feel confident to use the screws. Did you have to use a special tap with the minimal amount of clearance between the outer surface of the hood and the inner liner? I would like to try this method first. Like you said, you have other backups if that doesn't work.

Edwardb and Jeff, when you painted the hood did you paint all components of the hinge to match or just the part that is "permanently" mounted to the hood? And also did you do bodywork to mold the hinge bracket into the hood? I guessing that when you attach it to the hood with the HSRF, it's there for life and the bodywork would be solid (no cracking issues).

Thanks for great pic and your advice as usual. WEK.

[Jeff Kleiner]

...when you painted the hood did you paint all components of the hinge to match or just the part that is "permanently" mounted to the hood? And also did you do bodywork to mold the hinge bracket into the hood?

For finishing I drilled the rivets out then used Rage to kind of radius the bracket to the hood and fill the additional holes. Afterward I reinstalled rivets to supplement the HSRF and painted. Although this photo was not shot to focus on it you can kinda' see the bracket and get the idea.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_3158.jpg

I think the owner has 6 or 7,000 miles on the car and there is no cracking or other issues.

Cheers,
Jeff

[skullandbones]

Jeff,

That's kind of what I envisioned. That looks very professional and custom finish. I would like to get mine on the road with the simple solution (screws) and then when I take the body off for painting, I can reinstall the hinges with the upgraded look. I have been reminded that I am delaying the registration and driving by adding little mods here and there. It's fun but does drag out the process. Thanks again from everyone for the constructive guidance!!! WEK.

[edwardb]

Mine looks very similar to Jeff's. I didn't do anything special with the finish. When I bonded it with HSRF, once it squeezed out, I just went around it with my finger and left a small filet of the HSRF. The regular paint filler, primer, etc. did the rest. Almost looks molded into the hood. I understand about scope creep, and what it does to the schedule. But this isn't something that should take any longer, and it will never come off. Once everything is all fitted, leave the hinges in place. Just pull the two bolts holding the hinges to the hood bracket to remove the hood. Complete paint, and reverse to put it back. If you get the body back on in the same place, the hood should be already adjusted. Mine required very little tweaking during final assembly.

To answer the other part of your question, I powder coated the rest of the hinge pieces same as all the aluminum panels and frame. No signs of any cracking, and I don't expect any.

Double click the thumbnail to zoom into this picture and you can see both sides.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%20Mark%203%20Roadster%20Build/Finished/th_IMG_1531.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%20Mark%203%20Roadster%20Build/Finished/?action=view&current=IMG_1531.jpg)

[michael everson]

No special tap needed. Theres enough room in there for 1/2 long screws. Just go easy.
Mike

[skullandbones]

Thanks Mike.

Edwardb: that's an extremely "clean" engine bay. Nice work! WEK.

[skullandbones]

I can't believe it but as long as I have had this hood sitting in the garage and as many times as I have examined it, I forgot it had been pre-drilled at FFR. So I have not checked yet but expect those holes to be 3/16 for the rivets. I hope I can still tap them but will have to go slightly larger. That should be OK, I think. I could have sworn that there were just awl marks on the fiberglass surface to drill but I must have gotten that image in my head from pics on the forum or looking at the manual. Crazy! WEK.