On Mon, 30 Mar 1998, THOM JONES wrote:
> 1979 spitfire will not let me lift its bonnet, all of a sudden.
> Charged battery Saturday afternoon. Closed
> bonnet, went for ride, put it away. Today left side of bonnet will
> not budge. Right side free. Feels
> like it is jammed in the area of the left bonnet lever, but I removed
> the screws holding the lever, which is
> now free, and bonnet still jammed.
Some off-the-wall thoughts: perhaps the rubber "buffer" cone, or remnants
thereof, have jammed? Similary, some later "Federal" Spitfires have a
sort of arrangement of "not-quite" latches that are supposed to keep the
rear of the bonnet from flying up and into the windshield during a
frontal impact. Perhaps the LHS one has jammed?
Some equally off-the-wall possible solutions: gently pull out the fender
in the area of the now-loose latch TOWARDS YOU, then, using the wheel
arch, try wiggling and pulling the bonnet up on that side. Another
thought is, if possible, remove the front bumper overriders so you can
loosen the front bonnet hinge pivot brackets and maybe try to slide the
whole bonnet back and forth just a bit, then see if it will lift up.
I'd opt for the first solution. Within reason, a couple of sharp tugs
might be enough to free whatever is hanging up the bonnet.
Good luck!
--Andy
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* 10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Consultant *
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