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1984 R4 Bonnet Strength

A

alewis

Enthusiast
Messages
561
Hi,
I am in the process of preping the last few bits of my R4 for paint and have a long running problem.

The bonnet is not very strong ! When the cat sits on the left hand side of the bonnet about half way along it "pops" down which then requires me to open the bonnet to "pop" it back up. :shock:

My 2 ideas at the moment are:
Add Strengtheners to the bonnet in the problem area - only issue is how to connect them on.

Or

Pop the affected area down then fill it to the correct level - not as nice but feels like a more permanent solution ?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Regards,
Andrew
 
I have exactly the same problem in exactly the same place on my bonnet, my thoughts were to use some adhesive matting under the bonnet to quieten the noises down and add strength to this part of the car.
 
My bonnet also dents in the same place. There is damage to the swage line adjacent to where it pops and I thought that was the reason. I'm thinking sound-deadening panels also would do the trick.
 
alewis said:
Hi,
Pop the affected area down then fill it to the correct level - not as nice but feels like a more permanent solution ?
Click to expand...

Fairly certain that the filler would just pop out at some point in the future tbh.

As long as you don't have an especially heavy cat then it shouldn't do any actual damage though, sound absorbing matting might help but otherwise I think you'd just have to live with it.
 
The bonnet is fairly flat and the first time someone sits on it the metal gets stretched slightly and it oil cans (takes very little force to change it from un-dented to dented).

If you are considering paint look at metal shrinking before the filler - done using a gas welder and a shrinking hammer.

Panel damping might help a bit. The stuff with silver facing (constrained layer) is stiffer than the black stuff. People making aluminium cars use a proper stiffening material that looks the same but needs a paint oven to go hard. Hear gun would probably work too, but I'm not sure where it could be sourced.
 
It's why our loveable cars are called...... (wait for it .....)

:hug: 'CAT'relles

Bet Clementine agrees!


Sorreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
 
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