I paid entirely too much and waited entirely too long to get my '66 MGB back from the body guy. (Translation: I got ripped off.) The bonnet (hood) was slightly flattened at some point – not by the body guy, but he did nothing to restore the curvature. So the bonnet doesn’t fit right. I went to a local shop a couple of years ago just to have them look at it. They took a few minutes to put a 4x4 in the middle and a couple of guys put their weight on the ends. It didn’t work. But this was just a cursory thing since they were only having a quick look.
Is there any way I can restore the curvature myself? Maybe do what they did, but more forcefully? I’d rather not spend $1,500 for a British Motor Heritage aluminum bonnet, plus shipping and painting.
Well, I think you can get an English Wheel from Harbour Freight. Then learn to use it. How much of a hurry are you in? Or shit, just watch some English Wheel videos on the you tube and come up with a cheap alternative. I bet you can do it.
I bought a manual tire changer on a whim years ago (would tear up Jeep tires pretty regular, and have lots of other cars), and have spent the last 20 years mastering it. Haven’t paid for a tire install in years. Shit happens…
How annoying. Is the top flattened or is the flat spot on the front or sides? Got a pic? I just happen to live with a guy who did that sort of thing for a living, he’s feeling better and is more alert. I will ask him about this if you want.
No pic. I’ll try to get one today. It looks like it must have been put on the ground, and then something heavy got put on the ‘fairing’ that goes to the grill badge. As a result, the corners of the front of the hood were spread out.
My ex brother in law is a body shop guy and those guys could work magic. Do we have any body shop guys/gals here? IANAE
Without seeing pictures I am guessing it can be done. It’s a matter of learning what the needed body shop tricks are.
It’s also knowing the limit, the boundary, between what is possible and what is not with that metal. Oh and about metal, is it an aluminum hood? The material will determine the what and the how for what can be done here, or not.
You know, I haven’t seen a Triumph Spitfire in a looooong time. I take pictures of interesting cars I spot out ‘in the wild’. No dealerships or car shows, that doesn’t count.
I’ll check my phone photo album but I don’t think I have a picture of one. Which means I haven’t seen one in 6+ years.
I just checked and, sure enough, I haven’t seen a Spitfire. I’ve seen TR6s, TR7s, TR8s and even a TR3, but no Spitfires. Here is a small sample of the over 3,100 photos I have, including a Sunbeam Tiger, two tracked pickup trucks in the Alaska snow, and Craig Vetter himself riding his bike.
The right side doesn’t look too bad, but the driver’s side is quite a bit off. (I really need to remove the license plate. I have a collector’s plate now, and I can replace the front one with a replica of the one my first MGB had.)
I would guess a competent body shop could fix that, no sweat. I know a couple guys in the vintage auto restoration business in Seattle that could do it, but I almost guarantee at their rates they’d cost more than the replacement part.
The vintage place in Bellingham made a cursory attempt to curve it when I was there, as I said. When they talked about more aggressive measures that would require body filler, I lost confidence.
