Bonnet Fitting ........

...... Or hood if you're reading this in that big place where they almost - but not quite - speak English.

So you get the bonnet & pop it on the car right? Well, no. there's a LOT of fitting to do. First I cut the holes & fitted the lights, then I tried the bonnet on the car. The fit was better than last time, but there's still a choice between a small(ish) panel gap at the back, & clearance for the wheels at the front. You can't have both. If I wanted it easy I'd have built a Caterham.

I wrestled the bonnet into position & cut away the internal structure that fouls the hinge frame, then drilled the bonnet & bolted the hinge frame arms on, then cut away more of the internal structure so the bonnet would actually hinge. It needs to come off again so I can do the final clearancing & grease the hinges, but it's almost there.

After that I set about the wiring, changing it slightly from the previous incarnation to simplify the wiring route.

Next was cutting the sides for the aero-catches& trimming the bonnet flange, then stiffening it again with an alloy bracket. I started with a large "sighting hole" to make sure I was in the right area, then marked the catch profile & chain drilled the hole to suite. The latching isn't as good as it was before, partly because the bonnet is more flared than the old one, maybe making it from thicker GRP makes it "spring" when it leaves the mould? Anyway that's done now, just needs a little adjustment I hooked up the wiring & tested the lights - all OK, then I had to stop as I was bushed & making silly mistakes. Would you believe I've spent TWO DAYS on this? & there's probably still another day to do.