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MG MGB Technical - Readjusting Hood, 'bonnet'

I have a 79 B and when I was younger my father took off the hood to install hood sounddeading material, but he didnt mark where the bolts where when he took off the hood and I have messed around with getting the hood to stay closed for a long time, if driving it, it will pop up but stay catched. My question is, what tried and true ways can I go about getting my hood aligned correctly...

Thanks,
James
James

James,

Sounds like the large "pin" inside the spring at the front of your hood is out of adjustment. This is the bit that catches inside the latch (receptacle) and is released when you pull the hood cable.

If you take a look at the pin, you'll see it has a "slot" cut into it right on the tip. Use a large straight screw driver to adjust the pin. Left-turns to lengthen the pin. There is a locking nut on pin shaft to lock pin in place once set correctly.

What may be happening is the pin lip is just catching on the small latch bar enough to hold the hood closed and then releasing when you drive.

The bolts at the rear of hood won't have much effect on hood staying closed other than helping to get this pin lined up in it's receptacle.

Little trick I learned a while back; when you have your hood lined up correctly, drill a small hole in between the larger bolts on each hinge and insert a small (#10) bolt and nut in this hole. It won't do anything except help you line up the hood hinges next time you need to remove/replace the hood.

When adjusting the hood at the rear, snug up the bolts just tight enough that you can still move the hood when closed to get the seams lined up. Open hood, tighten bolts and off you go!

HTH
Simon
Simon Austin

James,

I had the same problem you're having, and mine was caused by the pin that Simon is talking about being loose. It would catch when sitting still, but vibration while driving would allow the pin to wiggle, and the hood would pop loose. It always popped loose going over a bump. Once I took the play out of it, I haven't had a problem.

John
John English

It's probably a pin problem, as related above, but I have also seen the latch spring lose its 'spring' and no longer hold the latch closed tightly enough. I added a helper spring and solved the 'bump release' problem.

Paul Briggs
Paul Briggs

As an addition to Simon's trick, there were two 1/16" holes through either the arm of the hinge or the attachment point on the hood (can't remember which). After aligning the hood properly, I drilled the holes on through the other part and installed spring pins to act as locating pins. Absolutely no problem whatsoever now in getting the hood replaced properly. Good luck - Dave
David DuBois

Wear on the head of the pin can also cause it to pop open, a 1/4 turn either way will make all the difference to fastening but have negligible effect on height. The pin should also be going into the cup centrally when lowered by holding the bonnet square, and not be wildly off to one side so the cup has to move it into the correct position, this will tend to angle the pin sideways instead of being vertical. The pin should be square to the bonnet as well, of course. Could also be trying to pull the bonnet too far down, against vertical misalignment elsewhere, so the latch in the slam panel can't go fully back into position.
Paul Hunt 2

Thanks guys, Ill try adjusting the pin as mentioned, I dont think there is any wear due to there not being a problem like this before but Ill keep it in mind. I just need to wait for it to get a little warmer and I should be on my way, thanks guys ...
James

This thread was discussed between 15/01/2006 and 17/01/2006

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