Bonnet hinge modification

[cass3958]

Several years ago when I was rebuilding my S Type I remember seeing an article on a guy who had modified his bonnet hinges on a MK2 so when he opened the bonnet it lifted in to an almost vertical position. I cannot find information of this now so is there anyone out there who can point me in the right direction please. Getting tired of having to remove my bonnet everytime I want to work on something at the rear of the engine. I know its not original but I have a spare set of hinges I could modify if I can find some more information on how he did it.

[Jose]

it was my friend Lynn Crook of Lebanon Tennessee who did these hinges.

I found a buyer for his wonderful MK2, a guy in New Jersey. The whereabouts of the car is unknown to me, I think he resold it.

I asked Lynn for drawings or specs of the hinges to make them for my S type. At the time of selling the car, Lynn had become ill and could not do anything. Last time I asked him was in 2014 and he said he could not find any paperwork on the hinges.

All I have is pictures of the car and of the hinges.

you can possibly make them from the pictures. If you do, make a set for me. Thank you!

[Jose]

here you go.
The last picture is Lynn and the Mrs., very fine people.
Lynn is an aviation engineer, lived in Alaska and did crop dusting flying, where they fly 12 feet from the ground.
Last I heard he was restoring a 1930s airplane engine.

01-special-hood-hinges.JPG (149.06 KiB) Viewed 3505 times

02-special-hood-hinges.JPG (205.63 KiB) Viewed 3505 times

03-special-hood-hinges.JPG (183.04 KiB) Viewed 3505 times

04-Lynn-MK2.JPG (223.19 KiB) Viewed 3505 times

05-Lynn-and-Mrs-MK2.jpg (155.59 KiB) Viewed 3505 times

[cass3958]

Thanks Jose that I think is the one I saw. I should be able to replicate the hinges from the photos and I will be sure to make a set for you. I think the bonnet would be very heavy to lift with these hinges as the original has a large spring to assist so I might have to add a couple of the gas filled telescopic boot props you can buy these days to assist with the weight and to stop it from falling back down in a hurry.
I will have a good think about it and let you know how I get on.

[Jose]

the Mk2 has the same springs, Lynn eliminated them.

the special hinge has a lock on the right side hinge which locks the hood in place when at 90 degrees. Similar to the Stay Lock in the XJ-6.

the design itself, some kind of pantograph design, lifts the hood very smoothly without much effort.

the only danger I can anticipate, is if the hood were to come open at speed and became unlocked at the front. You can imagine what would happen.

[Jose]

Cass,
here is another option for 90 degree bonnet hinges, and it is already in our cars.

The rear seat center arm rest. Take a look at the hinging. You pull the arm rest and it comes down to 90 degrees, right?

could the same hinging principle be applied to bonnet hinges?

On the subject of language, Bonnet in spanish is Bonete. In the USA it is Hood. ..?

[cass3958]

We could do this all day Jose. Bonnet/Hood. Boot/Trunk. Pavement/Sidewalk. Drive on the left or the wrong side.. lol.
I have looked at a couple of options here. I have a pair of hinges from a modern BMW with telescopic rams which would work and I also looked at redesigning a new hinge as in your picture but I think I am going to modify the original hinge system. I have a spare set of hinges and I am going to modify this set with an extra hinge mech so the bonnet functions as normal but when I want it vertical so I can get to the back of the engine I can just undo one bolt and tilt the bonnet back rather than removing it completely.
Once I have sorted it out I will post some pictures but I am waiting for my welder to be repaired before I can start.

[DevilDog]

Rob....did you get the hinges done??????

[cass3958]

I have some spare hinges and some ideas but as yet I have not got around to doing it. Maybe in the spring.

[DevilDog]

Understand....looks like a great project. Thanks.