1963 Jaguar E-Type OTS
The story of a ground up restoration of a classic "XKE" Jaguar roadster

Bonnet Metal Reassembled (1 - 4 May 2003)

 
Navigation
RESTORATION JOURNAL
PHOTOS & PARTS
PAINT INFO & CODES
USEFUL RESOURCES
TERMS & CONDITIONS
c h r o n o l o g i c a l
g u i d e

> Year 1   Year 2 <
> Year 3   Year 4 <
> Year 5   Year 6 <
> Year 7   Year 8 <
> Year 9   Year 12 <

fetching & dismantling
sandblasting & evil rust
right "b" pillar
fixing right inner sill
basic body repair, por-15
frame removed, footwell repair
hole fixed, car flipped, etc.
sill stiffeners, rear bulkhead, etc.
various small parts
left sill, added stiffener, etc.
   - lousy weather
trunk floor (reprise)
right floor, left sill, etc.
left floor, wheel well, etc.
right upper wishbone
floor done, car righted
rack, front frame, evil rust
left door cleaned & fitted
right door, right suspension
bonnet, part 1
bonnet, part 2
bonnet, part 3
bonnet, part 4
bonnet, part 5, etc.
bonnet, part 6
bonnet, outer sill, etc.
lots of stuff
left side, bonnet internals
frame, bonnet attached
engine stand, oil pan removal
pistons removed, sanding
sanding, final filling
color, frames, primer
brushed primer test
2nd coat primer
holiday greetings!
finish prep, detail on dent fix
spraying primer
winter chores
  1. undercoat, plating prep
  2. plating, spraying color
bonnet, plate prep, cylinder head
cylinder head paint, bushes
plating saga
front frame, suspension, part 1
front suspension, part 2
front suspension, part 3
priming and painting
bonnet, part 7
painting color!
boot lid, steering wheel
gas tank
winter chores
  1. firewall sundry
  2. front suspension
  3. steering setup
  4. master cylinders/pedals
  5. the rest
data plate screed
winter to spring
  1. irs rebuild
  2. trunk floor, harness
  3. data plate (again)
data plate, door, headlights
dash vinyl, crosshatch aluminum
windshield, right door
interior, "widget"
chrome parts!
door handle details
rolling chassis
molasses rust removal
electrical, part 1
bores, thrust washers
new engine!
head differences
block differences
compression ratio
engine in place!
alternator
catchup & photos
it runs!
setback and brakes
darned close & engine diffs
driven
top and seats
driving and little stuff

Bonnet Metal Reassembled

The goal for the week and the weekend was to get the metalwork on the bonnet to the point where we could put the external sections together. We needed to get to that point in order to move toward the more detailed banging and pushing. We have indeed come a long way from the beginning, where Bondo was thick and sheet metal was visible. But we have not achieved what's needed. The metal itself is now sound, though we do have a few gaps to repair. The severe corrosion on the nose has been removed and reinforced, either by cutting out the offending section and replacing it with new metal (as on the left wing and the lower "lip" of the mouth) or by removing rust and reinforcing with an inside plate of metal (as with the upper "lip" of the mouth and a few small sections on the lower part of the bonnet assembly).

The various sections of the bonnet's external sections are fitted together with tabs that are attached with bolts and special "oval washers." These tabs we completely replaced on the foremost sections, and we are reinforcing the tabs running from the front to the back of the bonnet, at the junction of the two wings and the center section. Replacement of the tabs on the front was tedious, since it involved welding tabs to the section itself and then shaping a flat piece of sheet metal to fit over the tabs. We probably overdid it a little, since the tabs are now two thicknesses of metal in part. Also, we made the tabs almost twice their original width — I wanted to make sure that we had sufficient metal to drill and manipulate for the attachments.

The nose itself is almost correct. The areas at the center do not quite make the grade, and there will still have to be some gross shaping before we can resort to the final tapping and eventual body filling. It's funny, but you really need to have the external sections together to see even the gross imperfections, since the pieces visually act as a whole. When the lower bonnet section was apart from the rest of the bonnet's pieces, I could tell something was not right, but after fitting that section to the rest it became very apparent what needed to be pulled and pounded.

The mouth of the bonnet is extremely difficult to "get right" — probably because it is such a focal point for the body. It is extremely easy to get wrong. The pictures here show that the mouth is a little curled back still. I estimate that some sections need to go forward another centimeter or so.

The timekeepers among visitors to this web page might be interested to hear that my original estimate of 60 hours for metalwork on the bonnet looks a bit too conservative, even though I thought that it was a bit rich when I originally sketched out the estimate. A lot of that underestimation comes from the "getting right" of the bonnet mouth. That seems an elusive goal, especially since the shaping of the metal is much more easily done when everything is apart and (unfortunately) the assessment of the shape is best done when everything is together.