Bonnet pins... Which way looks best?

[karaokebykris]

Fitted some bonnet pins to my track car.

Question is which way should i have the clips?

Different bonnet will be fitted (black) as current one has a couple of big dents in it. Drilled the holes in this one to get them right and not destroy a good bonnet (lacerated my fingers in the process! Doh!)

Your brain tells you not to touch the sharp steel but the fingers do anyway!

Anyway

Vertical like this??



Or Horizontal like this one??

[SDM]

i shall be doing my pins horizontal at the weekend.

[buster]

I think vertical.Thats the way i have some on my offroader.
Its easier to open as you can pull both at the same time towards you to open.When they are horizontal you have to do one at a time.
Also i think they look better vertical.

[racecar]

karaokebykris
vertical - can you upload a pic of engine bay where you located pins? - fitting mine one night this week - thanks

[SDM]

karaokebykris
vertical - can you upload a pic of engine bay where you located pins? - fitting mine one night this week - thanks

cant view the pics from work but there is a helpful shot on this page im sure...

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3079764

[nickso]

karaokebykris
vertical - can you upload a pic of engine bay where you located pins? - fitting mine one night this week - thanks

cant view the pics from work but there is a helpful shot on this page im sure...

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3079764

that shows where they go ok. i think they look best vertical.

what holds the back of the bonnet on though?

also is it normal for race cars to have the roll cage triangulated through the bulkhead to connect the passenger footwell and nearside top mount?

sorry for going off topic

edit: i just read the thread.....its instead of a stut brace.

[e30_Turbo]

what holds the back of the bonnet on though?

The standard top catches will still hold the bonnet on if you pin it

And only the proper roll cages go from strut to strut through the bulkhead etc

HTH, Mark

[karaokebykris]

Racecar

These are the holes i used on the front panel nearside was a perfect fit for the pin but the offside needed slight alteration.



and here is a quick pic of them fitted and finished




Anyone guess what I made the front spoiler from?

[racecar]

karaokebykris - thanks for pic - i have 3 for front so i'll use probably use location in the pic posted by nickso:



shame i don't have the rest of the car to match the bonnet pins on that DTM beast!

thanks for your help guys - i am off home to get the drill out

[snoops]

id say vertical.

[SDM]

now i can see the pics im going vertical lol

thing is i'm gonna have all three at the front so would look more uniform.

[munky30]

Ok this is going to sound really dumb....

But why do you need bonnet pins? These bonnets open 'backwards', so no chance of it popping open, and surely losing the bonnet catch cant save you more than a few grams of weight, so what purpose do they serve?

[nickso]

quite a heavy bracket and stuff that holds the bonnet on though

[SDM]

Ok this is going to sound really dumb....

But why do you need bonnet pins? These bonnets open 'backwards', so no chance of it popping open, and surely losing the bonnet catch cant save you more than a few grams of weight, so what purpose do they serve?

cos no-one replied to my bonnet thread and the fcuker wont close lol

and as said above the pop up mechanism should shave off a few kgs

[handpaper]

Ok this is going to sound really dumb....

But why do you need bonnet pins? These bonnets open 'backwards', so no chance of it popping open, and surely losing the bonnet catch cant save you more than a few grams of weight, so what purpose do they serve?

Bonnet pins allow you to quickly take the bonnet completely off, giving much better access to the engine, particularly at the front.

[munky30]

White m3 - hadnt occured to me that the pop up mechanism as well as the catch would be removed

Handpaper - That makes sense, these bonnets may look good opening backwards, and are safer if a catch fails... but they're a pain when you're working on the engine.

[march109]

I don't like the look of onnet pins but can see thier use.

and IIRC the catch is avalable new from the stealers from around £15 with the cable, in the meantime to open the bonnet you need a torch and a long reach flathead screwdriver, and poke around behind the offside high beam where there is a gap in the grill, sometimes though once you get the bonnet open you merely need to tighten the catch (or oil it if you haven't in a while) to get it to work again!

[SDM]

my catch is lubed, it works when i remove the bonnet and just try the mechanism...

we spent a few hours playing with it when i picked up the car and i spent most of friday trying to sort it out too and i've lost patience!!

bonnet pins are part of the look i'm going for just a bit drastic to drill 3 big holes in my new toy... i guess she had it coming!!


good point about the bonnet being the wrong way round being safer if it fails, mine was held on by cable ties and popped open at the weekend when i was doing three figure speeds (kph )

[munky30]

I've had it happen to me in a mini. Was doing about 85 on the dual carriageway and suddenly the bonnet popped up, shattered the windscreen all over me, scared the bejeezus out of me. Luckily it was night time and I managed to stop without killing myself or anyone else but it was a terrifying experience.