Bonnet hinge refitting

[Grrrmachine]

This is driving me mad. I take the hinge off for an engine bay respray, and now I can't get it back on.

I can see which way round the hinge fits, and I can see where the metal tabs bolt to the slam panel. But there are four tabs (two inner, two outer) and an inner length of thick wire acting as a spring. I can't work out how you make the spring fit inside the hinge area of the slam panel without making massive gouges in the paintwork. And I'm not sure if the hooked ends of the wire go through holes in the slam panel or not (if they do, I'm fooked if I can see how).

Any tips?

[jmc330i]

If I'm looking at the right bit, nothing goes through the slam panel, its all contained in the bracket itself that bolts to the panel... give me 5 mins.

[jmc330i]

Pics, 1000 words etc etc....


I think this is the hole you're talking about? (driverside)


You can see the spring/wire here (passenger side was cleaner lol)...


And the end of the spring/wire poking back through the 'outer' part of the bracket...

[Grrrmachine]

That's absolutely awesome, thankyou. Seems its just a matter of using brute force to compress the spring wire in there.

Cheeeeeeeeeers!