Hunter - Poor fit between bonnet halves and side-panels

[gouldsborough7]

I am trying to get rid of unnecessary rattles and vibration tremors, especially noticeable at low revs in a high gear.

One culprit on my Hunter is the poor design of the factory-assembly, where each bonnet half is locked onto the ventilated side-panels. On what was a very expensive factory-built car in 1998, this detail is very poor and flimsy. I guess the design was aimed at being lightweight, but each side-panel is only held in place by 4 tiny allen bolts, with no stiffening or reinforcement, and the bonnet halves are very thin and have no sound-deadening or other padding.

It probably doesn't help that there is no rubber trim along either of the metal edges of the side of each bonnet half, and nothing along the corresponding area on top of the ventilated side-panels. So that apart from the cheap-looking lock, there is nothing to stop this whole assembly vibrating.

I've checked out Woolies and CBS catalogues, who both supply various rubber trims and edgings, but cannot make up my mind what might do the job. Also, I am tempted to buy some of CBS Soundmat pads, or Woolies insulation and stick it on the underside of the bonnet, but this might end up as an expensive waste of time.

Has anybody arrived at any useful improvements to this area? I would appreciate your ideas.

Cheers
Mike

[greyV8pete]

Re: Hunter - Poor fit between bonnet halves and side-panels

Hi Mike.
My Hunter has a strip of black self adhesive memory type foam approx 12 x 5 mm along the top of each side panel. When the lock is operated the bonnet pulls down onto this and it all becomes quite snug. There is also some thin (approx 1mm) rubber type tape strip glued to the top of the radiator cowl and along the rear glass fibre engine bulkhead for the bonnet to rest on. My R/H panel is futher weakened by a cut out to clear the edge of the servo but when locked is still quite rigid. On mine there are also two "clips" per each bonnet side, one front and one rear that locate over the upstand on the side panels. These are a fiddle to locate when closing the bonnet but they do nicely locate the front and rear edges of the panels to the bonnet edge. If you don't have these let me know and I will post photos. Peter.

[chris_cussen]

Re: Hunter - Poor fit between bonnet halves and side-panels

When I built my cabrio I didn't bother with the locks on the bonnet. I thought that there wasn't much under there to nick except the battery.
Anyway I used a strip of thin rubber (Marlin supplied) on the radiator cowel and the rear bulkhead and IVA compliant rubber bonnet catches from Car Builder Solutions (ref #BNLCH). Evreything pulls down nice and tight. No rattles or shakes at any speed.

[gouldsborough7]

Re: Hunter - Poor fit between bonnet halves and side-panels

Thanks Guys
Sorry for delay in replying - BT pulled the plug on my telephone line (for no reason), and everything has been on hold while they get around to fixing it. That's another story, and you don't want to go there! In conclusion, BT are an absolute shower (to keep it all polite)!!!!!!!! Without my Broadband connection, would you believe I am having to write this note on a mate's PC?
As I mentioned above, I've been checking out the various rubber strips, but couldn't make up my mind which to buy. My Hunter only has the locks (one on each side) to hold down the bonnet halves, with no other clips, tapes, rubber strips or whatever. Amazing for a car that cost the original owner over £21k in 1998! I'll do a bit more searching, and let you know the outcome.
One problem that probably doesn't help is that the engine is inclined to vibrate at certain revs. There's a flat-spot at around 2000rpm, not so bad if accelerating beyond this point, but a nuisance if coasting along in traffic. I've been putting off a visit to a tune-up shop to rectify this. It's an injection engine - had it been a carburettor one, I could probably have tweaked it myself. Could be the engine mounting rubbers need new ones?

Thanks for your info
Mike

[gouldsborough7]

Re: Hunter - Poor fit between bonnet halves and side-panels

Guys
Just a quick follow-up. I bought some D-section tubing/trim from CBS. Its the type that has a peel off strip, revealing a sticky surface beneath, and measures 8mm wide x 6mm high. It took no time to fit it, but of course there was a snag (as always!) - I had to do some filing to the locking arrangement on both bonnets halves, as they now sit just a fraction higher than before. There is no problem with the external appearance, everything lines up OK, just lots of experimenting with the locking bits was needed!
Good company CBS, the trim arrived in less than 24hours (bought some miniature files while I was in the mood).

Cheers
Mike