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"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
10/08/2017 at 16:32 • Filed to: spit6

Was trying to find funky double-hinged bonnet mounts to do away with the forward battering rams Spits have and turns out BMW E60 bonnet mounts are both perfect and very cheap :)

Clearance is...somewhat tight against the rad mounts mind you...

DISCUSSION (10)

duurtlang > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
10/09/2017 at 03:03

Well done Simon! I’m looking forward to seeing this piece of artwork in real life during the Wales meet in March!

pip bip - choose Corrour > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
10/09/2017 at 06:14

very good.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > duurtlang
10/09/2017 at 07:19

Might not quite look like artwork at that point (need to prioritise running gear over stuff like paint on the FG panels and interior and suchlike), but it should hopefully be in attendance!

davedave1111 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
10/14/2017 at 08:33

Oooh, swanky. Don’t forget to put some gas-struts in so it doesn’t fall on your head :)

For some reason that video makes me think it’s going to be the subject of one of those ‘before they were famous’ shows/articles in 20 years...

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > davedave1111
10/17/2017 at 12:53

I though about gas struts but all the ones i’ve found so far are strog enough to just punch straight throigh the fibreglass :S

Haha i’m not sure my workmanship is up to scratch for that ;) ambition maybe,but i’m a long way from Speedhunters and the like ;)

davedave1111 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
10/24/2017 at 14:52

“all the ones i’ve found so far are strog enough to just punch straight throigh the fibreglass :S”

Don’t you just put a pad on the end to spread the load? [ETA: I guess you don’t want the bonnet to act like a jack in the box :)]

If you’re having no luck finding car parts puny enough, they use the same things on cupboard doors and stuff.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > davedave1111
10/24/2017 at 19:32

Neat, that might work :)

The issue is mainly that to clear everything else on the bonnet it needs to be a pretty short travel one, which tend to be pretty solid in order to hold up heavy steel bonnets with a sizeable lever arm working on them.

Shall definitely keep my eye out for one though :) I do want at least some sort of check strap going on so it’s not relying on the hinges to stay upright (although it does sit on them well).

davedave1111 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
10/25/2017 at 07:40

What you really want is just a (one way) damper, rather than a gas spring. They exist, but I’m buggered if I can work out what to google for.

I did find these though:

https://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-struts/adjustable/6mm-rod/gsv6-100

I’m sure there are others too. 50N is the weight of a 5kg mass. (Well, it’s the weight of a 5kg mass if G is 10 rather than 9.81.)

Alternatively you could build a folding, locking strut to hold the bonnet open, like most cars had for decades :)

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > davedave1111
10/25/2017 at 08:51

Interesting. Yeah I wouldn’t know what to search for for that...

Folding locking strut is the plan at the moment as that’s exactly what the spit has stock (which should just about still fit). If a gas strut is lighter though I’d definitely put the effort in to work something out. Might be only a small amount of weight, but it’s way up front...

davedave1111 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/02/2017 at 17:43

You could always build your own. One plastic bottle with the bottom cut off makes a cylinder, another with the top cut off (inserted bottomways*) makes the piston, few small holes, you have a pneumatic damper.

*It’s pure coincidence I had this tab open: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/41850929