Bonnet Shape Against Dash Shape.

[magh]

Hey guys looking for some advice I'm battling away in the garage trying to get the car ready for next year ( Going to be the wedding car ) why I dropped myself into it I don't know lol. Anyhow the other night I have paired the nose one to the bonnet pretty successfully too. When it comes to the dash end it almost seems like the bonnet is just too wide. The sides won't follow the dash tube as the top would be circular and if the tops flat the sides pop out and to top it off I purchased a grp dash from gbs for the Robin Hood and it just doesn't look like it has enough meat on it to do anything with.

 

Any help/advice would be much appreciated or pics of how others had / fitted there bonnet would be great thanks guys.

 

 

[agent_zed]

Hi,

the 2b was designed originally to have an 'alligator' style bonnet. This was where the nosecone, bonnet and scuttle (which was all one piece) was hinged at the rear and lifted like an alligator mouth. This ment the windscreen tipped back into the cabin and was generally not the best idea imho. To enable this to happen the bonnet had to be able to clear the tubes around the scuttle area. hence the big gap.

 

I can't quite see if your bonnet and scuttle are one piece or a separate lift off center piece (like a caterham etc). A lot of us have cut the bonnet and made a fixed scuttle. Some (like me) have a fixed scuttle and nosecone and lift off center section and others have fixed the scuttle and hinged the nosecone and bonnet forward.

 

The dash doesn't look like it will ever fit without re-bending the bonnet or modification of the dash. I'd probably return it and make my own as that looks like it is more for the zero which is slightly narrower and curved across the top. Thin plywood will do the job if you cover it with vinyl/leather Or you could buy a flat sheet of glassfibre etc. entirely up to you.

 

I did a video years ago showing how i did it, not exactly an oscar winning performance but you might find it useful

[magh]

Thanks guys. Yes the alligator style is a terrible design. Currently it is all one piece but I will be cutting the rear to create a permanent scuttle then the remaining bonnet hinge forward in the nose cone.

 

Well I know I ordered the 2b dash from them for definite so I may have to get in touch as I did think it looked very much the shape of the zero. Only problem was I ordered some time ago now.

[FERRINO]

Isn't the Zero a fair bit narrower than the 2B cockpit area though? Although the dash you have is definitely Zero 'style' I think it might be right for the 2B?

 

Have a look at this guys 2B build blog - about half way down, his dash looks exactly the same offered up as yours (even the same colour). He made it fit by the looks of it although it does look like his bonnet is not the one supplied with the kit as it has no louvres etc:-

 

http://robinhood2bgulf.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Cheers

Tony

 

 

[speedtripledan]

The alligator bonnet on mine tried to kill me! Lifted on the a14 at 70mph windscreen crushed my chest and bonnet edge tried to cut my hand in half. If you or anyone have that design make sure it's well secured unlike my factory built pile of shat I had from Robin Hood 2 days before they went bust...

[cb750]

Gbs sent me the wrong one for my car so check with them first. If you can get down to them take a template of the shape you need to achieve. I ended up with a wide bodied zero type to fit my 3A.

[magh]

I rang kit spares today and explained my situation they said the dash will need training to fit couldn't quite get across that there wasn't enough on it to start with let alone trim it. They said send some photos over which I have and they will get back to me next week. Slightly disappointed with that as I'm heading to the show in Sunday so could of swooped it there but they didn't seem keen on that.

 

Yeah I have already looked at the gulf thread and agree that bonnet is a lot more rounded and not flat on the top either.

[FERRINO]

I rang kit spares today and explained my situation they said the dash will need training to fit couldn't quite get across that there wasn't enough on it to start with let alone trim it. They said send some photos over which I have and they will get back to me next week. Slightly disappointed with that as I'm heading to the show in Sunday so could of swooped it there but they didn't seem keen on that.

 

Yeah I have already looked at the gulf thread and agree that bonnet is a lot more rounded and not flat on the top either.

 

Mmmm - yeah it does seem a little too much to 'train' to shape in your case looking at how it currently sits from your pics , what material is your bonnet? Can you move the dash panel up an inch or so? It would reduce the gap and might allow the bonnet to re-form?

 

Funnily enough I've just recently had to do something very similar. I bought one of those Fibreglass 2B dashes that the guy sells on Ebay. It was also pretty far out from the bonnet shape. Had several 'fun' evenings and weekends bashing and trying to manipulate the bonnet to fit. Ended up having to make a 2 piece profile jig out of mdf and start 'clamping' and re-forming the tube shape from about 3/4's of the way along to bonnet to get the top profile to change at all. It did just about go in the end so it can be done - but it's hard work and has left some dimples/ripples which will have to be disguised. My bonnet is Aluminium as well so if yours is steel will obviously make the job even harder,

 

Dash/bonnet before:-

 

 

 

 

After 'Training':-

 

Edited April 27, 2017 by FERRINO

[Guest peter2b2002]

I made my own dash as I had the same problem

peter-2b

[magh]

That does look rather good may be the route I have to do down. Although mine is stainless so will be a challenge.

 

As mentioned that picture shows the dash pushed fully up already to gain as much material in the corners so once the top is trimmed with leave a very narrrow height and I will struggle to mount my larger gauges between the top tube and steering coloumn.

 

Hopefully it's just the wrong one sent out as I really do like the style but I'm not hopeful.

[nzjrs]

On 4/27/2017 at 9:50 PM, magh said:

That does look rather good may be the route I have to do down. Although mine is stainless so will be a challenge.

 

As mentioned that picture shows the dash pushed fully up already to gain as much material in the corners so once the top is trimmed with leave a very narrrow height and I will struggle to mount my larger gauges between the top tube and steering coloumn.

 

Hopefully it's just the wrong one sent out as I really do like the style but I'm not hopeful.

Sorry to resurrect this old thread - but I see you are still active here.

Did it turn out they simply sent the wrong dash? I ask because I'm looking at replacing my 2B dash using the one from kitspares/gbs you purchased, and it definitely is not rounded on top like the one they sent you - mine is much straighter across the top and sides, like all the other 2B photos posted.

[magh]

Hi sorry not logged in for a while. Sadly not this ended with weeks and weeks of waiting for a replacement that I was promised would have spare material left on it and it finally arrived a couple of months later and still wasn’t anywhere near right so I just made my own from scratch