ND - Bonnet Lifters

Bonnet lifters for ND’s with the exploding bonnet safety feature have been unsuitable to be installed as they interfere with the system. Recently, a chinese company have been advertising a set suitable for the ND with a special bracket. They sell on wish.com and also on Amazon. I decided to try and dry fit as a test to see if the bonnet lifters were going to be an issue when installing. Others have run into issues so a trial attempt seemed sensible. The dry fit was successful and I went ahead and did the whole install which took me 30 minutes including sheltering out of the sun for a breather.

I replaced all of the bolts taken off the car or supplied with the kit by 8mm Button Head Bolts (4 Pack x 2) M8 x 20mm A2 Stainless Steel Socket Allen Key Dome Head Bolt from Amazon. This ensured there was no interference between the ram arms and the bolts which other people had mentioned.

Thanks to some suggestions, I had a supply of 8mm washers ready to install under the dome head bolt at the front of the adapters. At the front I put one washer on the bolt and three washers under the bracket. At the rear, it was just one washer on the bolt. The original bolts must have been done up by a gorilla, 12mm socket and an extension bar got them loose.

The bonnet bolt was easy to undo. This meant that the hydraulic rams were just 2mm too long; I opened the bonnet all the way and managed to pop the arm onto the ball of the bracket. One hydraulic ram is not enough to hold the bonnet up.

The rams are not as strong as the ones on my Mk1, they hold the bonnet up and a gentle tug will get the bonnet closing quite fast. The Mk1 you have to pull quite hard until about half closed before the bonnet wants to close by itself. I prefer the softer rams as it does not put strain on the aluminium bonnet by twisting as has been reported on other installs of similar rams.

Main bracket

Bonnet bracket, fitted to lower bolt (as per crappy Chinese instruction sheet - "dearest customer, remove existing bonnet lifters . . . " (rofl) )

Look, Ma, no hands! Chomping . . . . . . .

Well pleased with the result!

1 Like

Hi Jeff, did you have to slice a bit off the part I have marked on your photo to get the strut to site properly and did you notice any undue bonnet stress or lifting at the rear.
Jim

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Hi Jim, and no, no and no!

Rubber compresses OK, not an issue, absolutely NO bonnet stress (see my last paragraph in my original post) and shut line completely unaffected (I checked before fitting as someone else had a 1mm difference). However, fitting the brackets as I have, on the bottom bolt with ball to the bottom, it appears that this is a good method and avoids issues that others may have experienced. Also make note of the change of bolt type which also stopped bolt head interfering with the ram when bonnet shut - perhaps “curing” the raise in bonnet shut line - if that was the issue? Maybe I have been lucky?

Thanks Jeff, I have a set from Wish on order, this is very useful thanks. Plenty of clearance at the back when bonnet is open?

I was thinking of using black dome heads which are high tensile and maybe not as noticeable against the black brackets.

Not noticed a clearance issue. It appears that sellers on wish and amazon are selling a generic kit and the instructions (if any) you receive will have a plethora of pictures showing the install. The only common one that they agree on is the one on the wing (as it only goes in one way) - but you will need to pack one end up (3 washers) as the original bracket is stepped and the kit ones are straight.

One picture seen on the web or instructions shows the bracket fitted to the top bolt on the bonnet hinge, one shows it fitted to the bottom bolt on the bonnet hinge, I’ve seen the ball positioned at the top of the bracket, one to the bottom of the bracket (like mine) and one showing the ram fitted the other way up (completely wrong!)

This is a £22 kit from wish with some washers, 6 bolts and a little bit of ingenuity needed (I got 90% hints from another member who pathfinded the potential issues) and is definitely NOT a £90 kit from ILMotorsport. What fun is fettling if it just bolts on and you can walk away without a little bit of sweat and cursing?

Perhaps I should buy a few £22 kits, add some washers, a few photos and charge £90? :joy: :rofl: :laughing:

Fair point, I’ll order some bolts and await my delivery, thanks again

The finishing touch is to colour the brackets and bolt heads and washers to the body colour. A bit of rattle can work before assembly can be done in a few minutes.

You might find the original bolts had some thread-lock on them, rather than having been done up by a gorilla. Same like the brake calliper mountings.

had mine on around 16 months with no issues got the kit off amazon for £22.00 for the ND