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Poor Man's Emergency Bonnet Release - It works!

TR4nut

Yoda
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I know there are many solutions out there for having an emergency bonnet release cable on the TR4-6 models, but I just wanted to share a very inexpensive and workable backup system.

I had intended to buy a better engineered solution like the lever add on, but as I needed to replace a bad cable I put in a cheap back up just in case. As backup, I used a heavy duty fishing leader which snapped over the cable trunnion, see attached picture. The the leader was loosely wound around the actual release cable and the end of the leader was fed through the grommit along with the release cable and hidden under the interior carpet.

Glad I did it - for some reason, the clip holding the cable on the assembly came loose, so when I pulled the release nothing happened. After a moment of sheer panic I remembered the leader and I fished out from under the carpet, gave it one hopeful tug, and up popped the hood.

This worked so well I may just leave it as is. For anyone wanting to keep their engine bay concours quality this actually is a pretty good solution in my opinion because the leader can be quickly removed and nothing is disturbed.

Anyway, not the invention of the century and I'm betting somebody is already doing this, but I was so relieved I didn't have a stuck bonnet I thought I'd share the thought. By the way, in the picture pay no attention to the frayed end of the release cable, I meant to ruin that brand new cable for authenticity!
Randy.
 

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Re: Poor Man's Emergency Bonnet Release - It works

Very slick, I like it! Thanks for sharing!
 
Re: Poor Man's Emergency Bonnet Release - It works

Simple and effective. The first thing I did when I got my 4 was to tie a nylon rope to that lever and fish it thru to the footwell until I could get a chance to install a more elegant cable.

BTW - A bit of of heat-shrink tubing over the end of that frayed cable will make it look neater and spare you scratching your hand on it someday (those ends can be razor sharp).
 
Re: Poor Man's Emergency Bonnet Release - It works

Good idea on the frayed cable. I couldn't believe I messed it up as badly as I did when I cut it. I was hoping if there was enough spare length I could solder the end and cut off the frayed pieces, but heat shrink could be a good way to go if there is no spare cable left.
 
Re: Poor Man's Emergency Bonnet Release - It works

Great idea! I thought of installing one of the levers, but I don't want to drill any extra holes, and I've read that they can jam as well. I'll have to run some fishing line this weekend!
 
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