Went Shopping Today [the good sort, not the mall]

[TRDejaVu]

I needed a better passenger door and trunk lid and as luck would have it someone local had them for sale. He also had a hood, which I thought would be useful as a spare in case of future problems, so I added that as well. When I get it home I discovered that it is a "short bubble" hood. It needs some work and welding, but is generally very solid. So now I have them to add to my winter project list.

Strangely, I got "the look" from SWMBO; who'd of thunk it.

 

[TR4nut]

Ian-

Its obvious that you didn't fully explain just how rare the short bubble hood is, if you had I know you could have avoided "the look". Or maybe not!

Any other goodies for sale from your source? Maybe he has the better chromed window capping and surrounds too - would think so if it came off a short bubble car.

Randy
65 TR4

 

[TRDejaVu]

I have to admit that I was more interested in the trunk lid and the door as I have a real need for them. The hood was an "I might need one of these one day" afterthought. It was only when I got it home did I realize that the hood wasn't the same as mine and so I was cursing as I looked it up in Piggott's book and learned about the short bubble. I will have to see if it will even fit my car. Does anyone know if the hinges etc were the same?

I asked if he had anything else, but he said that these were the last few things as he had already sold most of it.

 

[toysrrus]

Hi There Ian;

I`m not 100% certain but I do believe the "Short Bubble Bonnet" should fit just fine:

If not; I have a Real Nice One that I may be Selling?

I`ll PM you or email yourself relative to My Intentions:

Regards, Russ

PS: I guess I should put the "BCF" first in My Club Memberships: Just noticed that! Sorry Basil: /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/confused.gif

 

[PATR8]

OK, I am a TR7/8 guy but you have me, what is a short bubble hood?

 

[TRDejaVu]

According to Piggott's book, the hood (bonnet) on the first 6,429 TR4s had a shorter power bulge than all subsequent ones. The later ones had a bulge that went all the way to the back of the hood. It doesn't explain why they were changed; perhaps it was cosmetic.

Purists don't read this part. I don't know whether to keep the car original and sell the short bubble hood (would there be much of a market for it?), or fix it up and install it as a rare quirk, while keeping the other one as a spare in case of a chance "meeting" with a cell phone distracted SUV driver.

 

[Geo Hahn]

...The later ones had a bulge that went all the way to the back of the hood. It doesn't explain why they were changed; perhaps it was cosmetic...

I believe the early bonnets proved to not be stiff enough to resist bending should owners choose to shut them by pushing on the right rear corner. The bulge was lengthened to make the bonnet stiffer.

In either case, the place to push down on the bonnet is right above the latch.

Of course the original idea of the bulge was to provide clearance for the SUs. When they went to Strombergs the bulge was no longer needed for clearance but kept just because it looked soooo cooool.