Bonnet up and over...

Xantiargh · Unread post by **Xantiargh** » 24 Apr 2005, 22:07

Hi ya
Bit careless today. Have a mild air leak in the fuel line and sometimes I need to prime the fuel line to start the car (I know I should fix it, but its one of those "next weekend" jobs).
Anyway, popped bonnet, girlfriend muttered about trying to start it again cos it nearly caught. Started it and it caught. Forgot I had popped bonnet. Got up to 60 mph on the A1 and bang, the bonnet flipped clean over onto the windscreen.
No injuries. Bonnet is mashed. Windscreen shattered. Dent where ariel mount is.
I'm assuming the windscreen frame is undamaged (autoglass out tomorrow). Anyone done this before, and if so was the frame damaged?
I reckon the car wil be written off by my insurers if the frame is damaged.
Anyone got a black bonnet (1995 TD) they don't want?
How easy is a bonnet to replace?
Also, whats the best way to pop the dent in the roof?
Feel like a right muppet!
M.

paranoid · Unread post by **paranoid** » 24 Apr 2005, 22:32

Screen fitters can be a bit touchy about putting in screens when this has happened, I think there worried about it unbonding in the future.
They were with my old rover when a tree fell on it[V]

JohnD · Unread post by **JohnD** » 24 Apr 2005, 23:09

I did this twenty years ago with a Sierra. Fortunately, hadn't got beyond third gear when it flipped, so just had bent hinges - and some shock. Know how you feel.

rossnunn · Unread post by **rossnunn** » 25 Apr 2005, 00:03

did similar on my old white zx, drop nose, but anything above 30 and the leading edge of the bonnet was bouncing around so I pulled over.

fastandfurryous · Unread post by **fastandfurryous** » 25 Apr 2005, 02:46

On a Golf MK2, the array of small slots towards the top of the bonnet is not to allow air into the heater, it's to look through when the bonnet whaps up and covers the windscreen! In that case I just beat it back down with a big hammer, and roped it closed. Drove it like that for about 3 months too!![:D]
The windscreen fitter should be able to tell if the frame is bent at all, although I doubt it, as the bonnet and the windscreen itself will have absorbed most of the energy from the impact. First thing to check is the bonnet hinges, and their mountings. If these are all straight, then you should get away with it. If the mountins in the body are bent then I would check further to see what else is bent.
Scary experience isn't it? I'd check that the safety catch is working properly too! Doesn't sound like yours was.

mezuk04 · Unread post by **mezuk04** » 25 Apr 2005, 18:44

Hope Wilkobob see's this post, I still remember all them times you popped my bonnet while i wasnt looking and didnt realize until I myself was doing 60 to sheffield <not happy especially now>
Regards

mipster · Unread post by **mipster** » 25 Apr 2005, 20:08

I doubt there's lasting damage, I did the same in my (also black) 1996 xantia at 50mph and that didn't even break the windscreen. After beating the bonnet into something closer to it's normal shape I still drive around with it.
Not as funy as the first time though:
Sat in the back of the father-in-laws-to-be ZX with my wife, who's asleep, driving back from a night out. Bonnet pops up and into the windscreen at about 60. She wakes up and shouts 'Arrgghh we've hit a giat bat'[:D]

Xantiargh · Unread post by **Xantiargh** » 25 Apr 2005, 22:09

Nice to know its not just me... [:)]
The bonnet is mashed, but 'adds character'. Its the dent in the roof where the ariel mount is that I'm worried about. I had a sunroof cover thing (clear plastic shaped windbreak thingy) and that got trashed too. Must have been one of the more violent variety of bonnet flips.
On the market for a black bonnet (can't be bothered to spray it) and a sunroof shield thingy if anyone has one or both lying around... (and assuming I haven't totalled the frame).
Ta for tales ... [:D]