260Z bonnet.

[acf321]

Is there any way of knowing if a bonnet is an OEM item, or a Taiwanese (or other) copy?

 

Was looking at mine today (see Brown Hornet thread) and Nat and I were pretty surprised by the what is frankly a pretty shoddy quality item. For instance, on the underside of bonnet at the front (leading edge) there is a fold, where the thing has been shaped. From memory I think my 240Z from ten years ago this fold was very neat, with a consistent say 1" channel running the whole length, from one side the other (and it was a 260 bonnet too). My current bonnet does not have this channel, but instead looks to be just crimped together and beaten to all different angles in the same spot.

 

On the edges of the bonnet, where the skin is attached to the frame, a similar level of finish applies, that is its just all kind of bashed together with the odd haphazard weld along the length holding it together (as if a bling man constructed the thing with a bloody big mallet). Nat of course said he could 'tidy this up', but I just wonder if this is the way that other peoples OEM bonnets are???

 

Let me know.

 

Cheers

 

 

[xa1973]

A thought

 

Sounds like a repair section has been welded in, are there any tell tale signs of a repair @ welded insert strip etc.......I doubt the factory quality controllers would pass a dodgy bonnet..especially back in the 70's, the nippons were just breaking into the world markets

 

Did anybody make after market bonnets in metal??

 

[acf321]

There does not appear to be any welded new parts or any aftermarket changes ... Aside from a tonne of bog on the top of the power bulge, where there appears to have been something dropped on it, the whole thing remains in one piece.

 

When the car was in one piece, the bonnet did not appear to be poorly aligned, and this was certainly not discussed when Nat came to examine the car before making the decision to go ahead with the build. I may well be the correct factory part, but I was pretty surprised by the construction.

 

 

 

[Lynton]

My recollection from having a new 260Z coupe in 1975, the underside of the bonnet was pressed one piece no welded inserts....Lynton

[NZeder]

I have a new oem vented 260z bonnet on my car I will take a look next time I go to the shop. Also to answer the question above YES there was a a steel knock off for Taiwan

[dazzed]

if you stand ten feet in front of the car and kneel down that folded and welded lip that has been just bashed together will also be folded downward , that is a taiwaneese hood, that is one reason they are cheaper, the idea is that when bought new in black primer areas such as this cleaned straightened but they just get painted and fitted on

[acf321]

Thats good Sleuthing Dazzed ... from looking at the underside of the hood, I does appear that the fold would be upwards, hence NOT implying it is a Twan copy and infact the real deal. Mike have a look at yours under the front lip and maybe take a photo to stick up so I can compare ,, that would be great.

 

After all this, I forgot to mention that when I drove home from Nat's today I raced up (in my peugeot) to chase a completely standard auto 240z that lives around the corner from me... I have seen (and heard) this car like 1000 times, as the guy drives it daily. Its a very very neat original car in the OEM factory red (which looks more tangerine in the flesh). Has period alloy wheels, and the four digit number plate. '240Z'. The guy that drives it lives in a monster house with harbour views, and quite often his teenage kids drive it ...Its great to see that a guy of this stature still drives his 35+ year old 240 every single day ... and the fact they look after it perfectly.

 

Can't wait to get mine on the road !!

 

Will see if I can grab a photo of it at some point.

 

 

[dazzed]

sounds like a family runabout, ,the hood on my car is the same except lip facing down , i know exacely what you mean , you need to get a dolly that fits in the channel perfectly then tap away untill both joins are flat , its a item that only a keen eye picks up on , ussually the owner , cheers.

[acf321]

Exactly Dazzed ... i need to get Nat to stick a dolly between the actual bonnet and the lip and to create a nice even channel. Once done, he can even up the inside lip with angle grinder or whatever. Sounds as though it might be the genuine item, but just a little hastily built. Then again, panel manufacturing and welding practices have come a long long long way in 35+ years ... need to remind myself of this.