Bonnet release cable change over

[Andrew S]

I am sure that this has been discussed before, but I considering changing my bonnet release pull from the nearside to the drivers where it should have been when built.

Are there any factory holes / threads already in place for a bracket on the drivers side and and has anyone does this change who could advise me? If so, any advice and photos greatly appreciated

Thanks
Andrew.

[jleyton]

Hi Andrew.

Last year I fitted a second bonnet release on the driver's side following advice on here - I'd recommend you do that rather than just swap sides as it will remove any worry about what to do if your bonnet cable breaks.

It was pretty easy - I just bought an ordinary cable and the little right angled mounting bracket from Martin at Just Triumph (you could probably make up the bracket)

The fitting holes and captive nuts are still fitted on the lower side of the dash so that's a doddle. The only hard thing is drilling holes in the bonnet release bracket as it's hardened steel. I went through about 4 drills and a couple of mini Dremel type grindstones.

Good luck and please feel free to ask anything if you need to.

Cheers

Julian


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[DaveB]

Hi Andrew,

I fitted a second cable on the drivers side, there were 2 holes already on the underside of the dash that lined up with diagonal holes on the bracket. I'm not sure the holes on mine were original and the bracket position is not quite the same as the near-side one but it does the job.

cheers

Dave

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[Andrew S]

Thanks Julian and Dave. Good point about making this the second cable. Well this is another job to do in the sunshine I feel and time to sharpen my drills Julian with a new tool. Play time. Will contact Martin and get a new cable etc and presume I will need the fixings as well.

Much appreciated
Andrew

[DaveB]

Good luck Andrew,

I made the fixings from some steel square bar, see photo.

To help drilling the bracket if you remove it, heat the end of the arm until it turns red then let it cool slowly, this will anneal (soften) it, and make the drilling much less stressful !

best regards

Dave

[Andrew S]

Thanks Dave

Can I use the standard bonnet release cable or are they too long?

[DaveB]

I used a standard cable, if anything I found this slightly on the short side, there is not much slack.

[Andrew S]

Thanks Dave

[jleyton]

Looks like you've wired yours in to the HT leads as an anti theft device Dave

Quite why they made the release arm so hard I'll never know - I'm sure there were parts of our cars that needed it more

The bracket I got from Martin fitted perfectly on mine - looks just like the near side one and I actually had to chop off a few inches from the cable to make it look neat.

Cheers

Julian

[DaveB]

An integrated bonnet catch / HT anti-theft device would be a novel one Julian.. not sure how effective

Maybe the cable I got was already shortened..?

Dave

[DJT]

Second what has been said above. I did this several years ago on my previous Stag, so it was an obvious early mod for my current one too.

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[Andrew S]

Thanks Dave, very neat. Will now do mine.

[Bob Heritage]

The bonnet release catch is off centre, a Mk 1 cable is long enough but a Mk 2 is too short. The answer is to re-route it through another hole in the bulkhead, use the one about 2" above where the choke cables pass through.

[Andrew S]

Thanks Bob, good advice.

[iani]

You can also use a Landrover Defender bonnet release cable, it's over long so you trim it to size.

Ian