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There are and will be quite a few Mk1 and Mk2/2.5 owners that have either hit this problem or will in the future, when the cab bonnet release pull handle/cable pulls away/breaks the plastic body that holds it to the dash, which in the past meant a complete new cable needed re-fitting which involved removing bits in the engine bay and taking the nose cone off to do so correctly. Not with this one though - it can be repaired on the roadster....
This is what you will have....
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First off we need to ask the question .. "why did it snap?" Locking latch stiff? Cable been routed incorrect? Dash drivers side securing point loose resulting in the dash pulling with the bonnet handle? Or the square end from the handle to the cable is bent? Either way, those need to be dealt with first before the repair, otherwise you are wasting your time..
So locking latch too stiff: spray with Ease-It oil then lube it with grease. If it is bent, try straightening it. If it is age related wear, then re-fit a newer one,
If the cable been routed incorrectly, it does need to be routed properly as the wrong curving will cause the cable to be stiff and it will simply never pull smoothly.
If the dash on drivers side is loose/unsecured resulting in the dash moving when you pull the cable, its possible that the plastic lug on the back of the dash has broken away from the dash with the trim screw still in place. This plastic lug should go through a metal Bracket securing the whole lot nicely. Now there are two ways to sort this; either use a strong glue/bond on the back of the dash where the lug has come away from and leave it to set.
However if there is not much of the plastic lub left to actually glue together, you need to try something else, You can use a small self tapper and locate the metal bracket the dash secures to and drill an hole through the bottom corner of the dash and through the metal also (a angle drill works best ,simply because of how tight it is). But this now means there will be a gap in between the metal to the dash so a spacer needs to be put behind this. We use a piece of rubber or even a large nut behind the self tapper. Whatever method you sue, the dash needs to feel pretty solid for the bonnet release cable to work properly.
If the square end from the handle to the cable is bent, try and bend it back with some pliers etc the best you can, then file any sharp lumps etc and use a fine wet and dry paper (use dry) to smooth. Then spray with a good lube after sorting.
If it is a rusted inner cable then that will need freeing up, but if it's really rusted - which I have only ever dealt with once over all the years - then it I am afraid it is a new complete bonnet release cable and fitting.
So I will base this guide that you have had one of the above issues first and have sorted it out to be able to solve the broken body of the bonnet release that secures to the dash itself...
****TOOLS NEEDED****
1 x Work mat, ( for kneeling on)
1 x Open 17 mm spanner,
1 x Phillips driver
1 x Soldering iron ( a hand held gas one is handy),
1 x Medium cable tie,
1 x Large plastic washer( will explain in the guide),
1 x Tin of spray lube,
1 x Dry morning,
1 x Dremel,
1 x File/sand paper.
1 x Superglue GEL,( it must be GEL)
So if you're still reading this, you have got a snapped bonnet pull body that "did" secure to the dash and now its not. It is a very easy satisfying fix to know its back right again and that you have not had to spend a full day disassembling the roadster to install a complete newer one. For this guide I used a broken one cut from a scrapped roadster so we could take pics easier while showing how to repair this, as it takes two of us, one to actually do it and one to take pics, but the one on the roadster in the pics was fixed this way in the roadster.
*** CLICKING ON THE IMAGES WILL ENLARGE FOR BETTER VIEWING***
The first thing is to find or make a large plastic washer. This washer needs to be around a 10 -11 mm centre and needs to be around 30 mm in diameter (we used a lid that was close by) and it needs to be around 4.5/6.5 mm thick, taking note of the cut out in the picture. This washer is a very important bit it sorting this fix with a 8 mm gap chauffeuring down to a 7 mm
The one we made up was from a plastic pallet, but just think out of the box. We marked it on the plastic and drilled the centre first, then cut it out with a dremel, (a plumbers hole saw or drill bit of the correct size will also do etc) then cut out the triangle then sanded and smooth it ready for fitting .
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Now we turn our attention to the broken body on the roadster, wedge the door open and put your work mat on the floor to kneel on( you will need it...)
Using the Phillips driver, undo and remove the 2 x Phillips- head trim screws and steering column trim out of the way safe...
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The pull will be loose from the dashboa anyway but unthread the 17mm nut from the body so it goes further back onto the cable. Use electrical tape for the minute to keep it out of the way.
Regarding the superglue, it is important that we use the Gel version as it is easier to apply it more precisely. The glue is to act as a "hold in place" only as it will not fix this so don't be tempted to just use the glue - it will not hold strong enough regardless of the claims on the tube. Two small blobs of gel either side is enough, being careful not to add too much so it ends up oozing onto the square inner cable as we still need that to be free The super glue we used was easy to control.
Once added, press the two together for a minute or so and go off to do something else. In fact leave it to bond as long as you can before the next bit.
This is being done on a worktop simply because it is easier to show...
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Now that we have the two halfs back together we need to keep them that way because the glue on its own will not be strong enough the take the force of the nut tightening down to it. This means its time for the soldering iron with a large flat tip as we are going to plastic weld with it. We are using a portable gas iron but any will do , "Please Please Please just be careful while doing this leaning into the roadster with a hot soldering iron"...
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Once the iron is up to temp,start to melt /weld/stitch all the way around where the crack is to knit it back together again. Don't go too mad and accidentally go all the way through to the inner cable as we do need some thread left and the locking /guide tap for refitting and don't worry to much about the groove we have created all the way around, as long as it is now bonded better which will be quick as it melts and cools fast...
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Now we need to fill the groove and make the fix/bond even stronger....
Get a cable tie, and with the iron start to melt the tie into the groove spreading and melting it together as you go all the way around until you are happy that its enough and solid. Don't worry about over-filling - we can file it down or dremel it, which ever is at hand to use...
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And once shaved/filed, we are ready to secure back to the dash as plastic welding this way does cool down quick. The lack of thread is not a worry as the plastic washer we made will cover whats missing plus it will stop a metal nut going directly on to the back of the plastic dash. This in turn will give some cushioning and provides a lot wider area to spread and hold to. Pop the plastic washer on by the thinnest part at the cable and slide it onto the body ( pics for reference below). Release the holding nut and start it up on the thread by a couple of turns, pull the handle to pop the bonnet to give some play and slot the front of the body with the locking/location tab at the bottom, hold it in place and reach around and start to turn the nut down the thread. Depending on the repair, it might start to get tight and stiff to turn so using the 17 mm open end of the spanner, turn the nut slowly down. If it gets too tight and not all the way home , back it off and turn back on just in case its cutting a new thread on a bit of it. Now don't be an animal when tightening down to the dash, just take your time. It only needs to be tight enough to hold it in place solid and the plastic washer will help in doing so. If you over tighten, it will snap again, so be mindful.
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And thats it ...fixed....put the steering column trim back and the 2 x phillips head screws, pull the handle out to expose the inner metal square and spray with a silicone lube spray and push in and out a number of times with one last spray before you make sure that you have pushed the bonnet back down securely. Remember that you should push the bonnet closed with the palm of your hand and NOT fingers only.
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This fix should help in stopping you needing to undo everything including the nose cone, inner wing arch liner, nose cone holding nuts etc etc.
As is the norm, if there are any questions or are unsure of anything, please ask so you don't struggle.
****If you have found this walk through guide useful and saved you time and money , please think about giving a donation to help keep this site going to help other owners just like yourself please.****
M-m
