Llessur Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Has anyone had any experience of upgrading to a GT6 bonnet the cheap way? I've been offered a solid centre panel from an otherwise rotten GT6 bonnet and am contemplating merging this with my solid Spit 1500 bonnet at some point in the future to obtain the bonnet bulge the cheap way and perhaps spur on the first part of a very very long-term Spit 6 project...It is literally just the centre panel - the rest of the bonnet (leading edge, wings, headlamp mountings, rear edge etc) is shot so I can't just weld some decent wings on and use the whole bonnet. It would mean cutting a portion out of the centre panel of my existing bonnet and welding in the bulge - then filling & spraying.I have seen this done a couple of times with seemingly OK results - but this is only from photos - which we all know can lie (this is how I met my ex-girlfriend....but that's another story....).Has anyone had any experience with this that they would like to share? Either hints and tips, or dire warnings not to cut up my decent Spit bonnet. Don't mind either way, just looking for people's opinions on whether or not it is a sensible idea.Many thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisspe Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 if you have the whole centre panel and it is good could you not just grapht the whole pannel in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Seen it done lots of times. Sometimes invisible from the outside, often not. The welds always skow inside,but it can work. Depends on skills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky_spit Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 If you can cut it accurately for butt welding and take your time it can work. Main problem I think you will have is controlling heat distortion. I put 2 chunks of MK1 Mini rear panel into a MK3 Mini to fit Mk1 rear lights some time back. Quite difficult to stop myself welding too much at a time, but if you do little half inch runs at a time in different places, not letting it get too hot, you should be okay. Bit of planishing afterwards, and a light skim of filler and you could not see the join. Having said that, an entire bonnet middle section is a bit bigger and a bit more tedious than two 6" by 8" panels. Couldn't hide it from the inside though, as Clifty says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbarc Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 I would think the "cheapest" way in the long run would be to buy a used GT6 bonnet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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