What I am looking into is the prospect of converting the 510 to have a rear opening bonnet. Being as I am putting a rotar into it, the rear opening is a little symbolic of the rotary engine and also, I just prefer it.

what I am looking to find out is, has someone done it?

My initial thinkings are that it would not be all that complex to do from scratch if I were to use modified latch and hinge kit from something like an Mazda 808 or Capella... I know the bonnets don't latch the same or would even be the same length but... Any of you clever guys on here given this a thought??

Also, bonnet pins might be a better alternative to a traditional latching kit... Plenty of meat to mount them to at the rear of the engine bay and probably easier to set up.

Anyway guys, looking forward to seeing what you guys have got

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The Gene Pool Needs More Chlorine.

Maybe a BMW E30 option to consider also. Rear opening and slide forward before they pop up to clear the grill and hang in front of it a bit. Wouldn't be too hard and a bit more common. The standard cable setup does pull from the passenger side though because of the RHD origina.

yeah. I guy here mentioned that some of the BMWs had the reverse opening ones. I have seen the ones with the elongated arm on them as opposed to the mazda which open "straight up".

Something like this design:


As for the cable bonnet release, I'll probably just stick come bonnet pins through it. cheaper, easier and safe as houses.

A folding/mechanical bonnet "stay" would be a must but can probably be fabricated without too much of an issue.

Thanks for the input

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The Gene Pool Needs More Chlorine.

luv the Beemer hinge idea, used to use Maz but therse are better

Should be easy to use a 240Z/260Z latch arrangement. Make a bracket and weld or bolt it to the firewall.
If you use bonnet pins instead you can use simple right angle brackets bolted to the stock hinge mounting points on the body and install the pins in them. Cut some rubber hose to go around the pins and rest the bonnet on, thus setting the height of the back of the bonnet when shut. I used to have a fibreglass bonnet on my 1600 retained by 4 bonnet pins.

Yeah, I did think of using nissan ones but, the two mentioned above have a much larger price tag than the mazda/bmw equivalent.

I am not a purist so, putting that stuff on there for extra costs makes no sense to me. I like the tips in regards to getting the pins set at the right high though. Appreciate the tips. Thanks mate

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The Gene Pool Needs More Chlorine.