Greetings, I had a great time at the British Car Show at Harper College in Palatine Illinois today. The Mark was well represented as s were may others. I was hoping to get some insight from those in attendance, as to how to remove the bonnet striker pin on my 79 SIII XJ6. Unfortunately those in attendance could offer little advice, As is well known the bonnet often pops up at inopportune moments and I was keen to adjust mine once I got home. Unfortunately the lock nut has seized and I cannot tighten the adjustable spring tension. Although the lock nut is visible I am unsure how to remove it, The sheet metal obscures any type of additional retainer that prevents the nut from being removed, however it is loose in the bonnet frame add yet unremovable. My effort have resulted in a loose pin in the bonnet and a hood that will not close at all. I thought it best to ask for advice before forcing its removal and causing damage to the bonnet which now appears to be misaligned.

 

No problem. Get a 9/16" end wrench. If you have a choice, the thinner the better, put the open end of the wrench in there at about 45 degrees and push it up in there. It will push the spring down a little and the wrench will be on the nut. Loosen the lock nut and adjust the striker pin, then tighten the lock nut. Then pull the wrench out and the spring will pop back. Just adjust the pin a half revolution at a time and then test. Repeat as necessary. If you tighten too much the hood won't open when you pull the latch.

Note: high quality end wrenches are thicker and cheap wrenches are thinner. This is one time a cheap wrench works better.

Jeff

 

Thanks Jeff. The nut is seized so I will continue to try and loosen it with WD etc. The sheet metal of the bonnet frame appears to be only a few mm smaller than the nut, is there anything else preventing the nut from being removed from the hood frame. (Vice grips on the pin and 9/16 0n the nut). Should I be trying to remove the pin assembly if I cannot free the nut? If not I may have to cut the pin and find a replacement. I appreciate your help.
Kenn

 

Hi Kenn, you should be able to break the nut loose with about 1/8 turn and the pin should unscrew with your fingers. I would suggest PB Blaster. It is an aerosol penetrating oil. Then try to get the wrench on the nut and if you can't break the nut loose, try the wrench on the nut and vise grips on the pin and unscrew them together. If that doesn't do it, I think I would cut the spring away and use vise grips or a pipe wrench to grip the pin and get it out. You can get replacement springs and pins from David at everydayxj.com very reasonably.

Jeff

 

And, way back mechanics had a pair of "tappet wrenches" in their box. Open ended and slim. Use to adjust tappets in the popular side valve engines of the day. Tight space ot work from an uncomfortable position!!

I've a pair on my board. At times useful elsewhere..

Here, a slim jawed pair of "Vise Grips" might reach in and get that "lock nut". A caged nut lives on the other side of the tin.

Yeah, there are a lot of better corrosion sprays than WD. But, elsewhere here I read of a WD product that is designed for this use.

Carl

 

To add to what I wrote earlier. The slot in the bottom of the pin is what you are supposed to use to turn the pin. It has a very large slot, none of l my screwdrivers are big enough to fill the slot so I can get lots of torque and not mess up the slot. I use an old brake spoon. For the young guys, a brake spoon or brake adjusting tool is what we used to adjust drum brakes before they invented self-adjusting. It looks like a really big screwdriver on one end and the other end looks the same but bent a little. So I loosen the lock nut, adjust the pin with my fingers, use the brake tool in the pin spot to hold it still and tighten the lock nut. You might get a little piece of thick sheet metal and vice grips to simulate a very large screw driver .

If you use vice grips on the pin don't grip on the cone tip. You don't want to mar that.

 

...