Strut Brace Hitting Off Bonnet

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

hi there, iv recently bought a strut brace from a 205 gti for my 205 xs, it fits to the car (air filters a bit squashed but not too bad). the problem iv got is that when I came to close my bonnet it was being stopped by the strut brace hitting off the support beams in the bonnet. is there any way of sorting this out by either raising the bonnet ( if so then how would I do it) or is there any other non expensive way to sort out this problem?

thanks.

matt.

[MikeC 10]

Maybe an auto bonnet?

[Anthony 1,000]

You find this sometimes unfortunately - it's down to the differing design/shape of strutbraces and the usual dubious 205 shell tolerances.

[welshpug 1,627]

check the turrets aren't domed, quite common on cars that have been used on rough roads or hump back bridges...!

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

Maybe an auto bonnet?

do u know where i might get one from and if so how much for? cheers.

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

also is there any way of maybe cutting a small gap in the bonnet support beam just so that the strut brace fits in the gap, or would this be a bad idea.

thanks.

[MikeC 10]

do u know where i might get one from and if so how much for? cheers.

www.peugeotparts.co.uk Dean Hunter, that's where i got mine (mind you it was a manual bonnet i wanted)

Bonnets are showing NFP on service box Part numbers 7901 C5 and 7901 C4

Auto Bonnet Part number 7901 92 But his site is also showing 7901 C4 as an auto bonnet also

[theo-mi16-gr 4]

I checked my auto bonnet but i am not sure the beams differ.I believe the 'shell' is the same with the ordinary bonnet.I would prefer a small gap at the hitting points.It shouldnt be more than few mm..

[harryskid 193]

Cut the supports where they touch. I 've done this on my rally car with no problems!

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

cool that's wat the plan is now ill prob just cut a small gap in the bonnet support beams where the strut brace hits. wat did u use to cut the beam with, was it just a grinder? also if u did use a grinder did it affect the paint work with the heat of the grinder on the outer side of the of the bonnet?

cheers.

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

thanks for the replies, but not sure if im really wanting to buy another bonnet at the moment as cant really afford it at the moment, however I will consider it If all else fails.

[theo-mi16-gr 4]

Affect the paintwork with just using the grinder for chopping a small piece? no way:)

[kyepan 291]

usually removing the insulation across the cross members will give you enough clearance

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Just sell it and get a different one?

 

As WP suggested, if also be checking for doomed strut mounts.

[matty205xs 1 1 Cars]

Just sell it and get a different one?

 

As WP suggested, if also be checking for doomed strut mounts.

ye i might just leave it for now, dont wanna cause anymore expenses.

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Personally I wouldn't go cutting up my bonnet just for a strut brace. There are quite a few different brands and designs out there.

Edited January 16, 2014 by allye

[samba1360cc 0]

Hi hope you dont mind me asking here as we have a very similar problem....

we just won this on Ebay for 205 1.9 gti

 

Very happy with the purchase and got on to fitting it.....

Looks very nice pictures of it fitted below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then the problem arose

 

We could not close the bonnet!!

 

 

So we removed the insulation from under the bonnet for it to only make a slight difference but still not being able to close the bonnet!!

 

 

We also thought about cutting the strengthening bars from under the bonnet but choose not to because they are very flimsey.

tbh we havent checked the strut mounts if they are domed but looking at the pics above we think they are ok but will check later.

Any help with this would be much appreciated

 

Cheers

[samba1360cc 0]

We have just taken a couple of pictures of the strut tops they don't look domed to me....

 

 

 

Can anyone tell from these pictures if they are or not???

if they are is there a way of straightening them??

 

Cheers..

Edited March 12, 2014 by samba1360cc

[allye 530 3 Cars]

You can see that brace is way too high, perhaps designed for a auto car with high bonnet and a carb to clear? Sell it on and buy another. Don't cut up your lovely car!

[samba1360cc 0]

You can see that brace is way too high, perhaps designed for a auto car with high bonnet and a carb to clear? Sell it on and buy another. Don't cut up your lovely car!

allye thanks for your reply mate, but the chap i got it from swears blind it came off his gti and did not have an auto bonnet but it was a tight fit...

Has anyone got one fitted to an auto?

I even called up demon tweeks to try and help but all they wanted to do is sell me another...

[Anthony 1,000]

As I said, you can find that a strut brace from one GTi won't fit another - the shell tolerances are dreadful from what I've seen on numerous cars and you can find differences amounting to cm's (yes, really) rather than mm's in places and hence it's no wonder you get issues like you're seeing.

 

Thus it's quite possible your friend is absolutely correct in that it fitted fine on his car but is nowhere close to fitting on yours - I've had exactly that myself where a strut brace fit my old GTi just fine and yet on my current one it pushes the bonnet up 5mm or so. Both cars are straight and uncrashed, just tolerances to blame and I found a different style of brace to fit which was fine.

 

That said, unless it's an optical illusion your offside strut top does look domed - the usual give away is that the three studs aren't vertical and parallel with one another which certainly looks to be the case in that picture.

 

I don't believe that there was ever a strut brace designed specifically for auto models.

[welshpug 1,627]

Does look slightly domed, but it wont make that much difference :/

 

Maybe its for a 309?

[cti_jim 4 2 Cars]

Hi did this problem get solved? Im having the same disaster. Im pretty sure the adjuster goes on the other side. My last resort is bonnet spacers

[hoodygoodwood 70 3 Cars]

The strut tops do look domed but that alone is not causing the bad fit . Are all 205 braces raised in the middle like yours , I never fitted one to any of my 205 GTI's .A 309 strut brace is quite different to a 205 item as the bonnet prop hinge is on top rather than at the side so it has a cut out to accommodate it .

[Jez G 6 1 Cars]

Mine is an OMP brace and is domed like the previous pictures. I don't have an auto bonnet and it fits OK. It does look like it sits flatter on the turret tops though.

Edited June 19, 2014 by Jez G