Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
Bonnet Modification
This page details the procces I went through to incorporate the XB/XC - GT/GS Bonnet scoops into the bonnet of my XF Falcon. This is not intended as a step by step guide for those who wish to do this modification (I would reccomend that you do it alot more carefully and neatly than I did) but is merely an indication of the way I approached this modification and the way it turned out when I finished.


STEP 1: Track down the XB Scoops

This is not an easy task. I watched Ebay for a fair while before I managed to track down a set of scoops that was in reasonable enough condition (and in the right state) for me to able to use.
I bought the scoops that I used on Ebay for grand total of $35. The scoops had already been used in the bonnet of an EA Falcon and had been cut out (with an axe by the looks of things!!) of it after an accident. They were not in great shape and needed a bit of cleaning up before I could use them on my car.
Chances are you could probably get these scoops from the wreckers, although you would be lucky, and chances are you would have to buy the whole bonnet, which I am fairly sure would be in excess of $150. My personal advice would be to just watch ebay until something comes up, or make a fibreglass replica of someone else's scoops if you happen to know someone with them.
In hindsight this is what I would have done rather than incoporating the actual steel part into my bonnet.

STEP 2: Fit onto bonnet

Chances are any scoops you buy will need to be tidied up a bit, I know mine certainly did. But everyone knows how to sand and cut things into the required shape and condition so I am not going to detail what I did with regards to this.
When I fitted the scoops into my bonnet, I centered everything up and traced the whole shape of the scoops onto the bonnet. I then removed the scoops and drew in where the actual inlets would be on the bonnet. I drew in the whole triangular shape. These bits had to be cut out because otherwise the scoops would not sit down on the bonnet because the bottom of the inlets was lower than the level of the bonnet, and the pins holding the flutes in place would touch the bonnet before the front of the scoops did.
I tried to cut the bonnet so that the scoops would sit down nicely but also so that I did not remove to much of the racing on the bonnet, so that I did not end up with a flimsy bonnet. Bleow are are couple of pictures illustrating the holes that had to be cut.

To fix the scoops onto the actual bonnet, I used rivots at regularly spaced intervals. It would be better to weld it, but I have no welding skills whatsoever (To be honest I don't even know how to turn on welder let alone use it!). Welding would mean that less finishing is required once the scoops are fixed to the bonnet. Below are a couple of pictures of what the bonnet looked like at this stage, just after the scoops had been rivoted on.

STEP 3: Finishing the Bonnet

Once the scoops are fixed onto the bonnet, the edge where they join needs to be blended so that it is not so obvious that you have slapped on an extra bit metal. To do this I used bog/body filler. I basically made a layer all of the way around and sanded it back into the contours of the bonnet, leaving just enough to cover the edge and make it look like one homogeneous piece.
Unfortuneately I do not have any images of this process but I do Have some pics of the bonnet just after I had undercoated it with white paint. See Below.

In the case of my bonnet, I really need to get new flutes (the grilles that sit in the scoops) as the ones that I have in it are missing pins and are slightly damaged. These come up on Ebay quite regularly for around $50 and it is just a matter of having the cash at the time to be able to buy them. I don't happen to have the cash at the moment so I have just neatened them up a bit and rivoted them in. It's quick and dirty but it works and doesn't look too bad. (It doesn't look great, but it looks alright)

STEP 4: Paint, Fit it and Admire!!

What can be said really, I will let the pictures speak for themselves!


Thankyou for checking this page out and hopefully it explains how (if you were wondering!!) I did this modification and maybe inspires you to do it yourself!

Back to Main Page