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Does the HC bonnet stay have to be pushed into the bracket so that the two little "lumps" that stick out either side are inside the bracket, as a way of stopping it falling out? I came to replace the one on my Sportshatch the other day and couldn't see a way to push them through, checked the Firenza and I've done the same on that, just left them "outside" and relied on the shape of the end for it to not come out.

I can't remember having any trouble removing the stay, and I think I would have done if I'd had to push them through the hole. But then I can't think why they are there, if they don't really do anything. Equally though I can't think how the bonnet stay would drop out given the shape of the end of it.

Anyone have a HC with a bonnet stay that's never been out who can shed any light?

I will have a look on mine Mike - I know sometimes they twist around sometimes and come out - wiggle it about a bit (technical term ) and everything goes back to normal.

Earlier front panels have an oval hole in them for the stay to slip in at a certain angle. The Hatch front panel has a 'tophat' bracket that has a circular hole, so the ribs don't pass through. The earlier cars relied on the collapsed stay being sprung into place around the post on the catch and slipped down into a dimple beside the LH headlight. The later cars had a rubber clip to hold the collapsed stay in place. So the earlier cars needed very positive location at the end to keep it in tension when down and later cars don't...if that all makes sense....

Thanks for that. I have done some work around that mounting and I couldn't be sure that I hadn't missed a special shape out but I had quite forgotten the older cars didn't have the extra bit of steel. Looking again this afternoon, there's no way the "top hat" section as you put it is deep enough for the curved end of the bonnet stay to go in far enough for the lumps to go inside it.

Stand down Fred, I think we have a solution. Though I might file off those lumps if they're not needed.

Just thinking this through, the Snoot headlights required the original oval hole and the dimple on the other side both to be cut away. This requires an alternative stay mounting and storage solution hence the tophat and rubber clip. Earlier front panels don't have the rectangular hole in the top to fit the rubber clip, that only appeared about '74. Do only the Snoots have the tophat mounting?

My car is a bit awkward to get a pic at the moment but the 'top hat' is the correct mounting, using a standard bonnet stay.

The dimples, from memory, do not go through the hole.

I'll try and get a pic next week.

That's OK, if the consensus is that they don't go through (and I can't see how they would) then that's fine. It's not like it's going anywhere. I can safely touch up the bits of body colour that I chipped off while threading the end into the mount now.