Hi all, I’ve recently joined the forum having bought a twin cam D16 216gti. The car is in ok condition overall, only 34k on the clock but it’s been a little unloved, so a few things are looking a little tired.

I’m wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of a few things. Or give me some advice.

* windscreen wiper metal arms (as opposed to the wiper blades). These have been replaced at some point with incorrect fitting items. So the bonnet now catches these when being opened. Which has rubbed the paint away and caused the back edge of the bonnet to rust!

* is the bonnet the same for 3 door, 5 door and coupes? I’ve got a five door hatch. If so a new bonnet is needed (as above!)

* drivers side front wing, this is showing a bit of rust, looks like a bolt on item. Are these the same for 3 door, 5 door and coupe? They don’t look available online anymore - if anyone has one available in good condition I’d be happy to buy - colour not important.

* Rear bumper trim - the pinkish trim bit has broken on the corner. These don’t seem available anymore - is this a case of waiting for a while rear bumper or can it be fixed / replaced? No worries if a replacement is necessary as the rear bumper has a few other marks

I’m wondering if a bunch of these things are just waiting for cars to be broken on EBay or Facebook etc, and hoping the parts are good?

Thanks all, really enjoying the ownership experience so far!

Cerrone wrote: ↑Sat Aug 13, 2022 4:18 pm Hi all, I’ve recently joined the forum having bought a twin cam D16 216gti. The car is in ok condition overall, only 34k on the clock but it’s been a little unloved, so a few things are looking a little tired.

I’m wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of a few things. Or give me some advice.

* windscreen wiper metal arms (as opposed to the wiper blades). These have been replaced at some point with incorrect fitting items. So the bonnet now catches these when being opened. Which has rubbed the paint away and caused the back edge of the bonnet to rust!

* is the bonnet the same for 3 door, 5 door and coupes? I’ve got a five door hatch. If so a new bonnet is needed (as above!)

* drivers side front wing, this is showing a bit of rust, looks like a bolt on item. Are these the same for 3 door, 5 door and coupe? They don’t look available online anymore - if anyone has one available in good condition I’d be happy to buy - colour not important.

* Rear bumper trim - the pinkish trim bit has broken on the corner. These don’t seem available anymore - is this a case of waiting for a while rear bumper or can it be fixed / replaced? No worries if a replacement is necessary as the rear bumper has a few other marks

I’m wondering if a bunch of these things are just waiting for cars to be broken on EBay or Facebook etc, and hoping the parts are good?

Thanks all, really enjoying the ownership experience so far!

The wiper arms do generally catch on the bonnet lip on older cars. You could try loosening the bolts on the bonnet-side of the bonnet hinges and seeing if you can pull the bonnet any further forward - you'll probably need an extra pair of hands as you'd be effectively trying to lift the bonnet skyward with the hinge bolts loose, then nipping up the hinge bolts to hold it at that position. There may be a millimetre to be had, and a millimetre is all you need. Other than that, it's down to you trying to find some replacement arms off a scrap vehicle as these are no longer available to buy. You could also try positioning the wiper arms up a little bit by hand before you open the bonnet. It could be that the wiper linkage has just worn and the "parked" position isn't where they should be for the bonnet to clear them. I generally find lifting them up the screen until you feel resistance (which will only be a few millimetres anyway) does the trick.

The bonnets can have a power-bulge in them if from a 2-litre 3-door or a coupe. I'm assuming the GTi had a bower bulge too? Later cars from around 1994 had a grille fitted at the front, and the bonnet is pre-drilled for fitting this. You can't buy new bonnets any more, so you'll have to get one from a scrap vehicle.

The driver's side front wing is Rover part code ASB38004 and they're in stock at X-part. You can join the club and get a 10% discount on this item from them - the usual price is around £80-£90 I believe.

The rear bumper trim is no longer available to buy. This will also have to come from a scrap vehicle.

That’s great! Thanks for the info, really appreciate that! I’ll definitely give the bonnet rejig a try and will play around with the wiper arms to see if that helps!

Great news that the wing is still available, for the life of me I could t find it, so that’s brill.

Shame about the other bits but will keep my eyes peeled cars being broken.

Thanks again! Will join up now

I’ve found by tweaking the resting position of the wiper blades you can create some clearance to the bonnet.
It seems to be the passenger blade that catches on mine.
They always end up catching the bonnet after I’ve removed and then refitted them and alway require readjustment of the resting position

Plodder wrote: ↑Sun Aug 14, 2022 8:02 am I’ve found by tweaking the resting position of the wiper blades you can create some clearance to the bonnet.
It seems to be the passenger blade that catches on mine.
They always end up catching the bonnet after I’ve removed and then refitted them and alway require readjustment of the resting position

That sounds familiar.

That’s great thanks guys! Had assumed the wiper arms were from another model or something. Will definitely look at readjusting the arms to get some clearance!

Regarding wipers arms, if the resting position of the passenger side is higher then drivers side that will clear bonnet catching on them for good.

bonnet tends to catch when you attach them and let them sit on the bolts as you tighten them. If you get the bolts close and then lift the bonnet away it gives a fair few extra millimeters which is usually enough not to catch them.

RoverRevival wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:59 am bonnet tends to catch when you attach them and let them sit on the bolts as you tighten them. If you get the bolts close and then lift the bonnet away it gives a fair few extra millimeters which is usually enough not to catch them.

Might have a go at readjusting my bonnet at some point.
Presumably you might see the bonnet might sitting lower than the wings or is it so subtle you can’t measure it?

Plodder wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:30 pm

RoverRevival wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:59 am bonnet tends to catch when you attach them and let them sit on the bolts as you tighten them. If you get the bolts close and then lift the bonnet away it gives a fair few extra millimeters which is usually enough not to catch them.

Might have a go at readjusting my bonnet at some point.
Presumably you might see the bonnet might sitting lower than the wings or is it so subtle you can’t measure it?

It's pretty minor at the front - pulling the bonnet forward on the hinges and back just shifts the edge lightly either side of the "point" at the top of the wing above the indicator. You may see a couple of millimetres either way, but you can definitely live with it as you can look at untouched examples of the cars and the bonnet alignment isn't exact and your eye isn't immediately drawn to it anyway.

On my main restoration car, I sourced a brand-new Rover bonnet (genuine original part) and I said to the body shop that when they mount the bonnet, they should pull it as far forward as they could, so it hopefully misses the wipers when they close it. I'd covered the wiper arms in tape anyway to lessen the scratching effect if it did. They showed me afterwards - the bonnet only just misses the wiper arms (not even a millimetre in it) and the front edge was still short of the wing tips by a millimetre or two, and I just live with it. You could of course say the wings are mounted too far forward, but I've had to jiggle the wings a fair bit to get the panel gaps how I want them, and I wouldn't want them any further forward, so it stays as it is.