Series 3 E-Type Bonnet Restoration – Part 1 – Center Section

We were recently contracted by a customer to build a good original bonnet for his 1972 Series 3 V-12.  He had no bonnet for this car at all, and was not having any luck finding a new bonnet from the usual suppliers.  Series 2 and 3 bonnets are basically out of stock “new”, and he was told that he could be placed on a 16-MONTH waiting list.

I told him that we could build an excellent original bonnet in 2-3 months, and that it would be more correct that what is available new anyway – the new bonnets have SERIOUS issues that you are welcome to call and discuss with me…

There are 2 styles of V-12 bonnets – the early style, which is the basic configuration for V-12’s, and the later style, which has 4 holes in the nose for the bumper shock absorbers, and kinked and specially formed inner valances to clear those shock absorbers.  By welding up the holes in the later style bonnet, you CAN use it on any V-12 E-Type, but if you have a ’73 or ’74 car with the shock-absorbers, you MUST have the later style inner valances – a rare piece (we have excellent originals here, so call if you need some…)

Originally, we purchased a later-style V-12 bonnet for this customer, intending to simply weld up the shock-absorber holes and go with the later inner valances.  But after finally sourcing some of the earlier inner valances without the kink in them for the shock absorbers, I decided to take the plunge and build up a correct early-style V-12 bonnet from pieces.

The starting point was the center section, which we sourced from a very tired early-style Series 3 bonnet we picked up on eBay…