I thought I had put in my fourpennorth, but obviously forgot to press send!
I had a similar problem with my29 RK 101380. I had the rubber seals not pressed right up to the ridge on the bonnet (gave me over 1/2")and also made some of the lower mounting holes & the top stay holes oval by about 1/8". Because of the "leverage" that made a lot of difference & it now fits nicely. I think a chrome rad was a feature of the 1929 models...it is mentioned in the advertising literature!
Good luck!
(01-11-2020, 11:12 PM)Tony Press Wrote: My early 29 has a nickel cowl - if i remember correctly my late 29 was chrome but that was over half a century ago
A friend has a May '29 Chummy - all nickel, my October '29 RK is half nickel, half chrome and another friend has a December '29 Chummy, all chrome, so it seems it was a changeover as bits became available in the new-fangled chrome plate.
Spot on - chrome was introduced towards the end of '29.
Bonnet hinges - the 'bent-over flaps' were, I understand, not nickel-plated but made from a material known as "German silver", a material composed (I read) from copper, nickel and zinc and employed for its toughness and resistance to corrosion. It's certainly on my early '29/very late'28, but by the mid-1930s, and the short-scuttle, long bonnet cars, the flats are in steel. Do all early cars have the German silver hinges?
All three of my cars (late '26, late '27 and late '29) have this type of hinge. I had assumed that the metal was nickel; it seems to be the same material as the reverse thumb catch on a gate change gearbox and the horn button. The door handles on the Top Hat also seem to be the same stuff. Polishes up beautifully but tarnishes to a horrible brown.
My 1925 Austin 12/4 Clifton had a lot of the same material....