Discussion
I put a new peice of plastic in my hood over christmas. It cost 8 pounds plus p&p I think. And I had some left over!
Worst part was the sowing. Using a leather needle I picked up the individual holes of the original took bout 2 weeks on and off the odd hour here and there.
Best part is it looks perfect and ofcourse everytime I glance in the rearview mirror there is an enormous sence of achivement.
Can Give details if anyone is interested.
Worst part was the sowing. Using a leather needle I picked up the individual holes of the original took bout 2 weeks on and off the odd hour here and there.
Best part is it looks perfect and ofcourse everytime I glance in the rearview mirror there is an enormous sence of achivement.
Can Give details if anyone is interested.
It costs around the £500 mark.....(plus the Griff struts of course) to have the roof and rear section custom made to fit the car by somebody who knows what they are doing.
Its a t
t of a job involving drilling out rusty bolts etc and to get the tension correct after is also a pig. I put up a link someplace of a guy who has an 'S' TVR site who put up a good article of fitting one yourself. Have a search through the forums, its worth a look just to convince yourself not to do it ;-)
MikeyB
Its a t
t of a job involving drilling out rusty bolts etc and to get the tension correct after is also a pig. I put up a link someplace of a guy who has an 'S' TVR site who put up a good article of fitting one yourself. Have a search through the forums, its worth a look just to convince yourself not to do it ;-) MikeyB
thomas7037 said:
I put a new peice of plastic in my hood over christmas. It cost 8 pounds plus p&p I think. And I had some left over!
Worst part was the sowing. Using a leather needle I picked up the individual holes of the original took bout 2 weeks on and off the odd hour here and there.
Best part is it looks perfect and ofcourse everytime I glance in the rearview mirror there is an enormous sence of achivement.
Can Give details if anyone is interested.
Worst part was the sowing. Using a leather needle I picked up the individual holes of the original took bout 2 weeks on and off the odd hour here and there.
Best part is it looks perfect and ofcourse everytime I glance in the rearview mirror there is an enormous sence of achivement.
Can Give details if anyone is interested.
definately interested here, more details please.....
I took off the entire rear section to work on. As many people have indicated the screws are hard to get out and I ended up with two heads shearing off. With hiensite (spelling?)might have been better of using an impact driver but it wasn't an impossible job.
I removed the old screen using an unpicker although most of the thread in my case was so worn it came apart very easily. And then for the tricky part.
I placed the new plastic which I belive was called Vybak or vyback although there are other plastics I seem to remember that was the cheapest and was made of the same material as other "specialist materials" I think its vinynal based. Any way placed it out on a flat surface and streched it taught to produce a perfectly flat surface. Using Evo impact I then positioned the backing material as a guide, and made tacking stitches in the screen at regular intervals maybe ten in total. I was then able to begin stitching the screen into the hood after cutting it out. I used a impregnated linen thread from a sowing shop after much discussion with camping shops and alike. The thread loses its strength after it has been worked but this was not aan issue for me as there is only so much you can have on your needle at once. You can buy wax donut shaped things to thread through that mantain the threads integraty but you can easily see when its time to change thread.
I used two independant passes on each ring of stitching meaning I had to sow round the hood 4 times!
I did consider using some dow corning or alike to seal the plastic to the material but after asking around was told its not nessecary or a great idea. it seems to be more important to seal the stitching afterwards and since I planned a coat of renovo this was not a problem.
Reffiting was not a problem and the tension in the screen was my only worry. Carfully poped the hoop back in then used nice new galvanised screws to secure it to the car. I did run a bead of silicon under the rear retainer which I allowed to cure before fitting as looking at the way the dirt had settled when removing I could see that there was water getting in. Not lots but I think it added to the dampness you can get. since this and refiting plastic to the door inners the car is more like a modern car in terms of getting in and it being "dry", hard to describe but I think you know what I mean.
I put the hood up for the first time and the screen had brilliant tension. The difference between the old one which was yellow faded and covered in scratches is unbelivable.
It probably cost me the same as gettting a pro to do it if I count time stitching etc as i wanted to pick up the old hole and not use a machine. But if its winter the car aint going out anyway and you have an odd hour here and there its a nice project. I also had the engine out this xmas so when i got board of doing the dirty came inside to get warm and did some clean work.
I will hopefuly add some pics if I can work out how to do it?
Hope this helps If I have missed somthing or you want more detail on somthing just ask and ill do my best to describe, whish I had taken more pics now.
I removed the old screen using an unpicker although most of the thread in my case was so worn it came apart very easily. And then for the tricky part.
I placed the new plastic which I belive was called Vybak or vyback although there are other plastics I seem to remember that was the cheapest and was made of the same material as other "specialist materials" I think its vinynal based. Any way placed it out on a flat surface and streched it taught to produce a perfectly flat surface. Using Evo impact I then positioned the backing material as a guide, and made tacking stitches in the screen at regular intervals maybe ten in total. I was then able to begin stitching the screen into the hood after cutting it out. I used a impregnated linen thread from a sowing shop after much discussion with camping shops and alike. The thread loses its strength after it has been worked but this was not aan issue for me as there is only so much you can have on your needle at once. You can buy wax donut shaped things to thread through that mantain the threads integraty but you can easily see when its time to change thread.
I used two independant passes on each ring of stitching meaning I had to sow round the hood 4 times!
I did consider using some dow corning or alike to seal the plastic to the material but after asking around was told its not nessecary or a great idea. it seems to be more important to seal the stitching afterwards and since I planned a coat of renovo this was not a problem.
Reffiting was not a problem and the tension in the screen was my only worry. Carfully poped the hoop back in then used nice new galvanised screws to secure it to the car. I did run a bead of silicon under the rear retainer which I allowed to cure before fitting as looking at the way the dirt had settled when removing I could see that there was water getting in. Not lots but I think it added to the dampness you can get. since this and refiting plastic to the door inners the car is more like a modern car in terms of getting in and it being "dry", hard to describe but I think you know what I mean.
I put the hood up for the first time and the screen had brilliant tension. The difference between the old one which was yellow faded and covered in scratches is unbelivable.
It probably cost me the same as gettting a pro to do it if I count time stitching etc as i wanted to pick up the old hole and not use a machine. But if its winter the car aint going out anyway and you have an odd hour here and there its a nice project. I also had the engine out this xmas so when i got board of doing the dirty came inside to get warm and did some clean work.
I will hopefuly add some pics if I can work out how to do it?
Hope this helps If I have missed somthing or you want more detail on somthing just ask and ill do my best to describe, whish I had taken more pics now.
thomas7037 said:
I put a new peice of plastic in my hood over christmas. It cost 8 pounds plus p&p I think. And I had some left over!
Worst part was the sowing. Using a leather needle I picked up the individual holes of the original took bout 2 weeks on and off the odd hour here and there.
Best part is it looks perfect and ofcourse everytime I glance in the rearview mirror there is an enormous sence of achivement.
Can Give details if anyone is interested.
I have the same problem with the 200. Worst part was the sowing. Using a leather needle I picked up the individual holes of the original took bout 2 weeks on and off the odd hour here and there.
Best part is it looks perfect and ofcourse everytime I glance in the rearview mirror there is an enormous sence of achivement.
Can Give details if anyone is interested.
The hood is in quite good condition but the stitching has gone. I had someone prepared to put in a new screen for £30.00 but in the end despite having 7 industrial sewing machines he could not get the hood under any & daren't take the hood apart in case it tore. I glued it which lasted 12 months so I think your solution is the only way. I would be grateful for any tips you picked up along the way.
Thanks
Brian
I got mine from autohoods and fitted it myself with great results. The hardest part was fitting the mohair to the targa panel which I had to alter its shape slightly to get the fabric to fit. It might be cheaper to take the existing hood to a good trimmer and get them to copy and sew it together, its worth getting a price comparison.
The job is best done in a heated enviroment which allows the fabric to stretch, last summer's heatwave was perfect and I would definitely do it again when the time comes to replace it next time round.
If anyone wants a detailed guide - email me.
Andy
The job is best done in a heated enviroment which allows the fabric to stretch, last summer's heatwave was perfect and I would definitely do it again when the time comes to replace it next time round.
If anyone wants a detailed guide - email me.
Andy
Tips......
GV has a good point I did all my work indoors and not out in the cold.
The right needle helped alot its called a leater needel and if you were to section it it would look like a Tri-Lubular screw head. A thimble is needed too.
Bit more detail as to the stitching, the first pass was:
-_-_-_-_-_ then the second pass was _-_-_-_-_- so all the gaps were filled and there were two independant threads.
Sorry for turning this thread into a bit of a WI meeting! any more Q's or probs just ask.
GV has a good point I did all my work indoors and not out in the cold.
The right needle helped alot its called a leater needel and if you were to section it it would look like a Tri-Lubular screw head. A thimble is needed too.
Bit more detail as to the stitching, the first pass was:
-_-_-_-_-_ then the second pass was _-_-_-_-_- so all the gaps were filled and there were two independant threads.
Sorry for turning this thread into a bit of a WI meeting! any more Q's or probs just ask.
I got mine done at West Coast Trimmers, Devon way. They do all of Penninsula TVR's work and a lot of classic Ferrari and Porsche's cars. Put it this way mine was by far the cheapest motor in his compound! ;-) by a long way.
Did a brilliant job, put new roof seal's all over and also added little extra 'wings' just behing the door handles as this material always shrinks back after time and pulls at the velcro. The rain just pisses off now.
The window panel in the back I choose to be slightly thicker plastic material (he has a range of different types).
All In all he did a fantastic job. Cost about £500.
The dude also fitted stainless hex nut bolts and fitted the Griff struts at the same time.
The number is: 01626833722
Did a brilliant job, put new roof seal's all over and also added little extra 'wings' just behing the door handles as this material always shrinks back after time and pulls at the velcro. The rain just pisses off now.
The window panel in the back I choose to be slightly thicker plastic material (he has a range of different types).
All In all he did a fantastic job. Cost about £500.
The dude also fitted stainless hex nut bolts and fitted the Griff struts at the same time.
The number is: 01626833722
mikeb said:
Its important to note that this guy makes the hood from scratch to fit your car exactly, as each one is slightly different.
MikeyB
MikeyB
Absolutely.....I bought a hood with the intention of fitting it myself but bottled out and asked a trimmer to fit it. He found it was too short on one side. There was nothing wrong with the hood, it was the car that wasn't symmetrical. The trimmer said this was normal and produced 3 old hoods off various Wedges and folded them in half, not a single one was symmetrical. It does highlight the need to be careful if you are thinking about fitting one yourself.
GV said:
I got mine from autohoods and fitted it myself with great results. The hardest part was fitting the mohair to the targa panel which I had to alter its shape slightly to get the fabric to fit. It might be cheaper to take the existing hood to a good trimmer and get them to copy and sew it together, its worth getting a price comparison.
The job is best done in a heated enviroment which allows the fabric to stretch, last summer's heatwave was perfect and I would definitely do it again when the time comes to replace it next time round.
If anyone wants a detailed guide - email me.
Andy
The job is best done in a heated enviroment which allows the fabric to stretch, last summer's heatwave was perfect and I would definitely do it again when the time comes to replace it next time round.
If anyone wants a detailed guide - email me.
Andy
I can almost hear "Jerusalem" playing ..
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