Roof into boot techniques

[malloryn]

Given the good weather this morning, I decided to drive to work with the roof off.
Trying to get the roof in the boot took nearly quarter of an hour of strugglig and some minor scuffs to the roof fabric.

Is there an easy technique of getting the roof into the boof without ripping the fabric or chipping the paintwork?

[Plotloss]

I always did angle the panel at about 45 degs to the car, stick the right hand edge in, tuck it up inside the drivers side rear wing and then ease the left hand side in covering the edge with my hand in case of any wobbles.

Always seemed to be fine.

[N17 TVR]

Leading edge pointing towards the sky, slide it in towards the left hand side, wiggle it around, straighten it up, over and done in less than a minute.

.......the above is also how I make lurrrvvvv

[shnozz]

Plotloss said:

I always did angle the panel at about 45 degs to the car, stick the right hand edge in, tuck it up inside the drivers side rear wing and then ease the left hand side in covering the edge with my hand in case of any wobbles. Always seemed to be fine.

mine actually goes the other way around - leading edge down at 45 degrees towards the passenger side, drivers side drops in. takes me about 5 seconds to actually put into the boot.

[Size Nine Elm]

Alo simple if you ditch the space saver spare and carry a can of Tyreweld. Roof->boot, 2 seconds...

[RichB]

Blimey I always though the attraction of the Chimaera was the bigger boot! Anyway, on the Griffith it's leading edge (curved edge) down and fabric facing forwards goes in no trouble. Oh, and the easy way to avoid damaging teh fabric is to use the bag Rich...

[shnozz]

RichB said:

Blimey I always though the attraction of the Chimaera was the bigger boot! Anyway, on the Griffith it's leading edge (curved edge) down and fabric facing forwards goes in no trouble. Oh, and the easy way to avoid damaging teh fabric is to use the bag Rich...

its far far easier than getting the roof in the griff. not sure how you can spend more than 10 seconds getting the roof in the chim to be honest.

[shnozz]

Size Nine Elm said:

Alo simple if you ditch the space saver spare and carry a can of Tyreweld. Roof->boot, 2 seconds...

dont see how that would make that much difference. or not with "my" technique anyway as the roof remains at rights angles to the car. left side down, right side at 90 degrees then lowered once the left side is in place.

never got on with tyre weld and havent got the money to buy a new tyre after every time I use the stuff.

[DustyC]

Ive only tried it on the Griff a couple of times and that was enough. Having seen in a Chim boot for the first time at the wkend it looks like you lot have got it easy!

Mine Griff stays in the garage with the roof panel in boot, back section up, towel over top to prevent dust. Then again it hasnt rained for a while yet, but i best not say that too loud!

[jessica]

Plotloss said:

I always did angle the panel at about 45 degs to the car, stick the right hand edge in, tuck it up inside the drivers side rear wing and then ease the left hand side in covering the edge with my hand in case of any wobbles. Always seemed to be fine.

That's how I do mine. Previous owner managed a few scuffs. I just damage my hand......

[slikk]

They come with a ROOF ???????

[rat]

Make sure there's nothing on the floor of the left side of the boot outside the exhaust tunnel. Fabric towards you. Front edge pointing upwards. Right hand under the lower right corner so that you can watch the left edge without worrying about the right wing. Tilt it forwards a bit and push the left hand edge in as far over to the left as poss. The tilt helps avoid the exhaust tunnel. Adjust the angle a bit and you'll soon see how much further over to the left it will go. The right edge then easily clears the spare wheel.

Watch most of all for contact under boot lip as you're pushing the left in & then on top of offside wing after you've moved your hand away.

[rat]

shnozz said:

never got on with tyre weld and havent got the money to buy a new tyre after every time I use the stuff.

The spare is one use only and are nearly as expensive as the full size jobbies and probably harder to get. Radweld and a new tyre does make some sense compared to ???mph on a patched up tyre. Haven't got any myself -- but it does make sense.

[shnozz]

rat said:

shnozz said: never got on with tyre weld and havent got the money to buy a new tyre after every time I use the stuff. The spare is one use only and are nearly as expensive as the full size jobbies and probably harder to get. Radweld and a new tyre does make some sense compared to ???mph on a patched up tyre. Haven't got any myself -- but it does make sense.

does anyone know why those space savers are allegedly 1 use only. I will probably get slated for saying this but I have used a space saver on an everyday hack using conservative speeds for about 4 weeks before I could change the tyre. What difference will it make doing 1 400 mile journey on the space saver or ten 40 mile journies to get a new tyre?

and its not just that issue I have - if ever you have a rip in the tyre wall rather than a nail etc you are stranded and reliant on the AA. I found application of the stuff a nightmare and not just a case of whacking it onto the valve, pressing the button and bingo.

and then there is the issue of legal requirement in some european countries to carry a spare.

all in all, bearing in mind the size of the chim boot, IMHO its as easy to carry the spare. Having said that, I do carry a can of tyreweld in addition

[M@H]

shnozz said:

rat said: shnozz said: never got on with tyre weld and havent got the money to buy a new tyre after every time I use the stuff. The spare is one use only and are nearly as expensive as the full size jobbies and probably harder to get. Radweld and a new tyre does make some sense compared to ???mph on a patched up tyre. Haven't got any myself -- but it does make sense. does anyone know why those space savers are allegedly 1 use only.

not all are.. but imagine the TVR one which is a 130 wide profile IIRC on the same axle as a 225-245 tyre and 200+ bhp, and trying to provide the same grip... basically they get screwed quite quickly.

Cheers,
Matt.
Edited to add... I always struggled with my roof until I ditched the spare wheel too..

Edited again to add: Shnozz.. you don't have to replace the tyre having used Tyreweld, its just that a lot of garages refuse to clean the tyre out if its been filled with it - plus if its a sidewall puncture, you're going to need a new tyre anyway.


>> Edited by M@H on Tuesday 18th May 09:36

[JonRB]

Similar technique to the one I use.

Leading edge pointing up, fabric side towards you.

Holding the roof at an angle with left side down and right side up, slide the left hand side into the boot going downwards and sideways.

Once the LHS is as far left as it goes, the RHS should clear the RH wing. Lower RH edge of the roof and then rotate the roof slightly so that the bottom is closer to the back of the car and the top is closer to the front. This then clears the spare wheel (if fitted) and the roof drops the rest of the way in and all is well.

Unfortunately I, like you, had problems when I first got the car and have a few chips on the paintwork to prove it.

Since adopting the above technique, though, I haven't had any problems since and get it in first go every time (leave it Podie )

[stevend]

Excuse me popping over from the Tamora board. I put mine in LHS first at an angle, and I was concerned about the fabric being scuffed against the rather harsh carpet. So, I put a cut open black bin liner down in the left hand side of the floor of the boot. Result (1) roof doesn't get scuffed and (2) the bin liner helps the roof SLIDE in so easily.

regards


Steven

[Bob the Planner]

I find that with leading (curved) end downwards and the fabric side towards the rear of the car, the curvewd cut out fits past the spare easier. I struggled a few times until I sorted which way up and which way round was best.

My technique is left hand corner in first at 45 deg in both planes. Twist vertical and then slide the right hand side in. Works a treat for me - about 10 seconds. Total roof off time about 90 seconds.

Bob

[Big_M]

N17 TVR said:

over and done in less than a minute. .......the above is also how I make lurrrvvvv

Why do I find that easy to believe

[N17 TVR]

Because you know me ? Anyway 1-3 minutes is efficient use of the commercial break during half time.....

Back to the topic, it is somewhat interesting that there is such a plethora of roof inserting techniques in use out there.

We need to identify who has the quickest draw.....