Rear Hood Removal

[BIIOAB]

My rear window has split from the hood - the nearest recommended expert is a bit away and has asked me to drop the rear hood into him.
Ive heard this can be a bit awkward - whats the easiest thing to do to remove the rear section in one piece?
Thanks for any tips

[simon.b]

The hood is bonded to the rear former and central fold down arch. The rear former is unbolted using the fasteners visible from inside the car, don’t forget the two screws one at each end.

The folding hoop is attached by the pivot bolt. There will be a funny combination of spacers, different each side, so take note of which is which. Un-fortunately there is a problem with the hoop wiring for the interior light. I could not find a break for this so you will probably have to cut it and re-wire to prevent having to re-thread it through. I would suggest you do this from the passenger side lock access panel adjacent to the seat. I didn’t do this myself as I decided to leave the hoop in place.

Cheers,

Simon.

[Griffter]

I don't see how he can ensure correct tension on the material and rear screen without having the car there to trial fit (unless I've misunderstood)? Personally I'd take it to someone who'll take it off and put it on again. Then there's no excuse for getting it wrong.

[BIIOAB]

Well the guy has lots of TVR experience and comes highly recommended by the local TVRCC group, so i'm assuming he knows what's required....

[fastandcurious]

Simon's spot on with his description of the rear hood section. Only mine (late 94 500) was slightly different in that it had vertical studs off the rear hoop with nuts only accessible from inside the boot, these being a sod to get to. Two screws inside, pivots,locking arms and I had to cut my interior light wire too. It took me about an hour to take off the whole thing. I took it to a local guy (Peter King) who did a brilliant job. He said he didn't need to tension it because he used the old screen as a template. He even offered me a choice of different materials. £180 all in. Fits like a glove. Top job. South East. Frimley, Surrey. Email if you want his number. CRAIG.

[simon.b]

I forgot to mention to bolts from the over centre stays into the hoop. Just pull off the black plastic/rubber covers, these are glued on and remove the bolts. You should not need to undo the other end of the stays and therefore it shouldn’t need re-adjusting upon reassembly.

I’m with Griffter on the tension thing, that’s why I re-fitted my new hood with the hoop still in place. However if your using an expert, and I’m certainly not, so be it if that’s the way they do it.

One other thing to consider is that if the stitching has perished enough to require replacement of the window, the other stitching around the Velcro and edges etc will also be in the same condition, hence I replace the full hood and not just the window.

Cheers,

Simon.