New Hood from Sam Goodwin?

[rouseman]

 Hi All

Need to get a new hood, Sam Goodwin is near by and I just wandered if anyone here has had a new hood from them?

Any pictures or recomendations? Live in the coventry area…

[ast]

 They fit hoods fine; obviously they don’t actually make the hoods themselves, so you will have a number of options which hood to use.

 

 

The hood I have on my Roadster was fitted by them, and 3 years on, is fine (dark blue vinyl, plastic window). The only recent issue I’ve had is a tensioner cable that has snapped at the rivet end; the cable is non-Mazda, so it looks like they have as a matter of course, fitted new cables (I’ve never had to do this, when fitting hoods myself DIY).

 

Actually, if you go along to them, chances are that their used car stock all have new hoods fitted, so you check the quality yourself. Frankly though, if you want the best quality hood to replace yours, you can’t beat an original Mazda hood, though a Mk1 hood (plastic window) is £5-600 before fitting. Others will fit and look fine, but in my experiences the “Haartz Premium” vynal used doesn’t last as long (3-4 years, then it splits), and the PVC window, though less prone to cracking, is MUCH more prone to scratching.

[richardn]

 

 They fit hoods fine; obviously they don’t actually make the hoods themselves, so you will have a number of options which hood to use.

 

 

The hood I have on my Roadster was fitted by them, and 3 years on, is fine (dark blue vinyl, plastic window). The only recent issue I’ve had is a tensioner cable that has snapped at the rivet end; the cable is non-Mazda, so it looks like they have as a matter of course, fitted new cables (I’ve never had to do this, when fitting hoods myself DIY).

 

Actually, if you go along to them, chances are that their used car stock all have new hoods fitted, so you check the quality yourself. Frankly though, if you want the best quality hood to replace yours, you can’t beat an original Mazda hood, though a Mk1 hood (plastic window) is £5-600 before fitting. Others will fit and look fine, but in my experiences the “Haartz Premium” vynal used doesn’t last as long (3-4 years, then it splits), and the PVC window, though less prone to cracking, is MUCH more prone to scratching.

 

In my experience the BAS hoods are as good as the Mazda hood, and last. The cheaper hoods that are about I am changing at 3 yrs old.

[ast]

In my experience the BAS hoods are as good as the Mazda hood, and last. The cheaper hoods that are about I am changing at 3 yrs old.

 

 

Mine is a BAS hood; its no better, or worse than a Duetto (EZTop) hood). Duetto hood was made from the same material as BAS (same supplier, Haartz), and was done after 5 years (splits in the binding). The zips used by BAS (YKK) are a bit feeble. I’ve experience of US made tops (Duetto), BAS, Mazda, Trim Technology (aka SFT budget hoods) and Prestige hoods. Prestige hoods, in my experience, are badly cut. TT hoods; well, they are budget tops, so expectations aren’t high; they were probably mistaken in thinking they could redesign the hood away from mazda specs. Duetto; initially looked and fitted well. Showed its age after 5 years, with splits in the edge binding. Window scratched despite regular use oa super soft BSP window protector; the Vytek PVC used remains supple, but at the cost of loss of resistance to scratching.

 

Genuine Mazda hoods seem to have it all; perfect fit everytime, better interior finishing (after market hoods often seem to have either raggeded edges, or a tendancy for unglued edges to fray), window that is resistant to scratching. The main weakness is that the window material (sourced from Switzerland) is prone to UV-damage ; it darkens, and loses flexibility.