Hi I have noticed a small split in my soft top just back from the drivers side window and low down, it starts about 20mm above the body work and fans out to about 15mm wide at which point it up disappears behind the bodywork, is there a way of patching this and if so would it be a permanent fix.
Thanks in advance for any help,
Regards Dave.
sorry to break bad news, but the material is giving up. This area creases when the hood is folded, so a patch will not stay there. Time to start looking for a new hood or a good second-hand one.
A temporary solution is to put sikaflex ebt on it, but it is temporary
Hi Richard and thanks for the response.
I was half expecting that to be the case, so I guess the hunt is on for a good quality replacement. A few thoughts of mine:
Who is the best for quality ?
Is mohair better ?
Is it worth going for a type 1 with removable panel ( someone mentioned somewhere that it’s good for motorways hood up window out), also I believe some have larger than standard screens, do you have any experience or thoughts on these points?
Thanks in advance,
Kind regards Dave
I used to fit hoods when I lived in Scotland. My cars always had vinyl hoods as I hated cleaning the Mohair. The best quality hoods on the market are still BAS http://www.car-hood.co.uk/mazda-hoods. You will see that they are the only ones that put the back window in properly.
When I had a vinyl soft top, I sewed up the split and covered it with a product called Stormsure. It was meant to be a temporary fix and it was unsightly, but held together so well I didn’t get a new hood until a year or so later. It can’t have been in a spot subject to much stress.
I have a mohair roof and despite being more difficult to clean I think it looks better than a vinyl roof.
Thank you Richard, that’s interesting advice I hadn’t considered the cleaning aspect and I will check out the hood supplier you gave, again many thanks.
Kind regards Dave
Hi pbma, thanks for the tip I shall have a close look to see if I can do the same till I source a new hood I think it may not be possible to stitch low enough we shall see.
Thanks again.
Regards Dave
Hello Darren, I was also thinking mohair for the look, but after these replies am having second thoughts as I don’t have a garage the car has to suffer the elements, I can see I have some weighing up to do ! your help is much appreciated.
Regards Dave.
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No worries Dave, good luck!
Paul
Where are you based? I have a vinyl roof from mk1 ( I think they fit the mk2, someone please correct me if I’m wrong) with the plastic window for sale if you are interested, I’ll take any reasonable offer, might be ok as a stop gap? I’m near Southampton.
Hi grumpybadger, thanks for contacting me, I’m near sunny Southend in Essex so a bit to far away, thanks for the offer though and good luck with selling it.
Kindest regards Dave