New proud Beat owner!

[MajorTom]

Alright,

finally I have time to write :)
So I bought PP1's Beat last Saturday and it's a real fun car but guess you all know that.

I was after a silver one so I'm quite happy with it. My girlfriend loves it and almost everyone who saw it instantly become a lover of the little Beat.

It's going to be a weekend-only car as I live in Cambridge and don't really have nowhere to go during the week.

Also Dick mentioned it smokes on acceleration, altough I didn't noticed myself so I must look into this sooner or later. Maybe a rebuild of 700cc kit is coming soon :)

The hood needs some attention as well, worst part being the rear window which is milky all the way. Anyone have experience with this hindsight solution as my friend has some and he claims it's fantastic so I might give it a go before buying a new rear window or hood.

Otherwise any suggestions on a new hood ? How hard is it to fit ? I did many works on my previous cars (engine upgrade, nitrous, suspension) but never had a convertible and a MR before. It's a bit awckward to get to the engine as far as I can see.

So I'm officially a member now cheers to everyone !

I might be the first Hungarian Beat owner. I think so :)

Tom

[Wh1teLeopard]

Welcome to the club :D

Do a search for 'hood' and should come up with some posts about new ones and should answer you questions :)

[Andrew Fisher]

Hi Tom great to see you succumbed and bought a Beat - hope it goes over 7500 rpm!

I think there is a bit of a problem with all of the postings on this site about Oxted hoods, or it may be me just being a thicko (not the first time).

Anyway when I needed a new hood and I searched under 'hood' and 'Oxted' and got one (very very quick and very friendly - their delivery is fantastic) from them I realised that it was not made by Oxted but just imported by them.

The hood they sell is by Robbins Auto Tops of California (code 2533C SF BKB as far as I can tell for black on black website robbinsautotopco.com). As far as I know that information has never been posted on this site. It may just be a very silly assumption I made that because people say 'Buy it from Oxted' then that means Oxted make it, but I made the assumption none the less.

That's great if you're gonna fit it yourself or get Oxted to fit it. But note that it needs holes made in it and stretching and all sorts of stuff that really it's probably best left to a professional, cos it costs a lot of money and you don't want to ruin it.

The big question is, though, if you want a professional OTHER than Oxted to fit it. When I approached A+R Pound (in Baldock 01462 892704, not too far from you Tom, and they also said they could do a rear window on its own for about £80 btw) they were very hesitant fitting a third party top never having done a Beat before. (They have now though!)

If they'd ruined the top (highly unlikely but theoretically possible) we'd have been left in the difficult situation of me having to try and get my money back from Oxted. It just wouldn't work. Which is why they're a bit edgy about it.

But if I'd gone to Pound's in the first place THEY could have ordered the top and if they'd ruined it they could have returned it. And I wouldn't have been left having shelled out the money in the first place. (And Robbins would probably accept it back as they would want further custom from a fitter unlike me or you who order one in a lifetime)

I always think that if something goes wrong it's best to put yourself in the situation where someone has to sue you or someone else, but not where you have to sue someone else, because that's never easy.

[MajorTom]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the long story on the HOODS.

Yep, finally bought a Beat. I wanted to e-mail you the great news but have to admit that as winter closes in I'm getting lazy and frustrated and just sleep all day (even at work) and waiting for spring already :)

I'm still thinking about the hood, where to go what to get, where to fit, etc. Ofcourse I don't want to ruin a new hood so might do what You suggested and oreder it thru the one who'll fit it. Now I'm even more confused :)

I was going to order it after christmas when everything gets back to normal :)

Thanks,
Tom

[Andrew Fisher]

Sorry to confuse you more Tom! Must get back to hibernating.

[MajorTom]

Don't worry about it :) Any suggestion, help that comes BEFORE buying the roof is welcome... AFTER buying it it's a pain :)

So thanks again,

Tom

[MajorTom]

Btw Andrew how much did they ask for fitting the roof in Baldock ?

Tom

[LawrenceHarding]

I have used hindsight on a scuffed rear window. It appears to comprise a very fine abrasive followed by a polish. It will only deal with surface defects. You will need a lot of elbow grease. I did the inside of mine from inside the car before discovering it could be folded out onto the rear lid.

[Andrew Fisher]

£100 Tom.

[MajorTom]

Thanks Andrew. That's a fair price.

BTW anyone knows where can I get nice shiny new screws for the hood ? There's like 10 screws holding the roof with washer-like things. Mine are all rusty and would like to get some new shiny ones :)

Seen them on Yaphoo but I wouldn't go that far for a set of screws :) Or should I ?

Thanks,
Tom

[adrianp]

Getting them from Japan isn't a problem as we have a guy out there who can get a lot of things for us...:D

[MajorTom]

Yup I heard about OZ :) Who haven't heard about him on this board ? :)
But would like to bother him for a few bolts :)

Tom