Replacement hood ordered

[roastbeef]

Just ordered a new black mohair hood from soft-top.co.uk and will let you all know how (self) installation goes and what it looks like when fitted :) If the finished job looks good I'll post a pic.

Assuming all goes well, which I'm sure it will, I'll be keen to add a new set of stainless hood fasteners to top the job off. Can anyone here help me with that?

I apologise if this post is in the wrong section. There is a shopping aspect to my post :o)

[old'uns]

marine chandlers prob best bet?

[Mylee]

What sort of wait is there for your hood? Did you enquire about them fitting it?

[roastbeef]

Ordered yesterday. Delivered today. Fitting quote was 150-200 (price, I'm guessing, is location dependant) but decided to do it myself as I'm strapped for cash having only just bought my Beat. Fitted the hood today in the glaring sunshine. Took me about 6 hours in total going at a fairly leisurely pace. Quite a full-on DIY job IMO. No pre-made holes in the new hood. So requires a lot of care and attention to the positioning of holes, etc. With the job done, though, I'm really pleased with the result. It's a massive improvement on the tatty old hood that, I'm guessing, was the original. Hood material is mohair. I chose black but blue was an option. I'll get a pic taken and posted soon. I'm happy to recommend this product based on my own experience. I'd say it's as good as the Honda hood, if not better, in terms of build quality. It's great to be able to see out of the back window!

[roastbeef]

Forgot to mention it is the Robbins (U.S. made product) hood that is supplied by soft-top.co.uk.

[Mylee]

I'd like to see some pictures, inside as well please. This may be a better option than going the Honda route as I had planned
Is the Window the same format as the original, i.e still unzip's??

[roastbeef]

Pics will be done soon. Rear window section is zipped in the same way as the original Honda hood.

Tools I used for the job: power drill & bits (to take out old pop rivets), pop rivets (3.2mm) and rivet gun, perforator tool (to make holes for fastening screws), an awl (for starting/locating hole positions), screwdrivers and a sharp craft knife (for trimming).

There's one really tricky job where you have to feed tension cables through seams down each side of the hood. For this task I found that by using one of those flexible grab tools with jaws the job was a whole lot easier. i.e. fed the tool through the seam, grabbed the tension cable with the tool and then dragged the cable back through the seam. I'll get a pic of this tool to illustrate.

[roastbeef]

Here are some pics I took over the weekend of the (almost) completed replacement top. I just need a pair of pull-off poppers for the bottom corners which, hopefully, Lee W can help me with sometime soon.

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/9788/img0509abd2.th.jpg (http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0509abd2.jpg)
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/9130/img0511awr6.th.jpg (http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0511awr6.jpg)
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/4963/img0517bj3.th.jpg (http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0517bj3.jpg)

[roastbeef]

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/9525/img0514ob2.th.jpg (http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0514ob2.jpg)
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/2881/img0515gw2.th.jpg (http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0515gw2.jpg)
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/4007/img0513ly9.th.jpg (http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0513ly9.jpg)

[roastbeef]

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/8054/img0512anc6.th.jpg (http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0512anc6.jpg)

[Wh1teLeopard]

Looking very good :cool:

[TADO]

wow - that does look good! very smart looking car as well :D
im very tempted by this or one of the oxted roofs...

[roastbeef]

Thanks to both of you for your kind comments. Appreciated :)

Tado: FYI I'm quite sure that www.soft-top.co.uk, European Trimming Co Ltd. and Oxted Trimming Co. are all related. The main reason I say that is because they all share the same postal address. I could be wrong about that, of course. :rolleyes:

[TADO]

ahh-hah! i seeeeeee - that would explain things! :D :p :cool:

[Paul w]

Soft-Top.co.uk is a trading style of European Trimming Company Ltd. European Trimming Company Ltd is a UK formulated company, Registered at Companies House, Company Number: 04526858.

From the website
The business was formed officially in 2002 though we have effectively been trading hoods and hood accessories for many years through our sister Company - Oxted Trimming Company Limited. European Trimming Company (ETC) and Oxted Trimming Company Limited (OTC) share the same business premises in Oxted, Surrey (around 20 miles from Central London).

They are actually re-selling Robbins (USA) brand soft tops and they are superb!

Mention the UKHBC and you should get a discount!

PW

[Mylee]

Thanks for the piccies Beef, looks like an excellent job.

[Siu]

ahh-hah! i seeeeeee - that would explain things! :D :p :cool:

hi, TADO,

How can i contact the FEEL'S person at the website links? Is that they dealing to ship world wide? I'm interested to buy something for my BEAT... Thanks..

[TADO]

hi siu
im afraid i havent had any direct contact with feels - a company here in the UK is importing the parts for me. if you speak to a local specialist importer im sure they could help you tho?

[Mylee]

Just ordered my new roof from soft-top.co.uk, but they are out of stock of black. Looks like it's gonna be early September now. :(