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Title: spyder hood Post by: tonylanciabeta on December 07, 2008, 10:02:06 PM From: spydervx (Original Message) Sent: 08/03/2008 03:43
Hi guys, Has anyone purchased and fitted a replacement fabric hood for a spyder? If so can you recommend a supplier and how complex is it? Many thanks Spydervx From: ozspider Sent: 09/03/2008 14:21 I replaced the hood on my Spyder a few years ago. I got the hood from Prestige Auto Trim Products and I believe they still have hoods available. The job was reasonably straightforward in terms of fitting the hood apart from one thing - yes you guessed it rust. The hood is attached to the body at the rear by a U shaped channel which has flanges which uses nuts and captive bolts to retain the hood against the bodywork. In my 78 car the channel was almost completely rusted away in some places. This channel is curved to match the outward appearance of the hood and was quite tricky to repair. I think mine became a little distorted with all the welding because it was a bugger to get the bolts and captive nuts to mate up again. If this channel is not too rusty you shouldnt have too much of a problem. Just measure up the centre of the cant rail and the centre of the hood with chalk before you glue it to the cant rail. I am inspired to replace my hood again as I note from my invoice that mine is now 13 years old. From: Omicron Sent: 10/03/2008 10:40 We can source a hood if needed. Fitting - so much depends on how good the frame is from your existing hood. Andrew From: spydervx Sent: 15/03/2008 23:55 Thanks for the advice ozspider and andrew: both very useful spydervx From: oldjohn502 Sent: 10/04/2008 23:09 During the restoration of my 1978 Spyder I had to remove the hood which was not in particularly good condition. I bought a rough 1982 Spyder for spares that included a new hood and a good targa roof that I also intended to use. However, when I fitted the replacement hood it would not reach the roof clips and close, i.e. it was too short. To add to the confusion the replacement targa roof was too big for my car (this makes sense because the hood is smaller). I went to great lengths taking measurements from both cars and sure enough the targa and hood openings were different on both cars. I do need a new hood but am reluctant to buy unless I can be sure that it will fit. Has anyone come across this before or can we have a concensus of hood and roof measuremnents? From: hutch6610 Sent: 13/04/2008 20:21 Now that's very interesting! I purchased a "good" second hand hood for my 77 spider - just required a new clear panel to be sewn in and a bit of material at the bottom to wrap around the anchor frame. Cost me £75.00 (tidy sum of money in 1994). To my horror it was exactly like yours - i assumed it had shrunk being left folded in the down position. Put it this way, i drove back and forth over the thing and did my "Fiddler on the roof" dance on it. Got one eventually from Betacar (too late now) and it fitted perfectly. Wonder why they played around with the dimensions like that? From: oldjohn502 Sent: 20/04/2008 16:46 That's very very interesting. So it's not just me then. Could Omicron throw any light on this if they are offering to source hoods and are they able to supply dimensions before ordering. From: Omicron Sent: 21/04/2008 10:43 S1 and S2 parts book tells that the rear soft hood is the same with only one variant. Targa panels differ S1 to S2, probably due to the roof side panels that appeared on the S2 version I can ask our supplier if they are willing to give dimensions. If the customer was willing to supply their old hood as a template, then obviously we can make them to suit. The hoods we've supplied have some adjustment whilst fitting. Andrew |