bagged a cheap hood - fitting tips

bagged a cheap hood - fitting tips

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Discussion

princeperch

Original Poster:

8,028 posts

254 months

Sunday 9th November 2008
quotequote all
Due to me managing to bugger up the window I decided I would try and hunt down the cheapest tan hood possible.

I was lucky and found this boy for 45 notes this afternoon.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

It's a second apparently, I hope only due to the scratches on the rear window, but other than this it seems as new. Even if it's not brilliant, it was only 45 quid which is about 80 quid or so cheaper than the next cheapest on ebay....

Due to me being terminally skint I'm going to set a day aside to fit it myself. It comes with instructions but I think some of our numbers have fitted hoods themselves - is it much of a sod to do?

Ta as always.

Edited by princeperch on Sunday 9th November 19:27

DennisTheMenace

15,605 posts

275 months

Sunday 9th November 2008
quotequote all
you should find all you need here smile

http://www.miata.net/garage/garagetops.html

princeperch

Original Poster:

8,028 posts

254 months

Sunday 9th November 2008
quotequote all
Los Angeles said:
And savoid tan coloured hoods. They never work aesthetically. Are the wheels tan?
Thanks Dennis.

I want a tan hood as it was part of the factory spec for my monaco, so in the event I want to flog the old girl (unlikely as it is) I want her to be as she should be.

As an aside I quite like the tan and BRG!

DennisTheMenace

15,605 posts

275 months

Sunday 9th November 2008
quotequote all
A BRG with a tan hood does look ok ,But i prefer black smile

lord summerisle

8,148 posts

232 months

Wednesday 12th November 2008
quotequote all
follow the fitting guide on Miata.net

but mostly its fairly easy.

case of stripping the side tim panels to get access to the bolts that hold the hood frame. remove the carpet from the rear shelf, then unbolt the rain rail - careful here cos the nuts do have a habit of escaping down the holes in the body - never to be seen again, i still have a rattle from an escaped nut somewhere!
i patched up the plastic drain channel where it has split with some duct tape. hasnt leaked since. then its just a case of replaceing the hood. (one of my tension wires has rusted through and snapped, that was replaced with some bicycle brake line, and clamped at the end) and re assembling.

you should be able to do it in a day.

you WILL need a couple of fairly heavy mates at the end to help you close the roof afterwards (make sure you back the front clamps right off to help you.) after a week or 2 the hood will have streatched making putting the roof up a 1 man job again.

princeperch

Original Poster:

8,028 posts

254 months

Wednesday 12th November 2008
quotequote all
lord summerisle said:
follow the fitting guide on Miata.net

but mostly its fairly easy.

case of stripping the side tim panels to get access to the bolts that hold the hood frame. remove the carpet from the rear shelf, then unbolt the rain rail - careful here cos the nuts do have a habit of escaping down the holes in the body - never to be seen again, i still have a rattle from an escaped nut somewhere!
i patched up the plastic drain channel where it has split with some duct tape. hasnt leaked since. then its just a case of replaceing the hood. (one of my tension wires has rusted through and snapped, that was replaced with some bicycle brake line, and clamped at the end) and re assembling.

you should be able to do it in a day.

you WILL need a couple of fairly heavy mates at the end to help you close the roof afterwards (make sure you back the front clamps right off to help you.) after a week or 2 the hood will have streatched making putting the roof up a 1 man job again.
all helpful stuff. Ta

skinny

5,269 posts

242 months

Wednesday 12th November 2008
quotequote all
i did mine in a day (after someone slashed the roof).

would have been a lot easier without the roll bars and fixed bucket seats and a tool for removing those horrible little push-on plastic studs.

mostly pretty straight forward tho (unless you break your rain rail, and a hood cable has snapped, like i had!)

princeperch

Original Poster:

8,028 posts

254 months

Thursday 13th November 2008
quotequote all
thanks. I am stunned by the quality of the hood I have to say. Quite how this bloke does it for the money I don't know. There's nothing wrong with it as far as the eye can see, and his feedback points to the fact they are as good when installed....

princeperch

Original Poster:

8,028 posts

254 months

Monday 29th December 2008
quotequote all
Well, managed to get most of the old hood off today.

One thing that has infuriated me is the way the hood has been clipped to the rainrail by the rivet things. They are a nightmare to get off without doing any damage..

In fact the rivet things full stop are a nightmare. I will probably wake up in the small hours in a cold sweat screaming about them tonight...

Hopefully it'll take no more than 4 hour or so to get the new hood fitted tomorrow, unfortunately misjudged the times today and when it gets dark!