TR7 Hood Cover fitting issues

[Biffdiff42]

Hi - I have a TR7 DHC and have recently purchased a hood cover/bag for it and have found that the cover is too small! Looking across the width of the car it around 1 or 2 inches too small with the hood folded down, but the hood is not flush with the body when folded so does push the cover up a little. I have then checked by measuring the hood cover against a couple of other TR7 hood covers from other cars and it is the same size; and I am reliably informed that my hood cover is an original item. Do the hood covers shrink over time or is there another explanation ?? 

Also the poppers on the hood cover are slightly too small to fit the ones on the car, so did the popper size change from early to late cars, mine is a 1980 and was re shelled with a new shell later in life. 

Any views or guidance much appreciated as the hood does not stay down otherwise at speeds over 50 mph and therefore needs the cover. 

thanks Jonathan

  

 

[Howard]

Where are you based?  I suggest you ask another TR7 owner if you can see how their hood fits and check if the poppers are the same size as yours.

The cover is always a tight fit and has to be stretched to close over the folded hood. I assume you have the sticker on your sun visor which tells you how to fold the hood the correct way & then its a matter of pulling quite hard to get the last few poppers to fit.

Cheers

Howard

[Beans]

And make sure the middle hoop of the hood is pulled down before you drop the front real behind the seats.
This has a tendency to "stay up"a little, preventing the whole assembly to fold down properly.

This is how it should look when folded properly ...

[Velocita Rosso]

There is the chance that......the poppers fitted to the car were wrong when "re shelling the car" and "reshell" do you mean reassembled ,new panels welded on etc?

There could be a slight possibility the panels were assembled in the wrong place?. Just a thought

As the `lads` say, if the the hood itself is not far enough down into the cockpit the hood bag could then be prevented from sitting in too high

The same applies to the Spitfire

I have also changed the poppers to Tenax fittings which avoids any pulling and stretching to allow fitting 

[Biffdiff42]

Thanks for the input and the car had a totally new body shell from the factory in the late 1980's and this may have been the cause of the different popper size and I think I need to replace the poppers on the hood cover as they appear to be 'incorrect' and easer to replace than the ones on the body. 

I am based in Shropshire.  

When taking the hood down I release the hood from the middle hoop as it is attached by velcro and then fold the hood frame back so the material and window are lying on the boot and the frame is gently pushed down in to the area behind the seat and the roof material is then folded forward over the frame which I think is the correct method but am not entirely sure.

Could you explain this step a little more as my hood is not as flush as the one in the picture so this could be one of the issues ?

And make sure the middle hoop of the hood is pulled down before you drop the front real behind the seats.

thanks 

Jonathan

   

     

 

  

[RobPearce]

2 hours ago, Biffdiff42 said:

Could you explain this step a little more as my hood is not as flush as the one in the picture so this could be one of the issues ?

And make sure the middle hoop of the hood is pulled down before you drop the front real behind the seats.

It's a good few years since I had a TR7 but I recall that the middle hoop of the frame is pivoted and can tend to sit in the wrong orientation as you stow it. It needs to be tucked low into the hood stowage to make room for the front rail to tuck in nicely. I expect Beans will be able to provide more clarity.

[Howard]

[Beans]

On 07/05/2022 at 20:41, Biffdiff42 said:

Could you explain this step a little more as my hood is not as flush as the one in the picture so this could be one of the issues ?

And make sure the middle hoop of the hood is pulled down before you drop the front rail behind the seats.

   

     

 

  

You have to make sure that the central hoop (the one where the velcro goes 'round) is pulled down when you lower the hood. That should go automatically but often doesn't. As a result of which you can't get the front rail fully down. In the first picture you can see this part. In the second picture you can see that this part already is lagging behind. It should be point backwards. 

Edited May 14, 2022 by Beans

[Biffdiff42]

thank you very much and that is clear now, and my hood frame now folds better in the back of the car leaving the frame a hood a bit lower when collapsed.