New hood problems

[mikesimmo]

Bought new hood in Jan. From USA £290, Took 3 months to source and buy all new seals (£273) and I did the MR2 A pillar seals. Cleaned all seal channels out myself & painted all channels in silk b
Black, Took to upholsterers to have hood & seal fitted cost £360. When I picked up my beloved, couldn't believe it.
From front & back looked the dogs do dars. But the sides AH!!!
The new hood is about 1 1/ or 30mm narrower than the old hood.
As a result it does not cover seals at all adequately. I'm £930 out of pocket what do I do?
I have e mailed the company in USA California 3 times but no answer.
Then I thought can I adjust the hood frame down to spread the hood width wise ?
Or even cut/shotten/weld the cross frames?
Any advise please

[RayD]

Is it possible to post some pictures Mike?

Ray

[HJ2]

Photo's would be handy indeed. It sounds like you have to shim the window guides

[mikesimmo]

I have photos on my iPhone but have never done it before any tips ?

[RayD]

Mike,

There are some picture downloading instructions on here but you may need to transfer them to the computer first.

Ray

[mikesimmo]

I'm away from home till 30th so will download pictures then

[mikesimmo]

new hood pictures

[Gazza]

Looks like an Se hood with an S2 wider front seal. They overhang the window more.

Gazza

[mikesimmo]

Well this is the receipt for the hood i bought.
Description Unit price Qty Amount
Lotus Elan 91 92 Convertible top with plastic window
Item Number 270147911208 $349.99 USD 1 $349.99 USD

Postage and packing $89.99 USD
Insurance - not offered ----
Total $439.98 USD
Payment $439.98 USD

Payment sent to firasdaoud@hotmail.com

From amount £291.16 GBP
To amount $439.98 USD
Exchange rate: 1 GBP = 1.51112 USD

[tb10]

Hi Mike

First, as Gazza said, the S2 hood does hang over the windows slightly more than the S1. I've got an S2 hood on my N/A and whilst I agree it looks 'wrong' it'll be better when keeping the car dry.

Second, it looks like a nice hood and I presume you have no issues with that aspect?

Regards


John

[mikesimmo]

the issue i have is with the hood, seal and window interface.
On the pasenger side there is a 3mm gap between the seal and the windows.
The hood does not seem to go round the seal sufficiently to make the seals work.
Does the photos i put on not show the details ?

[bobbrown]

Does the photos i put on not show the details ?

Not really as it seems to be all the drivers side

Bob

[mikesimmo]

pictures of the passenger side

[mikesimmo]

The hood manufacture finnaly aswered my 'e' mails, saying they have supplied over a hundered hoods to UK and Europe with no problems.
They asked for the upolsters website, saying they would contact them.
I have taked my Elan into JCT600 Lotus in Leeds, the looked at the new hood and said the seals were not fitted correctly and the hood frame needs adjusting.
They reccon it will be 2 hour labour, so fingers crossed.
Leaves me very dissapointed with the upholster who i used, so much for 50 years experience, if he couldnt do the job properley he should not have attempted it.
Let alone charge me £360 for the privilege.

[tigerdog]

The hood manufacture finnaly aswered my 'e' mails, saying they have supplied over a hundered hoods to UK and Europe with no problems.

If the manufacturer has supplied that many, there have to be a few here on LEC. If we knew the manufacturer, maybe someone else can confirm the hood fits when properly installed?

[RayD]

To help people in future ... Here's a question or two ...

Should everyone always ask for an S2 hood regardless of whether it's for an NA, SE, Fed or S2?

If it's an S2 hood with S2 seals does it fit perfectly on all models?

Will SE seals fit an S2 hood?

Will S2 seals fit an SE hood?

Would Mike's have fitted properly if it had been ordered as an S2? (Assuming he has S2 seals)

I don’t need one but I’d imagined the S2 hood was better if only for the extra coverage over the B post … until now I assumed everyone would have stopped making SE ones ????

Ray

[tigerdog]

If it was ordered from a US Supplier, they may never have seen an S2 hood since only the 1991 model year was sold in the USA.

[RayD]

Just made a minor discovery sat in the garage having a cup of coffee … it might not help in this particular case but …

If you look at the top window seals on your own car, they are in a perfectly straight, horizontal line.

And the hood should be as well.

In all probability most of the hoods will be curved as they pass along the top of the side window.

If so, you should be able to easily pull it down into a straight line … if you can it wants the tension wires adjusting at the back while someone is holding the hood in place.

The problem is related to this thread.

Tension Wires.jpg

Ray

[racerstev]

Is this a Tops Online roof or a Convetable Top Guys roof? I'm thinking of replaceing the
mess on my car. The price seems right on both.

http://topsonline.com/model/Convertible ... dster.html

http://www.convertibletopguys.com/category/view/1076

Steve