Apologies to you all and most particularly to Mark for the delay in posting this information, but we had a couple of minor teething issues to sort, and Mark had some website problems so I didn't want to post until these were sorted. This post is written solely from a customer perspective, and I have no business connection with m100hoods, etc. etc.
I was made aware of Mark's business by way of a flyer left on the car at Snetterton back in the summer. Despite being a 1995 S2, my hood (a blue original) was looking faded and tatty, the rear window was the colour of a pint of semi-skimmed, and the window stitching was all but replaced with what looked like a mixture of silicon sealant and super glue. There were leaks at both A pillars, and the usual wear holes at the back corners. Actually, my A pillar seals were also working better as sponges than seals so I opted to have these replaced at the same time. After making contact with Mark I decided to take the plunge, have the whole lot replaced, and mine was one of the first few cars he worked on.
That isn't to say he's a novice - Mark is ex-factory and worked on both the production line and in aftersales when the M100 was in production, and is an owner and enthusiast himself (although not a prolific poster on here!) with ongoing connections both at the the factory and aftersales.
Mark is based near Lowestoft on the East Coast - ideal for me in Norwich but may be a tad more "geographically challenging" for some of you - however I am aware that he's looking at a collection and delivery service.
Mark has obtained the final 85 sets of hood seals from Trim Technology (they still bear the original "made in Canada" stickers), who are also still able to manufacture the hood cover to OEM specification, and in a selection of colours. Having never particularly liked the blue hood on my car I opted for black - also a small cost saving. The seals are, I believe, made using a chemical extrusion process that has now been banned in Canada, at least...
Mark had the car for over a week, and his attention to detail is incredible, even extending to replacing fixings with stainless steel equivalents where applicable. My hood is now as good as new, and is watertight! All seals, webbing, tension cables, and A pillar seals were replaced.
Shortly before by booking date, my LH side central locking failed, and Mark also replaced the actuator unit (I obtained the part) while the door was stripped out for window alignment.
As my car has Kuching roll bars, bubble deck and hard top fittings the frame alignment was, to quote Mark, "a right pig" to get right - manly because of the way the hard top brackets are fitted to the hood mounting at the B pillar, and the restricted access around the roll bars - so much so, that he will be reluctant to consider any more cars with these mods.....
Mark subjects the car to a full water test involving a tank of water and quite a drop, which my car passed, but in regular use some minor drips occurred when moving in heavy rain - these were rectified at no extra cost and Mark was prepared to travel to my house to fix (but only a short-ish distance was involved of course....)
All in all I am extremely satisfied with the service and result - as you can imagine, the cost isn't insignificant and will vary depending on the amount of work involved so I won't be disclosing what I paid but I'm very glad it wasn't based solely on an hourly rate!
I suggest anyone interested rings Mark for a chat/quote.Pictures follow - before and after (although the before pictures don't make the old hood and seals look as bad as they were!). I've now had sufficient time to bed the hood in, and it's tucked away under my hard top for the winter, with suitable rolled and folded towels for protection.
As a final note, the hard top was interfering with the hood frame and in danger of ripping chunks out of the new seals until I realised that a PO must have fitted the rear fixing hooks backwards - turning them through 180 degrees so the hooked ends face the other way and a slight "reprofile" removes the risk and makes the hard top much easier to fit too!
