inkitin's hood repair Plan B - Scrap that Plan C now used !

[inkitin]

My hood has suffered from the dreaded frame hood contact rip for some time now. An attempted hood repair Plan A was completed a few years ago and proved to be the worst dismal failure of all dismal failures. It then became clear to me that trying to achieve an almost invisible repair was nigh on impossible. So I decided the only way to go was a patch. The question was how to make a patch not look like a patch! So Plan B was the solution below which I carried out today. At the moment I'm not sure that I really like the result but it may be that it looks so different from anything I've seen before, so it might take a bit of getting used to. I do have a Plan C but more of that near the end.

Pictures of before (horrible!!)




Firstly I sewed up the rip to strengthen the area. Doesn't need to be neat as it won't be seen.


Next, a self adhesive fabric Lotus badge was glued over the repair.


The self adhesive on its own will definitely not be good enough. Therefore, the badge was then sewn onto the hood.




This was then repeated in exactly the same way on the nearside.

My own reaction is that it obviously looks better than the way it did before. I also think it does look a little better than a plain patch. However, it really does look very "blingy" to my eyes.

Now to my Plan C. I'm going to stick with the way it looks for now. If I can't live with it I'm going to somehow dye the entire badge black. This would then give it a plain black embossed finish which would then be more restrained than the way it looks now. At the same time I'll also proof the hood in order to create a consistent black.

Any opinions/ideas are welcome!!

[GeoffSmith]

Dye it all black.

[steve matthews]

Dye it all black.

Brilliant

[Peter_W]

Dye it all black.

Brilliant

But in the meantime, driver's sitting up high in an SUV or pickup won't yell over "what is it?" - or maybe that's just a U.S. thing

[epipete]

Weeeell you did say 'Any opinions/ideas are welcome!! '. Sooooooo here goes - I preferred the tear

If I were you I'd just stow the roof, enjoy the sun and forget it!

[inkitin]

Dye it all black.

Brilliant

But in the meantime, driver's sitting up high in an SUV or pickup won't yell over "what is it?" - or maybe that's just a U.S. thing

Thanks for the feedback chaps. You've all pretty much confirmed what I think I already knew. Renovo kit now ordered!

Weeeell you did say 'Any opinions/ideas are welcome!! '. Sooooooo here goes - I preferred the tear

If I were you I'd just stow the roof, enjoy the sun and forget it!

I can see where you're coming from but I just couldn't live with that tear any longer. It was like an itch that I couldn't scratch!

No, it isn't a problem when the roof's stowed but, despite the recent weather, we do live in the UK after all!!

[inkitin]

The "badges/patches" have now been "dyed" black, thus giving the sort of embossed look I was looking for. The hood is still waiting for the full Renovo treatment but I think the badges now look a whole lot better.






The Renovo treatment should even out any shade differences between the hood and the badges.

I think I'm actually quite pleased with the outcome.

[GeoffSmith]

Renovo is good stuff - I'm so anal I did the inside as well and it came up a treat.

[dapinky]

Ahh, if only i was working, then i could afford such magic stuff





but as a poor pensioner, I had to use Thompsons waterseal - bloody marvelous stuff, and a lot cheaper (but probably not so good) - great on the shower cape as well

[inkitin]

Ahh, if only i was working, then i could afford such magic stuff

but as a poor pensioner, I had to use Thompsons waterseal

I'm a poor pensioner now too but I managed to afford Renovo!

I have to say though that bread and OXO every day ain't that bad!

[GeoffSmith]

Well I only used Ronovo (£26 for 1 litre ) to restore the colour. I used Johnson's baby bath (£2.50) to wash it and Fabsil (£30 a gallon) to finish it. Well I am semi-retired.

[inkitin]

I had to use Thompsons waterseal - bloody marvelous stuff, and a lot cheaper (but probably not so good)

Well I only used Ronovo (£26 for 1 litre ) to restore the colour. I used Johnson's baby bath (£2.50) to wash it and Fabsil (£30 a gallon) to finish it. Well I am semi-retired.

With all that stuff going onto it, I'm amazed both of you didn't render the bl**dy thing whilst you were at it!

[dapinky]

With all that stuff going onto it, I'm amazed both of you didn't render the bl**dy thing whilst you were at it!

Hmmm, now that's an idea to sort out my peeling laquer!

[Rusty Wishbone]

I'm a poor pensioner now too but I managed to afford Renovo!

Odd, that. Why does the word 'poor' so often accompany the word 'pensioner'? I don't dispute your or Dave's descriptions of yourselves, but I'm sure that I read somewhere that over 80% of the country's wealth is in the hands of pensioners. If that is the case, one would assume that most pensioners should describe themselves as wealthy or even rich. Perhaps the rich pensioners hang out on the Aston Martin & Ferrari forums. Just a thought.

[inkitin]

I'm a poor pensioner now too but I managed to afford Renovo!

Odd, that. Why does the word 'poor' so often accompany the word 'pensioner'? I don't dispute your or Dave's descriptions of yourselves, but I'm sure that I read somewhere that over 80% of the country's wealth is in the hands of pensioners. If that is the case, one would assume that most pensioners should describe themselves as wealthy or even rich. Perhaps the rich pensioners hang out on the Aston Martin & Ferrari forums. Just a thought.

I apologise Rusty, I was being facetious and you were correct to pull me up!

In reality, I'm an eccentric retired millionaire who cannot stand all those "toffs" on the Aston Martin & Ferrari forums. I much prefer mixing with the "great unwashed" on here.

[GeoffSmith]

I had to use Thompsons waterseal - bloody marvelous stuff, and a lot cheaper (but probably not so good)

With all that stuff going onto it, I'm amazed both of you didn't render the bl**dy thing whilst you were at it!

Have you not seen Dave's hardtop?

And Rusty's right. I think it's the next generation of pensioners that are going to be poor.

[dapinky]

I was being even more faceious than Roland, and appologise for any offence implied or taken

I also agree with Geoff, that it will be a couple of generations time that the word 'poor' really attaches itself to pensioners - our generation appears fortunate enough to have fitted nicely (for us!) into the gap between post-war austerity, and the current austerity situation, leaving us (well, me anyway) in a position - worked-for, not given - where I can own my own house, pay the bills and enjoy hollidays - but will never be rich (unless my numbers come up on the Euromillions).....

....and, without doubt, it is better to be a current pensioner than working in an unstable and uncertain job market with little future guarantee of security - at least we had a job for our whole working life, enabling a reasonable pension to be payable - I fear for my children (and theirs in due course), that such a situation may not always be the case .

Anyway, that said, I applaud the ingenuity of this particular repair, and any way of keeping the rain on the outside of the car is preferable to letting it in.

[GeoffSmith]

What rain?

[epipete]

I'm a poor pensioner now too but I managed to afford Renovo!

Odd, that. Why does the word 'poor' so often accompany the word 'pensioner'? I don't dispute your or Dave's descriptions of yourselves, but I'm sure that I read somewhere that over 80% of the country's wealth is in the hands of pensioners. If that is the case, one would assume that most pensioners should describe themselves as wealthy or even rich. Perhaps the rich pensioners hang out on the Aston Martin & Ferrari forums. Just a thought.

Whilst its maybe true that a disproportionate amount of wealth is in the hands of the senior generation, the truth is that most is tied up in property and is hence not disposable wealth. Most of us have an eye to the future well being of our kids so see this equity as future assurance for them, finding ways of holding the Govt from taking a cut on our demise whilst living on a much reduced income for several decades is the role for most pensioners fortunate enough to have acquired their own homes.

Interestingly, as the Archbishop of Canterbury wades in to the pay day loan debacle (an industry that really shouldn't exist) the government keep regaling Folks to save for their retirement - there is a gap in the thinking here somewhere!

[inkitin]

Now that the Pensions Advisory Service has closed for the week-end I'd like to draw your attention to the little piece of equipment shown in the photo.



It's called the speedy stitcher and cost me the princely sum of £13.74 off e-bay.

DO NOT even consider doing any sort of sewing on the hood without this little marvel. I found it absolutely brilliant and dead easy to use. In effect it's a manual sewing machine. If you Google its name there are a number of YouTube videos that show how it works.

You may well need two people to operate it, as I did, because you need to loop the thread inside the car. Other than that it's easy, very simple and really quick.