Hood not quite fitting properly

[Fubar1764]

My hood doesn't seem to fit properly. When the hood is down and the tonneau cover is closed upon it, parts of the hood's frame rubs against the tonneau cover and eats into the cover. The rubbing has already worn through the 3M film, past the clear coat, past the paint, and has exposed the white primer.
I'm considering gluing foam blocks onto some 3M film, applying the film onto the underside of the cover. My idea is to have the foam push the frame below the point where it rubs up against the cover.
Anyone have any thoughts? Need I post pics for clarity?

[Sy V]

Have you tinkered with the eccentric bolts near the main hinge on either side of the rear of the hood frame?
You can get some adjustment with these.

[Fubar1764]

Haven't tried that. When the hood falls apart, I'll come back with, "Now which bolt was it?"
Let see if I get some joy this afternoon.

[clemo]

or try the main arms.
the ones with the thin pipe with an elbow kink on one side..
just been out doing mine now..
take them off...
bend the arm down.

oh bugger this makes no sense..
i will take a photo of it.

[Sy V]

Dave

You don't have to bend anything...just look for the eccentric adjusters with the Allen key head.

[clemo]

morning sy..
did that 1st ..
but (barage of abuse coming)
the previous woman owner showed me how she opened it....
using only 1 hand to open the roof..putting all the pressure on the front (screen side) and not assisting the rear sreen side when opening..
this she explained needs a big yank as it doen't open properly ..
when compairing it to my (silver) roof i could see that the 2x side kinked arms did not fit properly..
i took the of and lined them up allong side my one and they were out buy about half an inch !!
this resulting in the hood frame not sitting down on the stowage cover (bouncing) and the actuall hood canvas itself having a crease in it.. also the to rear arms that pop into place with a "donk" would not meet..
upon realinement of the said arms everything became tight , uncreased and locking in place as it should...


However i do totaly agree that your method sohould be the 1st point of call. if unfortunatly the previous owner has not taken care (as we all do) to open their roofs then i can lead to this !!

bye for now..

[TheBard]

Check the tension of the hood tensioner wires. These run from the front of the hood/windscreen to the hinge/corner above your, and your passenger's outermost ear (okay, I'll look at the manual and update this later with a sensible part name/number). If this is loose, then the eccentric adjustors won't even be touching the stops on those hinged arms.

Just be careful when you loosen the bolt by your ear to draw the wire through, I managed to sheer the head clean off, and am now looking at a more timely and costly repair!

[MarcD]

My hood has recently developed similar problems - it doesn't fold under the tonneau cover easily, and when up the back doesn't lock down properly. At speed the rear edge lifts about an inch from the tonneau cover! The rear articulated arms with the eccentric adjusters do not seem to 'lock' into any position when the hood is clipped at the front and remain able to flex, with the eccentric adjusters not in contact with anything- I am wondering if this is part of the problem. I've tried adjusting the wire tensioners at the side of the hood, but as described the bolt heads sheared straight off! (the tension does seem OK though). I suspect some adjustment is required to get the rear arms back into the right position - but I'm not sure what that position is. Anyone able to post some photos of the correct configuration of these arms when the hood is locked in place? I'm worried that if I do some random frame bending I'll need a hacksaw to get the hood down again!

[paza1]

Fubar, I have had this problem and have recently attached some 3mm skinned neoprene onto underside edge of the outer lip of the hood with double sided tape. Sounds like a bodge I know but it just looks like a seal from the outside (tape not visible) when the hood is up. I don't know how long this will last but I have just had the cover resprayed so I want it to last as long as possible.

[paza1]

3000 miles and still no damage/marks at all. Admittedly, 2500 miles with roof down.
Mark

[TommyK]

Just be careful when you loosen the bolt by your ear to draw the wire through, I managed to sheer the head clean off, and am now looking at a more timely and costly repair!

I just did the same... funny how problems seem to compund whenever I try to fix something on an Elan. I just used an EZ-out to extract the old bolt and replaced it with a ss bolt from the local hardware store.

[johnbenk]

Hi

A lot of problems caused by marking of the hood cover leaving lines is DIRT.

If you can try and clean the rubber that grips the hood cover after opening the hood and lifting forward, If you prop open with the battery cover and clean the rubber strip,spray a rubber lubricant on to the rubber seal.

You will find that friction cuts the Lacquer and the shaking of the hood cover causes the problem togther with "dirt".

You can try and D/A the lacquer with a disc applicator but you may "cut" too deep to remove scratches.

The best way to stop marks is to drive with the hood down ok for you guys in sunny Countries.

If you use a CARNUBA WAX on the hood cover this will protect to some extent. You DO NOT POLISH OFF but leave the wax under the rubber seal.

[Sy V]

This is assuming (of course) that the hood is properly adjusted in the first place and not clamping the hood storage area cover unevenly(from side to side) or indeed with excessive (pit bull-like pressure).