tr7triumph.com

I have a double duck-hair roof at the moment but the side window has just split and also the hood is looking a bit shabby so i am thinking of replacing it, their is a big difference in price between the three available options, has anyone got any views on the best option i was thinking of the S.V vinyl hood but I dont know if this just looks cheap.

My car has an original blue vinyl hood and I think it looks better than any aftermarket hood. It fits well, keeps the weather out and is easy to keep clean. [:)]

[img][IMG]http://i473.photobucket.com/albums/rr92/REPLIC8-2008/small_DSCF0303.jpg[/img][/img]

Andy
1981 UK SPEC TR8
[img][IMG]http://i473.photobucket.com/albums/rr92/REPLIC8-2008/175-1.jpg[/img][/img] [img][IMG]http://i473.photobucket.com/albums/rr92/REPLIC8-2008/pics005.jpg[/img][/img]

Personally I'd never buy anything but Mohair if I were to change the soft top on my '8.
It's simply a better quality material...

<font color="red"><b>My two 1980 Wedges...</b></font id="red">

I have the original roof and while a little stiff when cold it looks brand new and most people can't believe it's original. And it looks right. Canvass roofs match newer cars and whether they look better/more expensive etc. is a matter of personnel opinion/preference. It's all what seems right for you.



- - - - TR7 Spider - - - - - - - - 1978 Spitfire - - - - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - - Yellow TCT

<font color="teal"><b>I have the original Vinyl on my car and looks great and keeping it good is easy

little bit of liquid shoe polish and some silicon spray and it is back to new

on my BMW Z3 I have double duck type roof when it rains it just gets all wet

all be it i have just bought the car and not treated it with anything

but it looks as if it will be a lot more maintenance.</b></font id="teal">



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<font size="4"><font color="green"><i>If it's not broke don't fix it.</i></font id="green"></font id="size4">

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cracking pictures of your cars, I am surprised how good the vinyl roof looks i was expecting it to look cheap and saggy. do they leak?

<font color="teal"><b>Before i got the Z3 I had a MX5 (for 8 weeks it was that bad)

with the Mazda i was very wet when raining,so much so i had to put a towel on top of a plastic bag on the drivers seat

my 7 is water tight only letting in water when power washed. </b> </font id="teal">

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<font size="4"><font color="green"><i>If it's not broke don't fix it.</i></font id="green"></font id="size4">

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Hi,

Got Mohair on mine IMHO like over the other two and simple to fit [8D] Not got many pictures with roof up !!





Cheers John


LIVE LIFE A QUARTER OF A MILE AT A TIME!

1976 Speke FHC Beauty

1979 3.5 FHC(STATUS PENDING!!)

1982 2.0 DHC NOW A 4.6,ON THE ROAD NOW KICKING AR5E !!!!

steve you must of had a dodgy mx5, my son had his for over a yr and it never leaked, more than can be said for my 7.....lol i would go for vinyl myself too, as steve says lot less maintenance.


Dave...

the project at birth, watch it evolve...I hope...

Wow, never realized you could use shoe polish on the roof ....I'm going to have to try this in the summer. (liquid kind I imagine?)
To date I've always used spray on protectant instead, slight preference for Mothers products.


My roof leaks around both door glasses under heavy rain, and the aforementioned pressure washing ....the vinyl tends to shrink over time ....not to mention the thirty year old stiching is starting to deseintergrate (sp?). I garage my car when possible and fortunately the roof doesn't go up much so I'm able to put off replacement for a while but probably should be planning on replacing the top in the next two years. (now, if only I could locate the guy who used to advertise the dark tinted plastic windows again......)
Ron.

I would go for the original vinyl roof. M.G. and Triumph knew a thing or two about convertible roofs and nearly always chose vinyl. The original spec roof is low maintenance, durable and of high quality. Generally speaking there are three different specs. Economy, which is thin and flimsy, standard (sometimes called heavy duty) which is better and the original spec which are still available and is probably the best available and the one I would go for. They are pricey though, particularly so in colours. Nothing wrong with mohair, if looked after (except I don't think it really is mohair) but I don't think they look right on TR's. supercass

Nigel I have 3 convertibles, all with black hoods, [roof], & am leaning towards the vinyl myself.

The 8 has a mohair hood, probably about 10 years old now. Very little exposure, the thing was mostly down, [for years at a time], or in the shed. When I got caught twice, once it took me the help of 2 strangers to get the damn thing up in the cold. The next time we got a quick 3/4" of rain, when I was picking someone up from the airport. It leaked enough through the side gutter seams to make the seats swimming pools.

Used "303" water repellent treatment, & it is watertight, but the stuff made it slightly shiny, & slightly different in different places. It looks good, but not great.

The Honda S2000 has a double duck original hood, also 10 years old. It also has had little exposure, with only 30,000 Km mileage, & a life sitting in a shed. It works great, & is watertight, but is developing lines of lighter colour over the bows. I have been unable to find anything that comes well enough recommended that I'm game to use to try to address this.

The Ford Capri, [Mercury Capri in the US], a 94 model, has a vinyl hood of unknown age, but required a new tensioning cable, so probably pretty old, & is watertight. Being the rough car it gets much more exposure, & less care. It got a pile of sanding dust, & I think a little over spray of undercoat from a nearby job at a local shop recently.

5 minutes with some Armorall vinyl & tyre protectant, & it looked shinny & new. Some might say it looks cheap, but I get admiring comments on the the thing, when the hood, [top] is freshly "Armoralled", which I don't when it's not.

Hope this helps,

Hasbeen

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by silverseven</i>

Wow, never realized you could use shoe polish on the roof ....I'm going to have to try this in the summer. (liquid kind I imagine?)
To date I've always used spray on protectant instead, slight preference for Mothers products.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

While I've used Meguiar's product, my brother in law used shoe polish on his Miata as that's the preferred product of the Miata crowd apparently. I was under the impression it was the paste. Check their forums for their experiences. I imagine it works well if roof faded but I would think it would have a sheen to it. I'll have to give it a good look next time I'm over on the main land.



- - - - TR7 Spider - - - - - - - - 1978 Spitfire - - - - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - - Yellow TCT

I've used the black liquid with the sponge tip on black tops before. Really restores the color, and doesn't leave it overly shiny. I've also used it on the leather steering wheel cover.

Darrell Walker
66 TR4A IRS-SC CTC67956L
81 TR8 SATPZ458XBA406206
Vancouver, WA, USA

I have ordered the vinyl roof, which I received today using the discount from Rimmers it was £184, I think it will look good, if I fit it properly, any tips on fitting it? has everyone got two sets of studs on the car one for the roof and one for the tonneau cover.