Hood frame reconditioning

[whitenviro]

I love my removable hardtop, but when the prior owner installed it they completely removed the old soft-top, frame and all. I have it and am trying to get it back into shape to install a new vinyl top. It's in good shape, but is missing one of the rubber bumper stops at the center cross bar. I can't even find a part number off the catalog diagram:


The other one is cracked and hard, so I could use both. Anyone have spares of these?

Also, I need to redo the webbing straps because both of the short sections at the very back are torn through. Why are those made from cotton webbing, when all the rest is nylon, like seat belt material? The cotton web fell apart while all the rest of it stayed in good shape. Does it need to flex more than the rest of it, or can I just use the same nylon web as the rest?


[/img]
1980 Pageant Blue DHC with removable hardtop.

[jclay (RIP 2018)]

Those little rubber wedges are no longer available.

No idea about the straps, but I should have replaced mine when I redid the top. The instructions for redoing the top are on my TR7 site.

Clay

[url="http://web.me.com/jclaythompson/Site/Welcome.html"]My Triumph Site[/url], [url="http://web.me.com/jclaythompson/Technical"]Technical Stuff[/url], [url="https://public.me.com/jclaythompson"]My Public Folder[/url], [url="http://web.me.com/jclaythompson/tr8/Welcome.html"]My TR8 Site[/url]

[DNK]

If the straps are like the TR6 webbing. Get seat belt material. Comes in pretty colours too.

Don
"No More Cars For You"
71 TR6- Perpetual remodel
80 TR7 V8 Kick in the pants

[Spectatohead]

The photo of the webbing material, on that same page, looks exactly like some 2 inch belt material I got at Joann Fabrics for less than five bucks. I need to find someone to sew the retainers on the ends. I think that the retainer is YKC3301, also NLA. I still have mine, so once I get them sewed to the webbing I should be set.

Jim Clark
'80 TR8
'97 Maxima 5spd

[whitenviro]

Clay I went through your instructions; great write-up. It will be very helpful.

Almost all of the webbing looks exactly like seat belt material, so that is what I plan to replace it with. But the rear 4 inches on both straps are cotton belt material, same width and thickness, and rotted to pieces. Any idea why this part was different? Anyone else have this?


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1980 Pageant Blue DHC with removable hardtop.

[bahbzilla]

Maybe your webbing has been repaired or patched in the past? Mine are cotton for the entire length, and a little shabby, but not rotten. I have a new hood and nylon webbing sitting in the garage with Clay's instructions, waiting for me to get up the confidence to dive into it.

Bob
1980 TR7 DHC

[whitenviro]

Bahbzilla:
I suspect you may be right; it may have been repaired before. When I tip the frame to the left or right I can hear little things rolling around inside it, like the pop rivets may have been drilled out and the debris is stuck inside the frame. Why they didn't change the last little bit of strap is beyond me. I''m replacing it all and I'll squirt some glue inside the frame to collect the rivet debris so it doesn't rattle around.

I've got a piece of thick rubber, so it looks like I'll carve the rubber stops by hand. That ought to be fun.


[/img]
1980 Pageant Blue DHC with removable hardtop.

[whitenviro]

The frame is ready to go and mounted back in the car. I stripped away all the leftover junk from the old hood, cleaned it up then replaced the vinyl on the interior of the front piece, replaced the straps with seat belt material and redid the felt strips with the loop part of velcro. Polished up the release levers and soaked the front rubber seal in silicone for a couple days. It looks pretty good.

I cut new bumper stops from hard rubber. I had an old rubber mallet head with no handle, so I put it through the radial arm saw and cut a slab just the right thickness. Then trimmed the pieces down to size. Not too difficult, but not my favorite way to waste an hour.

Now comes the easy part; I need to install the hood!


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1980 Pageant Blue DHC with removable hardtop.