Topic

Hi. I'm replacing the canvas on my hood frame. I'd like to replace the flimsy velcro bits that cover the ends of the frame with something more effective and less likely to fail, which in my case caused a small hole in the material cover. Does anyone have a tried and tested alternative?

Hi, after following advice from Davids "how to" I used Velcro which I got from Dunhelm Mill, but it is widely available. You only need to use one half of it, but it looks better than foam and should last a lot longer.
Pick a nice warm day though or do it inside the garage as any cold and moisture in the air will affect its adhesion I found out.
I did drive the car without it on for a while and did not notice any rainwater leaks in the "parcel shelf", but while the hoods up clean out the channel which it sits in and make sure the drainage holes are clear at each end.

Hello Keymaster. I think ive not been too clear in my description of my velcro issue. I was trying to describe the bits if velcro which are already stuck on the sharp ends of the hood frame piece which goes over your head? I was thinkking maybe shrink wrap, if i could get some to fit?

My apologies, not sure what happened there, but I did read your post and a few others, one of these was regarding the seal around the rear of the hood unless I was having one of those moments....again.
However this is not something I've noticed on the cars I have, they might even be missing; so I will have a look this morning.

Hello again Martin, sorry for the delay, urgent stuff came up.
Anyway I have checked my cars and the Velcro is missing completely so that's why I've not noticed it as such, but it seems a common theme to either have it missing or coming unstuck on a lot of cars.
It must have secured the canvas to the frame at mid point, but I have not missed them not being there and it doesn't seem to be causing any issues such as wear on the canvas.
The ends of the tubes could do with something on them if only to make it look better, but at the moment I can only suggest some kind of rubber end cap, the type that go on the end of canes for example; so if I can find any of the right diameter or offer up a better solution I will let you know. Somebody on the forum will have done something with this I'm sure.

Hi and thanks. I've gone ahead with re-newing the old velcro with new velcro as the hood is now finished and re-fitted to my car. As it was the pointed ends of the bar frame which caused the original hole in the fabric I'm keen on getting an idea/suggestion from the forum. Someone out there must have a solution?

Martinm760 wrote: wrote:

Hi and thanks. I've gone ahead with re-newing the old velcro with new velcro as the hood is now finished and re-fitted to my car. As it was the pointed ends of the bar frame which caused the original hole in the fabric I'm keen on getting an idea/suggestion from the forum. Someone out there must have a solution?

Yes, SAIC did! The 2008-2010 cars used a screw, to secure the tie-down, like ALL MX-5's from 1998

MGFMania include large flanged rivets, easier to retro-fit than a screw, in the fitting kit for these hoods

Ah ha! I'll be in touch. Cheers.