Biting the bullet 2

[Kevin Garrod]

I was washing the National Weekend grime off the car this morning, and as I sponged down the rear window, the zip gave way and it won't do up again:X

Anyway I have spoken with Brian Turner and he says it's just not cost effective to try to repair the zip, especially as my hood is as old as the car.

So I'm forced to stump up for a replacement hood, and let's face it an exchange frame too, no point inspoiling the ship for ha'pence of tar and all that.

In the meantime half a dozen safety pins are keeping the window in place.

I really thought I'd done with spending money this year...and the Mondeo needs four new tyres:XAaaaargh!

[Dave M]

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Think yourself lucky Kev, I had a replacement hood fitted just over a year ago as the original was 20+ years old and the zip was dodgy. Spent £800 on replacement hood and frame refurb and the zip lasted 6 unzip/zip operations. Supplier says its abuse on my part, funny how the old one lasted 20 odd years 10 of those in my ownership without any problems. Now stuck with a new hood thats got a faulty zip and a nice crease appearing in the rear window as I darent unzip it using my diy repaired zipper To top it off my mate fitted my original hood to his Stag and its still working fine.

Just be careful who you use to do the hood.

Dave

[Kevin Garrod]

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I don't expect any problems with Brian, but who did you use?

[Phil]

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Dave M wrote: 10 Now stuck with a new hood thats got a faulty zip and a nice crease appearing in the rear window

Hi Dave

John Clayton who I bought my Stag from me told me to put a rolled up towel across the window, this stops it getting a fold in it. Seems to work so far.

PhilTOPAZ is best

[Dave M]

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Im sure Brian will do a good job wish I had used him, it was a Stag specialist who did mine Ive mentioned them before on this forum and they were at National Day. Ive recently taken mine to a local trimmer who reckons he can repair the zip in situ so thats the route Im gonna take. He was concerned that if he tried to remove the hood it would rip where its been glued to the frame, I doubt it would actually rip as all the glued bits have started to fall off in the hot weather, hood was advertised as "top quality German hood" absolute rubbish, how to waste £800 eh.

Dave

[Dave M]

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Phil wrote:

Dave M wrote: 10 Now stuck with a new hood thats got a faulty zip and a nice crease appearing in the rear window

Hi Dave

John Clayton who I bought my Stag from me told me to put a rolled up towel across the window, this stops it getting a fold in it. Seems to work so far.

PhilTOPAZ is best

Thanks Phil I will try that.

Cheers

Dave

[Andrew S]

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Hi Kevin

Personally, I would take my hood and frame off car and take to a trimmer and have a new window or just the zip fitted and then run candle wax or silicone on zip so it cant happen again.

Do you really think that £830 for a new hood is worth it just for the zip? It doesn’t matter what the car is, just because it is a Stag, people think it has to be specialised and any trimmer just sees its PVC window and material.

I would give it some thought and may be save yourself some serious money

Andrew

[Dave M]

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Good advice Andrew, Cant say my new hood looks much better than my old one and I rarely drive it with the hood up anyway. The problem with mine was caused by too much material overlapping the zip causing the zipper to become caught on the excess material. Cant see the new hood lasting 20 years either.

Dave

[KOY 23]

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Hi Kevin.

Sorry to hear your news but if you just want your zip replaced, you could try a local sailmaker. I am sure that they could do it cheaply if the hood can be removed from the frame. I have no idea how easy this is, so may be talking out of my backside. Other option is to stitch/stick the zip together so that you cannot unzip the window. You will need a new hood but not yet. Depend on what the rest of the hood is like.

John.

[Kevin Garrod]

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Andrew S wrote:

Hi Kevin

Personally, I would take my hood and frame off car and take to a trimmer and have a new window or just the zip fitted and then run candle wax or silicone on zip so it cant happen again.

Do you really think that £830 for a new hood is worth it just for the zip? It doesn’t matter what the car is, just because it is a Stag, people think it has to be specialised and any trimmer just sees its PVC window and material.

I would give it some thought and may be save yourself some serious money

Andrew

I might just sew the zip together myself with the hood in place, I wouldn't have a clue how to remove the hood and frame myself and I think it's the sort of job I would cock up, especially the re-fitting.

I could get plenty of use out of the hood before it really needs replacing.

How I wish I had never bothered un-zipping the window in the first place!

[DJT]

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It seems to be a result of using the wrong zipper. The last Stag had the same roof on for the 18+years I owned it and it by no means new when I bought it. The plastic zipper was heavy duty and coped easily with frequent use. The current Stag, and many others, have fine zips and they break too easily. This one has been repaired at the 'closed' end, and I don't have much confidence in it lasting very long.

If hood manufacturers used heavier duty zips they would last. I didn't notice what type Brian Turner had on the hood he was fitting at ND, but it would be something to look out for if I was having a new one made.

Dave

[Andy Rundell]

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Kevin Garrod wrote:

How I wish I had never bothered un-zipping the window in the first place!

Kevin, if it makes you feel any better all 3 of the convertables i have had with zip-out rear windows have come into my possession with brokenzips !as already mentioned wax/silicon will help in the future - once you know know potentially fragile they are you are unlikely to make the same mistake again .

I think i'd be exploring all the alternatives before stumping up the readies for a complete new hood

cheers....Andy

[Kevin Garrod]

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Andy Rundell wrote:

Kevin Garrod wrote:

How I wish I had never bothered un-zipping the window in the first place!

Kevin, if it makes you feel any better all 3 of the convertables i have had with zip-out rear windows have come into my possession with brokenzips !as already mentioned wax/silicon will help in the future - once you know know potentially fragile they are you are unlikely to make the same mistake again .

I think i'd be exploring all the alternatives before stumping up the readies for a complete new hood

cheers....Andy

The zipper puller thingy was already broken when I bought my car, and it's only recently that I have fitted a keyring to replace it, I can only have used the zip a few times before it packed up altogether!

Brian is busy for the next month or so anyway, so plenty of time to consider my options, I reckon I'll stitch it up with fishing line and then use the rolled-up towel trick. When I next have £800+ to spend on the Stag there are other things higher up my list

[grahamb]

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Hi Kevin,

my bullet has taken a good chunk out of the front teeth and I still have a big strip of duct tape holding the hood together. I must admit that I was tempted to do the hood instead but looking forward to having a quiet diff and gearbox more

[Kevin Garrod]

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grahamb wrote:

my bullet has taken a good chunk out of the front teeth

They'll grow back, won't they?

and I still have a big strip of duct tape holding the hood together. I must admit that I was tempted to do the hood instead but looking forward to having a quiet diff and gearbox more

My next concern is my leaky diff, although it's not noisy....yet, and Datsun driveshafts would be nice too! Deep breaths! I really want to see this year out without more major expense:?