The Hood

Like many jobs, the task of making my own hood seemed fairly straight forward. As I found out, there are many snags to be overcome in hood design.

Six plywood strips coated with epoxy resin I decided to make the front rail that attaches to the windscreen surround out of multiple strips of plywood bonded together with epoxy resin. Using losts of thin strips allowed the plywood to bend to the curved shape of the surround.

Clamping the strips After first covering the windscreen surround with plastic sheeting, the plywood strips were clamped to the surround and left 24 hours until the epoxy had set.

The plywood assembly is bolted to the windscreen surround After the epoxy resin had set, holes were carefully drilled through the windscreen surround and plywood for the four mounting bolts.

The plywood assembly As can be seen from the picture, the plywood assembly has taken on the curve of the windscreen surround. At this stage it requires a bit more planing and filing to match the profile of the surround.

The rear assembly The rear assembly was made in a similar manner. To economise on the plywood being used, straight strips were used and butt jointed. By varying the strip lengths on successive layers, the joints could be overlapped for strength.

Mounting lug The completed assembly was mounted to the body tub using mounting lugs made up from aluminium strip. The lugs were positioned to allow use of the same fixings that hold the hardtop in place.

Underside view of rear assembly The aluminium mounting lugs were recessed into the plywood using a chisel. The final shaping of the assembly is still to be carried out. a perfect fit with the body tub will be achieved by applying an epoxy/filler powder mix to the underside of the assembly and clamping it down on top of a plastic sheet to the body tub. All that should be required after that is a thin foam rubber strip to act as a seal.

Where do I store the hardtop? When not fitted to the car, the hardtop has to be stored somewhere. For short periods, you can get away with keeping it in the house, but for longer-term storage a more permanent home was needed.
A pair of sturdy shelf brackets along with some pulleys, webbing, quick release buckles and rope were purchased from my local DIY store. A harness was made up from the webbing to fit around the hardtop. The quick release buckles allow the harness to be removed. The shelf brackets were fixed to the garage wall as high up as possible with a pulley fixed to the end of each arm. Two more pulleys were attached to the webbing harness and two lengths of rope fed through the pulleys to produce the system shown in the picture. Foam camping mats were fixed to the wall to protect the hardtop.

Hoops in raised position The hood frame uses two steel tube hoops that fold flat. When pivoting, the hoops have to clear the roll-over bar. This roll-over bar has been the source of much frustration as it consistantly got in the way. When raised, the larger front hoop follows the profile of the roll-over bar but is a few inches taller. The front hoop leans slightly forwards, at the same angle as the rear endge of the side windows. The smaller rear hoop only goes up to an angle of 45 degrees.
Before any parts were made, several scale drawings were produced to work out the required heights of the hoops and the pivot brackets.
The steel hoops were bent using a borrowed pipe bender.

Hoops in lowered position When lowered, the front and rear hoops rest on a level with the plywood mounting. The the hood fabric will eventually be attached to the shaped wooden piece fixed to the front hoop. Again care had to be taken to avoid fouling the roll-over bar.

Hoop pivot in raised position The hoop pivot brackets were made up from 3 millimetre thick aluminium sheet. The steel "plugs" in the ends of the hoops were turned from a steel bar. It should be possible to achieve the same effect by carefully hammering the ends of the hoops down.

Hoop pivot in lovered position

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	Six plywood strips coated with epoxy resin	I decided to make the front rail that attaches to the windscreen surround out of multiple strips of plywood bonded together with epoxy resin. Using losts of thin strips allowed the plywood to bend to the curved shape of the surround.
	Clamping the strips	After first covering the windscreen surround with plastic sheeting, the plywood strips were clamped to the surround and left 24 hours until the epoxy had set.
	The plywood assembly is bolted to the windscreen surround	After the epoxy resin had set, holes were carefully drilled through the windscreen surround and plywood for the four mounting bolts.
	The plywood assembly	As can be seen from the picture, the plywood assembly has taken on the curve of the windscreen surround. At this stage it requires a bit more planing and filing to match the profile of the surround.
	The rear assembly	The rear assembly was made in a similar manner. To economise on the plywood being used, straight strips were used and butt jointed. By varying the strip lengths on successive layers, the joints could be overlapped for strength.
	Mounting lug	The completed assembly was mounted to the body tub using mounting lugs made up from aluminium strip. The lugs were positioned to allow use of the same fixings that hold the hardtop in place.
	Underside view of rear assembly	The aluminium mounting lugs were recessed into the plywood using a chisel. The final shaping of the assembly is still to be carried out. a perfect fit with the body tub will be achieved by applying an epoxy/filler powder mix to the underside of the assembly and clamping it down on top of a plastic sheet to the body tub. All that should be required after that is a thin foam rubber strip to act as a seal.
	Where do I store the hardtop?	When not fitted to the car, the hardtop has to be stored somewhere. For short periods, you can get away with keeping it in the house, but for longer-term storage a more permanent home was needed. A pair of sturdy shelf brackets along with some pulleys, webbing, quick release buckles and rope were purchased from my local DIY store. A harness was made up from the webbing to fit around the hardtop. The quick release buckles allow the harness to be removed. The shelf brackets were fixed to the garage wall as high up as possible with a pulley fixed to the end of each arm. Two more pulleys were attached to the webbing harness and two lengths of rope fed through the pulleys to produce the system shown in the picture. Foam camping mats were fixed to the wall to protect the hardtop.
	Hoops in raised position	The hood frame uses two steel tube hoops that fold flat. When pivoting, the hoops have to clear the roll-over bar. This roll-over bar has been the source of much frustration as it consistantly got in the way. When raised, the larger front hoop follows the profile of the roll-over bar but is a few inches taller. The front hoop leans slightly forwards, at the same angle as the rear endge of the side windows. The smaller rear hoop only goes up to an angle of 45 degrees. Before any parts were made, several scale drawings were produced to work out the required heights of the hoops and the pivot brackets. The steel hoops were bent using a borrowed pipe bender.
	Hoops in lowered position	When lowered, the front and rear hoops rest on a level with the plywood mounting. The the hood fabric will eventually be attached to the shaped wooden piece fixed to the front hoop. Again care had to be taken to avoid fouling the roll-over bar.
	Hoop pivot in raised position	The hoop pivot brackets were made up from 3 millimetre thick aluminium sheet. The steel "plugs" in the ends of the hoops were turned from a steel bar. It should be possible to achieve the same effect by carefully hammering the ends of the hoops down.
	Hoop pivot in lovered position

Rossa Update - The Hood - The story So Far...