Soft top fitting

[Mike Hamblin]

I would not think all the kits are interchangeable, JK sports car kits do fit on an AK, I have no idea if they fit on pilgrim. Bonded in ferrules can be good if you have plenty of access to fully bond them in internally, if you can only bond them in from the top, then sooner or later they will work lose.

[gaxor]

Hi
Sorry about resurrecting this thread.
Couple of questions
Firstly, are the hoodsand instructions interchangable between kit manufacturers, I have a Pilgrim
Secondly, are the bonded in ferrules for the hood frame rigid enough. There is no flex?

Thanks

[KevinW]

Hi Mike, as you point out I was talking about the front screen stay not a stay front to back.
I've never tried one, but then my hoods have spent so little time on the cars it's probably not worth it in my case.
I'm almost certainly going hard top this time.

..... look forward to your posts on that.
 

[Kev Davies UKCC Membership]

Hi Mike, as you point out I was talking about the front screen stay not a stay front to back.
I've never tried one, but then my hoods have spent so little time on the cars it's probably not worth it in my case.
I'm almost certainly going hard top this time.

[Mike Hamblin]

Are we talking about the same thing ??
I have a windscreen center bar with my rearview mirror on it.
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Which I agree with your comment, helps keep the screen from being pulled up by the wind pressure inside the hood.
 
My reference was to a center bar from the rear hood bow to the top of the screen hood bow.
Horizontal not vertical. To aid supporting it from front to back. Prevent it flapping onto your head almost

[Kev Davies UKCC Membership]

I would recommend having a screen centre stay with a soft top.
What happens is that at speed , hood on, the air inside the car stars to pull the top screen rail up.

[Mike Hamblin]

Side wind wings still fit, and are not effected by the screen bows or hood.

So far I have not fitted a center stay bar.
I have yet to try it on a motorway or over 50mph, if it does sag a bit then I will fit
a center support bar.  easy to make something up, maybe something like a fiber pole from a broom or mop or even a telescopic painting pole at a push, and make a clip for the top of the screen and use the 2 screw holes for badge
and just run it back to the rear hood bow, and use a plastic pipe fitting cut in half or similar.
I wont know this for a while as i have now sorn for the worse months. but update what I find in the spring.

Im also still looking at making up side screens at some point, Simular to ones that JK sports cars sale.
Same sort of idea that used on Westfields etc, just velcro to the hood from the inside.

[Gav]

Hi,
Braver than me.
Questions though, do you have to have the windscreen centre stay bar in to fit a soft top and Can you still fit side wind wings?
Regards
Gav

[Mike Hamblin]

Final fitting of the front section now complete.

I made a bit of a change to my plan and the instructions.
Rather than just glue the hood direct to the front bows, I received a great tip from Ian Young.
Good advice for anyone who doesn't have a lot of confidence to make alterations later if it's not quite perfect.
 
Put self-adhesive Velcro across the front of the bows on both half's at the front only, nothing on the top.
 
Then with an extra pair of hands, pull the hood fabric down over the self-adhesive Velcro, This will hold it to the bows as a temporary measure.
leave it for a few days to stretch, then you can remove it if you need to and make any adjustments.

Mark your cut line with chalk,  You could if required undo the Velcro and re position or re stretch if required.
It gives you the option after cutting to length, if it stretches a bit to undo the Velcro and re stretch it.
 
Once happy with the stretch and position, Glue the cut end inside the bows for added security.
Only a 2inch flap of hood is glued so you could even alter it again at a later date, the flap inside the bows also act as an anti rattle  / rub  barrier between the bows and the screen frame.
 
Seems to have worked well, I will leave mine now for a few weeks to relax into its final position.

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[RussHowell]

Really good Mike,

Well impressed with your work and it looks great

[Mike Hamblin]

Awesome write up mate, will be interesting to see how you fit side screens also.

I have never had a desire to fit a top on mine, but after travelling at speed in a mates cobra through a hail storm many years ago, i sure as hell had an incentive to fit one 

I was thinking along the lines of my previous Westfield builds and how the side door tops fit onto the screen pillar post on a pin and socket, or make something similar so that it opens with the door, rather than having ferrules in the doors and the screens attached with pins. Im also looking at more solid type door window tops like some use with the hard tops, Winter project to think about.

[Tony]

I did mine almost exactly the same Mike except I fastened the good views down with the catches so they were in the final position before gluing, I used impact adhesive on the hood and hood bow and once it was stretched tight and stick down I then released the catches so there was no tension while the glue set completely. I then glued the excess hood material into the bow channel for extra strength before fitting some foam padding. Just a note, the hood bow is an upside down squared U shape, only put the glue on the leading edge and not on the top of the channel!

[Tommy-boy]

Awesome write up mate, will be interesting to see how you fit side screens also.

I have never had a desire to fit a top on mine, but after travelling at speed in a mates cobra through a hail storm many years ago, i sure as hell had an incentive to fit one 

[Mike Hamblin]

Good description Mike!
Could we have this in full col glossy print in Snake Torque? It would make a good magazine tech article so if you're up for it, could you send me the drawings and pics (with files as large as possible) to magazine@ukcobraclub.co.uk (you could use WeTransfer.com to easily send large files rather than lots of messy emails)?
Cheers, Graham

Sure no problem, I will email you some pics and the drawings I have.

[Graham Heatrick]

Good description Mike!
Could we have this in full col glossy print in Snake Torque? It would make a good magazine tech article so if you're up for it, could you send me the drawings and pics (with files as large as possible) to magazine@ukcobraclub.co.uk (you could use WeTransfer.com to easily send large files rather than lots of messy emails)?
Cheers, Graham