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I made my own hood cover!


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Folks, I just wanted to share a project I just completed. Ever since I got my TR4A, I always thought about getting a hood cover for it. However they aren’t cheap, and I had plenty of other things to buy on my to do list. When I first got the car I had purchased a tan interior trim kit from Moss. It came with a roll of vinyl that I never used, and that vinyl had sat ever since in my “spare parts bin”. 

So about a month ago I came up with the great idea that I would try making my own hood cover, using that roll of vinyl. In those immortal words of Jeremy Clarkson, “how hard could it be”? 

The first thing I did was make a pattern using some house wrap I had in the lying in the garage (it’s flexible and won’t tear), by trial fitting many many many times, until I found a shape that worked and would not need more than the vinyl I had. However one extra issue I would face was I had added a roll over bar, so I had to take that into account too. 

Now let me say that I have never sewed anything more than a button, and had never used my wife’s sewing machine. So I watched a lot of YouTube videos, bought some exterior quality thread and binding (I found that Marine Upholstery supply shops were the best sources), and started in. 

The first thing I found was the wife’s sewing machine barely had enough power to drive the needle through the layers of material. The second thing I learned was I had no clue how to feed/manipulate the material. But after several false starts and do-overs, I finally started making some progress. 

When the hood was almost done, and I was flush with confidence, I decided to add an additional panel that would hang down between the roll over bar uprights, and act as a storage cover for the shelf behind the seats. As the carpeting is black, I bought some black vinyl for this, as it would blend in better. 

Anyway, I have to say I’m pretty proud of the results, though I’m sure a professional upholsterer might think it’s a dog’s breakfast. 

Cheers 

Jim

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Just now, Bfg said:

I'm well impressed ..very nicely done Jim. 294983951_Thumbsup.png.ce431be8d130698cdc5135bde49b9c41.png

Pete

+1 

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