Hood Cover Issues

[Harky71]

Hi,

I have owned a Gold Leaf 1971 DHC Sprint for about 10 years now. It is very tidy example, has paintwork and galvanised chassis by Miles wilkins, engine by QED etc prior to my ownership. I regularly visit the site and have always searched the wealth of information available within in it prior to carrying out any jobs on my Elan. I have out sourced some of the jobs to others with more expertise. One of these being to replace the hood cover which had shrunk and ripped slightly on one of the corners next to the door.

Yesterday I had the cover replaced by Don Hoods, trimming specialist based in Hampton Road, Erdington, West Midlands. Unfortunately on collecting the vehicle it could be clearly seen that the new hood cover, which was supplied by the company, was poorly fitted. It was extremely tight around the left handside and difficult to do up the tenax fasteners. On the right handside the vinyl had a ripple effect across its width next to where it was bolted to the car.

According to the fitter it would 'settle down'and followed this up with 'the car probably has different dimensions on the one side'. I have stated that I am disappointed with the hood. I asked the question as to whether they have fitted hood covers to any other Elans, 'No but we have supplied them' was the answer.

They have offered to do a custom fit which they were prepared to do minus the cost I have already paid. I am not overly keen on paying out more money as I believe that the hood they have supplied is either incorrectly sized or has been poorly fitted.

My question to you guys is have you ever had a hood cover fitted or supplied by this company? This is my first post!

Regards

Gary

[AHM]

The cover is glued to the ally strip which is then screwed to the car. It is a bit of guesswork so don't be too harsh. But do expect them to put it right - don't take any nonsense about the car being lopsided. It depends where you stick it on to the ally, they need to unstick it and move it over a bit.

[pereirac]

"The cover is glued to the ally strip which is then screwed to the car..". The only metal strip on my Sprint is the metal strip inside the leading edge of the hood which clips into the top of the windscreen?? The rear is just held on with washers and Tenax fasteners. Given you fit the hood and then make the holes, it sounds like they just put the hoods on at an angle.

[gearbox]

Bottom line, if you installed it yourself and it was crooked, that would be one thing. But you went out of your way, paid good money to a "professional" who should know what they are doing, and expected a perfect hood. If the hood is not up to your expectations, or not correct, he is responsible to make it right. Not only from a customer service perspective, but a legal one as well. The BS of telling you that it was going to cost you more money to do the job right is a complete scam and not well tolerrated in civil court. Get this in writing if you can. Then I would have a serious talk with him, fix it or refund your money. If he starts dancing around again, go down to the local court house and file a complaint in civil court for a few dollars. If he is smart, once he recieves the summons he will take care of you. If you end up in court, no judge in the world will let him just walk away. Either he will have to fix it to your expectations or refund your money and you get to keep the hood for free.

[nebogipfel]

The only metal strip on my Sprint is the metal strip inside the leading edge of the hood which clips into the top of the windscreen?? The rear is just held on with washers and Tenax fasteners. Given you fit the hood and then make the holes, it sounds like they just put the hoods on at an angle.

He's talking about the hood cover Carl. The ally strip is hidden by the cover when it is correctly fitted.

See this thread .... elan-f14/hood-cover-t25057.html

It sound like they didn't centralise the cover on the car.


Gearbox, this ain't the USofA, he can't just march him down to the courthouse at gunpoint. It would be much easier to try to remain amicable and get them to fit it properly FOC.

It would be interesting to see a picture ........

[pereirac]

Ah, the hood 'cover', now I understand . Still sounds like they put it on badly. I would have thought that it would be an easier job than fitting a hood?

[fatboyoz]

Gary,
I purchased hood, full tonneau cover and quarter tonneau (hood cover) from this company quite a few years ago, but only got around to fitting them two years ago. They are all made out of the Haartz type fabric and were fairly difficult to fit, as there is very little give in this type of fabric. The hood has turned out well and looks really nice in dark blue on a BRG Elan. The only complaint being, that they did not turn the ends of the fabric under before stitching and it continuously unravels. I have to go around it every now and again with a pair of scissors and give it a hair cut.
The hood cover however, is a different story. I tried fitting it both under and over the metal strip at the leading edge and there was no way it was going to stretch to fit around the rear of the opening, let alone over the stowed hood. The cover was actually very well made. In fact, too well made in that it was double skinned, with padding, so that it would look good both fitted and draped forward when the hood is up. I rang them, from Oz, to query this problem, and they said to take the car out into the sun and let the fabric warm up and give it another go. Right!! Ended up having my favourite upholsterer come over and he measured it up, pulled it all apart and resewed it, in one layer, and it now fits a treat.
Could definitely believe that yours does not fit correctly if they are using the same pattern.
Regards,
Colin. 68' S4 DHC.

Hi,

I have owned a Gold Leaf 1971 DHC Sprint for about 10 years now. It is very tidy example, has paintwork and galvanised chassis by Miles wilkins, engine by QED etc prior to my ownership. I regularly visit the site and have always searched the wealth of information available within in it prior to carrying out any jobs on my Elan. I have out sourced some of the jobs to others with more expertise. One of these being to replace the hood cover which had shrunk and ripped slightly on one of the corners next to the door.

Yesterday I had the cover replaced by Don Hoods, trimming specialist based in Hampton Road, Erdington, West Midlands. Unfortunately on collecting the vehicle it could be clearly seen that the new hood cover, which was supplied by the company, was poorly fitted. It was extremely tight around the left handside and difficult to do up the tenax fasteners. On the right handside the vinyl had a ripple effect across its width next to where it was bolted to the car.

According to the fitter it would 'settle down'and followed this up with 'the car probably has different dimensions on the one side'. I have stated that I am disappointed with the hood. I asked the question as to whether they have fitted hood covers to any other Elans, 'No but we have supplied them' was the answer.

They have offered to do a custom fit which they were prepared to do minus the cost I have already paid. I am not overly keen on paying out more money as I believe that the hood they have supplied is either incorrectly sized or has been poorly fitted.

My question to you guys is have you ever had a hood cover fitted or supplied by this company? This is my first post!

Regards

Gary

[Harky71]

Thanks for the replies, especially from those who have had previous dealings with this company.

The car has been in my garage all day today as it has not stopped raining. I tried to do up the cover to take some pics, but it is that tight on the left handside I couldnt get the tenax to do up!

I have attached a couple of pictures as requested. I am going back to Don Hoods on Tuesday and will let you know the outcome of this saga

Cheers

Gary

[pereirac]

Good luck next week, I certainly would not be very happy if that was my car and I had just paid a 'professional' to fit the cover.

Carl

[Steve G]

My hood cover is very tight and depending on the temperature/humidity I have to pop the tenax fasteners back on in the right order, starting from the ends doing two at a time, so you finish in the middle at the back, if you get what I mean. It can be a pain but it means the cover looks good as it's nice and taught.

I think if you can try and get it on once (or ask them to - if they can't then you've proved your point!) then it will stretch in situ and it should go on much easier in future.

Good luck.

[nebogipfel]

Thanks for the replies, especially from those who have had previous dealings with this company.

The car has been in my garage all day today as it has not stopped raining. I tried to do up the cover to take some pics, but it is that tight on the left handside I couldnt get the tenax to do up!

I have attached a couple of pictures as requested. I am going back to Don Hoods on Tuesday and will let you know the outcome of this saga

Cheers

Gary

It's not very pretty Gary and it certainly looks like the fasteners are pulling at a diagonal. Elan hood covers should be a reasonably tight smooth fit.

I would go back to them and employ your best diplomatic skills requesting that they sort it out. As for offering a custom fit, they should all be custom fitted, there is a fair bit of alignment and adjustment to be done as you attach the cover to the car.

[mark030358]

That is RUBBISH... get your money back, order one from Sue Millar and do it yourself.

Mark

[AHM]

That is RUBBISH... get your money back, order one from Sue Millar and do it yourself.

Yeah have a good argument, never see your money again, and spend a few hours in your garage glue in one hand cover in the other ....easy job!

Not everyone gets everything right all of the time.

A civil conversation explaining that you have tried what they suggested and offering them the opportunity to correct it sounds rather less stressful.

[gearbox]

Gearbox, this ain't the USofA, he can't just march him down to the courthouse at gunpoint. It would be much easier to try to remain amicable and get them to fit it properly FOC.

Why not? Our laws are closely based on your laws and they do favor the consumer. It appears that the owner had already aired his dis satisfaction with the vendor, who, instead of saying sorry, we will get it right, said, oh, if you want it right it will cost you more money. It was obvious to me that he was playing games with the owner. We have tons of these idiots here who prey on the timid or people who just don't have the time to pursue the issue. I am sure there are consumer advocate groups in the UK who would love to pursue something like this. While not all garage keepers are bad, and god knows I know that keeping a small business afloat these days is hard enough as it is, but if you are entrusted with a job and agree on a price, it is your business to do that job correctly and not give excuses. Looking at the pictures, it appears to be an obvious mis installation of the cover. I have done these jobs many times, and sure it took me 3 to 4 times the time of a professional, but I was careful and measured twice before commiting to the cut and it came out perfect. Basically the shop keeper posed as a professional, took your money, botched the job and told you to screw off. That is just not right. Even if it costed me twice the price to pursue him I would and have. So I would investigate my legal options. If nothing else it will cost him a day in court. BTW we don't march anyone down to the court house at the point of a gun. We let the courts issue a summons for his appearance, he disregards it, a bench warrant is issued for his arrest, he shows up, you present your case, and as he was the professional, he should have known better and is required to fix it or refund your money. No lame excuses.

[AHM]

gearbox,

Yes exactly! we have the small claims court to make it a simple process. But what us Brits are not good at is making a complaint

It is infact even easier if you make the payment by credit card as it becoms the credit company's responsibility to sort it out... and they are a. big enough not to be bullied and b. able to take the money back.

Gary,
That is badly fitted don't accept it, Call the place and require them to correct it