Fitting Hood Envelope Cover & Trim Strip

[William2]

I am about to fit a new hood envelope cover and alloy strip to my S4 and would be interested to hear any tips from anyone who has done this job. A few questions spring to mind. What is the approx. spacing of the special screw studs that fasten the alloy trim, backboard and carpet to the hood tray? Do you fit the tenax fasteners to the hood envelope and attach the envelope to the car tenax studs and then sandwich the vinyl to the alloy strip, etc and drill the holes, or is it better to fasten to the hood tray first? Is it best to drill the alloy strip first or drill it in position with the backboard, carpet and cover vinyl all in place? Thank you for any help.

[elanfan1]

I'm sure there will be folk along shortly who will tell tales of how they did it and how easy they found it. IMHO this will be one of the most visible parts of the car and any slip in the quality of the fit will not only be noticed by you but by most others that look too. I'd be very tempted to book it in with Miles Wilkins to do the job (maybe he'd let you help which would be an invaluable lesson).

Quite how it's possible to fit a short tonneau with the vinyl fitted behind the Ali strip then up and over the top of the Ali whilst maintaining a tight uncreased fit on the back edge must be a tremendous skill. Fitting a hood over that too boggles the mind. No real world advice for you sorry but the adage the ship sank for a happeth of tar could be very relevant.

Good luck whatever you decide.

[nigelrbfurness]

On several cars where I've done this job, the short tonneau was glued to the inside of the alloy strip with contact adhesive of some sort, possibly Bisontex, form the factory. The strip should be drilled first, then shaped and used as a template for the edge of the hood tray. Then glue the cover to the strip. Once fully set, you can attach it all to the tray in the car. Best to have several dry runs with the cover and use chalk to mark positions if you need to. You can press through the vinyl with a sharp tool like a bodkin or bradawl, I usually grind own old screw drivers to make tools like this. I use short raised countersunk stainless screws with dome headed nuts and washers on the inside of the tray, the original fasteners were a two-piece bush - you can find similar items and use those but I find screws are ok with washers and dome headed nuts its quite a tidy job.

Nigel F.

[Orsom Weels]

I've recently done this job on my friends S3. I wasn't sure what the best way would be but in the end, I stretched the envelope over the hood tray (with the back board & ally strip temporarily screwed in place), marked & fitted the Tenax fasteners & popped them on their pegs so the rear of the envelope was secured around the rear of the hood tray/body, then pulled the envelope down over the ally strip to tension it, marked it where it needed to fold up under the ally strip with felt tip pen, removed envelope & ally strip, glued the vinyl to the ally with contact adhesive, then when well dry, re-installed everything. It was a lot easier than I had expected & we were very pleased with the result. A second pair of hands is a big help & we also opted to use countersunk screws & nuts rather than the correct twin screws, which felt like they would strip the threads before pulling the ally strip & back board in to place. Getting that back board to sandwich between the ally strip & the hood tray & follow the curve was the hardest part of the job

[William2]

Thanks for your help. I was hoping that the idea of locating the cover in place with the tenax fasteners first would be recommended as that seemed logical to me. I will see how I get on with the double sided screws.

[Lotus54]

I am getting ready to fit a new hood cover on my early S3.
Since the cover goes under the aluminum strip, does it get holes punched for the pass-through screws?

Some pictures of installed ones would be handy, but I have not found one yet.

[richardcox_lotus]

I am getting ready to fit a new hood cover on my early S3.
Since the cover goes under the aluminum strip, does it get holes punched for the pass-through screws?

Some pictures of installed ones would be handy, but I have not found one yet.

From memory, I think so, yes. It folds back onto itself, and the retention of the hood cover is helped by the pass-through screws. They are also retaining the hood tray to the bulkhead - it’s a fiddly job because you want it stretched to the tenax fasteners at the boot end, so you want to make sure that when you punch the bulkhead side holes you leave enough material so it’s neither too tight nor too floppy (Oooer)

No cloth photos I’m afraid as it’s all installed.

Regards
Richard

[reb53]

I am about to fit a new hood envelope cover and alloy strip to my S4 and would be interested to hear any tips from anyone who has done this job. A few questions spring to mind. What is the approx. spacing of the special screw studs that fasten the alloy trim, backboard and carpet to the hood tray? Do you fit the tenax fasteners to the hood envelope and attach the envelope to the car tenax studs and then sandwich the vinyl to the alloy strip, etc and drill the holes, or is it better to fasten to the hood tray first? Is it best to drill the alloy strip first or drill it in position with the backboard, carpet and cover vinyl all in place? Thank you for any help.

I've not heard of anyone needing to fit a new alloy strip before, but hood cover, yes, having done mine about a year ago.
If there are existing holes in the hood tray you could use them as a guide for drilling the strip.
I found the cover a much more difficult job than the hood I was also doing at the same time and a bit of guesswork came into play, with later adjustment by punching new holes in the cover.
Started with it pretty slack and tightened it up with new holes.
I just went and took a couple of pics which reminded me I should be trimming off the excess as I now know I won't be needing it.