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benc

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Welcome to the madhouse

What year is car and has it a screen /sidescreens and why do you want a roof

Most of us hate them

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Welcome Benc, I've had a 7 type car for 21 years and the roof was on once. That was driving back from the dealer I'd bought it from.

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I thought I would use the roof but I now only use the roof for parking. I have driven it once with it on got fed up of it flapping on my head.

To be honest its not that good for when its parked either. So I bought a towel for the seats. (Like today)

The car soon dries out even with carpets.

You do get odd looks though. The only problems I've found in the wet is grip and rain coming over the windscreen into your eyes (need some goggles)

Hope that helps

Paul

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I'll be honest i have been in to minds about putting one on or not, but the towel for the seats sounds alot better !  

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Never even thought about a full hood, I have gone for a half hood though which I would recommend. Depending on your body and roll bar they can be purchased from the factory or soft bits for sevens. If a full hood is what you want then the factory sell them, not sure who else does you could try thy want ads on this site, I'm sure there are plenty sitting unused.

Welcome to the club.

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Please remember that ALL Westies have never been used in the wet or on track :d

Welcome benc, same as above, when I bought my 1st Westie I made sure I had a hood, used it once in two years... If you drive fast enough the water flies over your noggin, then you just need to think about keeping dry when parked up.....

Enjoy

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Welcome to the club,

I had a hood, changed to RAC bar and it no longer fitted. So for it adjusted at a hood specialist.

Many people complain about poorly fitting hoods. I'd find a hood specialist and get them to make one! I was tempted to get one made out of mohair... But decided not to.

Since getting a garage my hood's rarely used. I had a half hood, lent it to someone, then he sold it on eBay! But I never used it.

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Many people complain about poorly fitting hoods. I'd find a hood specialist and get them to make one! I was tempted to get one made out of mohair... But decided not to.

 

Mo's are getting rare. The biggest problem is catching enough to make a hood.

 

Seriously though, welcome to the club Benc. From what I've seen people who drive in all weathers take two approaches with Westfields. One is to treat it as a motorbike with four wheels. That is to strip it out of carpets, interior trim and even seat upholstery and drill holes in the floor. You then weatherproof yourself with a waterproof suit and googles, or helmet. I take this approach. I replaced the windscreen with an aeroscreen too as I find that you would need wipers on the inside of a windscreen as well as the outside and a helmet visor clears itself at speed.

 

The other approach is to improve the standard Westfield wet weather gear. Modifications can be made to reduce leaks round the hood. A heater can be fitted that takes in fresh air, rather than recirculating cabin air to control condensation. From memory, GadgetMan has done this to make winter driving more civilised. It needs some work, but can be done.

 

Jenny

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I'm reading this with interest as I am currently on the look out for my first Westy. I don't want it sat in the garage all the time so am going to use it for work at least once a week all year round.

I was thinking of the half hood and half doors. I was also thinking of making the window in a full door a zipped window so I can open and close it is that possible?

Can't wait until I find the one I want & actually see and try what works!

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I'm reading this with interest as I am currently on the look out for my first Westy. I don't want it sat in the garage all the time so am going to use it for work at least once a week all year round.

I was thinking of the half hood and half doors. I was also thinking of making the window in a full door a zipped window so I can open and close it is that possible?

Can't wait until I find the one I want & actually see and try what works!

One thing to be aware of is that at speed the aerodynamic pressure is very strongly trying to push in normal Westfield side screens towards the centre of the car.  Full side screens have steel frames inside the vinyl to prevent them collapsing inwards. The zipped in window would need to be strong to not get damaged by this.

 

You get a lot of buffeting from a full windscreen at speeds over 50mph. I used to use full side screens, or transparent plastic wind deflectors to cut this down to managable levels. Not sure what a half hood would be like, as I've never tried one, but it may suffer from this too without deflectors at least.

 

The thing to do I reckon is to get your car, then start experimenting once you've driven it for a bit. You will have a better idea what is a problem for you and what is not and what alternatives are likely to work.

 

Jen

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I have used the half hood on longer journeys a couple of time and it make a noticeable difference to the level of buffeting especially if you have long stretches of motorway or dual carriageways to cover. I would almost go to the point of saying undertaking a longer journey in a Westfield is almost a pleasure but not quite, but it does go a long way to making it bearable. 

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Agree with Rhett, 400 miles yesterday first up to Northampton Motorsports and back and then down to Martinstown for the WSCC meeting. Softbits4sevens 1/2 hood and side screens fitted throughout and a big grin on the way back - would have been bigger if the sun was shining, hood & side screens off and I had time for the A & B roads - proper Westfield driving

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Hi benc ,if you are going to buy a hood, then prepare to be flexible to get into it, prepared for an audience to watch you assemble the hood for the first time and drive with no hands over 80mph as you try to hold the roof on the car.... seriously, buy a good waterproof motorcycle suit and forget the idea :-)

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Hi benc ,if you are going to buy a hood, then prepare to be flexible to get into it, prepared for an audience to watch you assemble the hood for the first time and drive with no hands over 80mph as you try to hold the roof on the car.... seriously, buy a good waterproof motorcycle suit and forget the idea :-)

I'd agreed with your first two points :d but not the third. I've driven close to 1000 miles with the roof up but never experienced any issue with it trying to remove itself. Correctly fitted and tensioned it should stay put just fine.

On a very cold day for me it's much more enjoyable to put the roof up and drive in a t-shirt that in is to pull on several layers and have my face freeze.

It should be born in mind though that a Westfield with it's hood up is not 100% waterproof, although not so much a fault of the hood design but rather that of the doors. Because the doors sit proud of the bodywork water will get forced between the tow as it comes off the front wheels. There's likewise some gaps at the top of the screen pillars where it comes through. You also need to make sure the scuttle is well sealed or you'll get water coming through from the engine bag.

Although you don't have the option of opening windows i do find that undoing the first pop-stud behind the doors so the front edge of the hood above the wheel arch can be folded inward then allows for the warm air to be drawn out of the cabin as you drive along.

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