Half Hood?

[Never Too Old]

Hope this does not come across as a silly question  -  I've looked on the Forum but cannot find an answer:  

How does the Half Hood used with the RAC type roll bar or the MSA spec roll bar perform in the rain should one get caught out? If anyone could give me the plus and minus points of using the Half Hood it would be most appreciated before I open my wallet.

Thanks,  Roger.

[OrmusKnight]

For me fairly good, you need to slow right down of course anything above 50 mph and you'll still get fairly wet (using side screens as well), with water coming in at various different angles, and they seem to want to try to come off at the faster speeds without them having bracing. 

 

But for me if the heavens open, i want to slow down anyway and for that its brill and stops a soaking and can be put on in seconds. For the cost to keep the other half happy it was worth every penny, especially as we go touring to Italy in ours.

 

Cheers

 

Sean.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

I don't recall anyone really posting a specific wet-weather review of them as such. But there is bags of anecdotal evidence, and lots of positive comments, plus, of course, a few negative.

 

On the whole, most that have tried them, seem to really get on with them. Only two or maybe three seem to have appeared in the sales section!

 

Downsides; with an RAC bar at least, unless you're quite short, you will need to make yourself a pair of roof braces. Lots of variations on how to do it - but essentially a pair of poles or stiff strips, that hook on the windscreen frame at the front and the roll bar at the back, one above each side, near the door openings. It stops the unbraced roof flapping against your head at fifty odd mph and upwards. Once made, they barely slow you down when fitting the half hood!

 

How much rain gets in? That's actually a trickier one to answer! The problem is, everyones car tends to be slightly different, so everyone has a slightly different experience.So. my personal experience, with regular doors, JK (high backed) seats, and normal height floors, is that with Half Hood in place, as long as I had some forward speed, in light to medium showers, little rain made it in and on to me. (No more that a regular hood really). Heavy rain, yes, I'd get wet, but it would get me out of trouble long enough to get somewhere that I could put my full hood up.

 

Upsides; So fast to put up, and easy to use. The visibility, with an almost unobstructed sightline to the rear three quarters and behind is leagues better than a full hood. Cut's down drafts and turbulance in the cockpit massively, yet still has something of an open feeling. Great for blasting down motorways/dual carriageways, when you just need to travel between home and somewhere with nice blatting roads. Also stops all your luggage blowing about. Much easier to store and put away.

 

They're handy if you get caught out in traffic jams etc in really hot/sunny weather too; in fact, that's what the concept was originally designed for, not use in the rain. Just a way of getting some shade when touring in hot clime's.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Oh, nearly forgot, I've not used mine like that yet, but I'm told by a few that have, that they work really well with wind deflectors, though not sure how that would be in the wet!

[Rory's Dad]

I have an SBforS one because they can incorporate a big zip from the rhs of the screen back to the middle of the back.  Easy to open and to get out of (or in to) the Westy easily and vertically.  Fit is good (they need a measurement from the screen to the roll bar) and it is very secure and very quick to put up.  Flaps about a bit.  I have wind deflectors and stay pretty dry.  I'll slow down because of the wet - not the because of the hood.

[s2rrr]

I have a half hood and when out in the cold it shield you enough to stay warmish. In the rain its quite good but as said above in a downpour rain will get in through the sides etc but at least it keeps the bulk off. I think it was a good buy because if you get caught out and it rains you can protect enough to make it reasonable. The roof supports are nothing major but are necessary and one important point is access is a little tight for the larger gentlemen but with a detacheable steering wheel its ok. Used with the doors makes it even more water deflecting. 

 

Bob

[peet]

I use mine regularly and find it as good as people say.

Having sold the full hood a few months after buying my Westy due to my fitting a MSA Caged roll bar I can't really compare hoods other than to tell you I sold it as I was confident I would never use it again even if it fitted!!

The half hood's quick to put on, with side screens on it's virtually wind free - you need a hat as it does blow over the top of the screens - and very easy to store, I found the full hood painful to store in the car.

It does flap the faster you go but a bar stops most of it but it isn't perfect by any means but TBH it's one of my fave upgrades and gets me out a LOT more in the Westy which is what I wanted and like the half hood so much.

If you don't get on with it they sell for only a few quid less than you pay new anyway so not even a huge gamble...

 

Go on you know you want one!

[Dommo]

My experience is without bracing it's quite flappy above 50ish, but acceptable. The only time I've found it unacceptable is because I'd forgotten to tighten it!

 

I use mine with wind deflectors, not full doors. I've been caught out in it twice, both times in those stupid torrential summer downpours. The first time, the area I drove into had already received the drenching so the roads were wet. I got wet mostly from the spray from the front wheels entering the car, or spray from cars going in the opposite direction. After time, the water was dripping off the rear of the roof and being whipped back in. I was still drier than the time I got caught without a roof at all though, and on the plus side the inside of the windscreen stayed clear with the half hood on.

 

The second time the hood was already up, because I saw the shower coming. The roads were still dry, and by the end of it, so was I. Here the roof and the deflectors worked well at keeping what was in the sky out of the cabin.

 

Rain aside, as has been mentioned above the half hood is also great at making touring nice and comfortable whilst still keeping the feeling of openness. That said, I'm 5' 9 with lowered floors so perhaps sit lower than some.

[Lawrie]

I've not been out in the wet yet, but will pick up on the comment about wind deflectors.  I made mine to fit the windscreen, and whilst they stick down a bit, as the windscreen sits on the scuttle, there's a gap underneath where the rain gets in.  The deflectors work as the windscreen is narrower than the roll bar/your shoulder.

[mikef]

My new one has just been delivered and I shall fit it this week.  The main reason for getting it was that my glasses kept getting wet as the rain came over the top of the screen.

 

I'm still pondering how to fit the rear straps since I can't quite work out how the loops fix over the lower mountings of the bracing bars.  I note that others have fitted the straps direct to the bracing struts so I will give it a severe dose of looks and work out the best way.

[Dommo]

Here's how I fitted mine. I think you could probably refine the positioning of the rear strap mountings, as the straps themselves are beginning to tear on mine.

 

http://mazdafield.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/half-hood/

[peet]

I have a row of poppers from when the full hood was fitted. As these were now redundant I removed the ones that were right on the corners and replaced them with the tenax posts. Works well and looks right.

[Matta]

Here's how I fitted mine. I think you could probably refine the positioning of the rear strap mountings, as the straps themselves are beginning to tear on mine.

 

http://mazdafield.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/half-hood/

I've fitted a 1/2 hood to all 3 of the Westies I've had and it's great for keeping the worst of the weather off but you still get wet. I fitted the rear strap mountings onto the RAC bar backstays. Much stronger than drilling the bodywork and allows you to get it really tight. That stops a lot of the buffeting on your head because of the extra tension. My previous 1/2 hoods never had the side straps, so I haven't fitted them this time.

 

Matt

[Rory's Dad]

I've fixed my SBfor7s directly to my RAC bar - strap on either side and one on each stay.  Can get it as tight as a drum.  It fits tightly over the windscreen with the Westfield plastic strip so no problems with water penetration.

[Never Too Old]

I thank you all very much for your constructive comments and I'm now a lot wiser on the subject!

 

After reading your posts, my mind is now made up and one week today when I visit the factory with my FW specifications, they will include the Half Cage MSA Spec Roll Bar and the Half Hood to fit.

 

Once again, thanks to you all.

Cheers, Roger