flappy half hood !

[Rory's Dad]

I have the same problem and would appreciate any descriptions and/or photos of the fixings each end.  I have some spare stainless tube but banging on the ends won't really achieve anything very neat. I have RAC bar.

[Marcus Barlow - Show and Events Co-ordinator]

Looks like nobodies found the grape vine thread thank goodness :-/ @Terryathome

[Terryathome]

1 hour ago, marcusb said:

Looks like nobodies found the grape vine thread thank goodness :-/ @Terryathome

You beat me to it. I was going to call it the trellis of grape vine thread flappy roof solution.

Rory, that's exactly how the bars are supported. They just rest on top of the windscreen and roll bar and the hood just keeps them in place. Mind to keep the ends shy of poking into the hood though.

[Sparkymart]

Here are a couple of pictures as promised nothing is welded up yet and is still working in progress 

As you can see the armoured cable cleat has had the bottom cut off it and is a perfect fit on the roll bar. So tonight at work I just need to sort a way to fix the 8mm tube to it 

[Terryathome]

Kinda don't understand the complexity to which people are going too just to stop the hood flapping. Yes you need something as it so annoying flapping about you have to do something.

From "The Range" I found some chrome oval tubing, I think in the curtain section. Cut them to individual length so when fitted in place they don't move back and forth and fall out of place before the hood is fitted, the drivers side will be more than likely different to the passengers side, number them up with a permanent marker then you know which goes where. Then riveted some alloy to the inside of the oval tubing, just enough to rest on top of the roll bar and the windscreen. Didn't want the hood material to stretch over what is sitting on top of the windscreen/roll bar as you could put the bars in different positions and put stretch marks all over the place. The alloy was covered in foam tape to stop any scratching. When you pull the hood tight it keeps the bars in place and they don't move, no lumps or bumps sticking through the hood and no stretching the hood over lumps or bumps, hood doesn't flap so result.

The above may not be the solution for you but for me it was simple, quick, cheap and it works for me.

Things to consider.

The above solution does not use extending poles as I store the hood along with the poles in a bag at the back of the seats. If you don't and store yours in your boot then solid poles may not be the way to go, however you may get then to work using the above method somehow.

A bad drawing but gives the general idea. patent applied for lol

All I need to do is sew the dam zips in the right place to the door zip (before you mention them Marcus Barlow) and I should be complete.

 

[Terryathome]

On 4/14/2017 at 09:29, Thrustyjust said:

I fiddled with mine as didnt want to fix them to the rear of the car but found it didnt hold tension very well. I made some roof rods from tent poles and in the end , thought sod it and mounted at the rear and it pulled the hood taught.

That looks like a Westfield supplied hood, look at the seam on the drivers side going over the roll bar. It should be sitting on top off the roll bar just like the other side is. I have just the same problem with mine and the hood seems to ripple from corner to corner if you get my drift. Measure front to back seam and I bet you have about inch and half difference.

[tisme]

Been out with my new SoftBits half hood - love it but even this flaps a bit. I did some road tests yesterday at various speeds up to (cough cough) and at the top end it actually starts to lift away from my head, but as I tend to travel at a more reasonable pace  I'm going for a simple single bar with some form of U clip or bend at each end.(as I type this there's a Spitfire up from Sywell doing some flight tests which is very distracting........I wonder if he has these sorts of problems ).

The "easy out" bits on the hood really help getting in and out with the fixed half doors and add a bit of stiffness to the hood as well..

Anyway, picture....  

 

[Yanto]

On 15/04/2017 at 21:45, W Shep said:

Hi Ian,

From the outside edge of the windscreen to the centre of the roll bar I get 1010mm on one drivers side and 1020mm on the passengers.    

The measurement from the top of the windscreen to the chassis at rear of the seats is approx 965mm.  Hope this helps. 

Cheers Wayne

Erm, outside edge to centre of bar on mine is 980mm, which does indicate that the rake on my windscreen is too much, hence why the hood is loose.

 

Ian

 

[W Shep]

Right here goes...........................................I'LL SHOW YOU MINE IF YOU SHOW ME YOURS!!

I'll be at Stoneleigh on the Sunday and prepared to fit mine for your pleasure    (only doing it once though cos I want to get around the show)

[Terryathome]

We could get a few people together and make it into a bit of a show stopper. Maybe a few dancing girls, fireworks, guess the time to erect?

[Paul Gibney - Lancashire AO]

Not sure I understand the issue..

a half hood was thought of to stop you getting wet in a sudden downpour 

yes they flap about a bit over a certain speed but so what if it keeps you dry that's the point.

for me part of the fun of having a Westfield is that it has problems and imperfections 

my tin tops get me from A to B without even thinking about it.

my Westfield on the other hand is loud difficult and has a flappy half hood ( used it 3 times in as many years )

bring on the imperfections I say...

[Yanto]

Maybe I'm expecting too much, but as it is it is the fit on my car makes it unpleasant.,

I'd read all the reports about how good they are and how well it worked, and yet mine isn't, it moves up and down about 6 inches, all I was trying to do was ascertain if other people were having the same problem as I haven't been in other cars fitted with a half hood, the best place to ask was here, as it turns out it looks like it is the car build rather than the hood, people have devised methods to make it better (fit, form and function), which is what my question was about, so they have helped me.

If people think I'm asking daft questions, expecting too much, then fine, but don't waste your time replying!

[Rhett Turner - Black Country AO]

Before I had mine I borrowed some doors and used them to get the screen angle correct. I'd set the screen based upon what was in the build guide, when I tried the doors I realised it needed to be adjusted to allow the doors to fit correctly. For the Westfield half hood, with RAC bar they then used my car to template the half hood.

i first used my half hood to travel down to stoneleigh and on the motorway it vibrated hitting the top of my head to the point I started to get double vision, I ended up loosening by belts enough to slide down in the seat to get some relief. I then set out to make some support bars, these turned half hood use from pain to pleasure. After borrowing some doors and using them in conjunction with the half hood for a long motorway journey, together they transform the use of the car on long motorway type journeys.

try and borrow some doors to get the screen angle correct and then make some supports, you'll then get the benefit.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

You're not asking daft questions Yanto, not at all.

Depending on your height relative to the hood, it can make driving unbearable.

Just like Rhett, I first used mine going down to Stoneleigh, it would continually smack the top of my head without the braces, and from about forty mph upwards, which in a convoy with no control over the overall speed, was hell. I ended up with a severe migraine after the first three quarters of an hour, and just like Rhett, ended up loosening the seat belts, to a dangerous level, and sliding down in the seat. (If I'd had an accident, I'd have slid straight out of the harnesses and down the footwel.)

Half hoods, or bra tops as originally known were first designed, and made out of much, much lighter weight materials than we tend to see now, and weren't actually intended for wet weather use. They were intended as sun screens for those touring in hot countries, where the exposure to the sun, in an open car, is just merciless, when in traffic etc. hence they were made of much lighter materials.

Of course, it was soon realized that they were so quick to put up, and gave adequate shelter from rain showers, that they soon started being used in wet weather too, hood materials were beefed up accordingly to something more water tight.

Use of hood braces are common place with most manufacturers of the hoods, and on all Seven types, whether Caterham or Westfield, Locost etc.

Westfield's version of the hood, (or at least the first generation was), is further complicated by being made of Mohair, which with occasional treatments from a reproofer is an excellent hooding material, however it's also quite stretchy. Mine deffinately needing more tightening after a few years of use than it did originally. (I know, because I had to alter slightly the positions of the Velcro pads.) it still worked absolutely fine though.

Also be aware, from what I've heard and seen from people using the Westfield version, the design seems to have been tweaked a bit since the first few batches. The rear straps seem to fix differently to mine. (Sorry, I can't tell you exactly how though.) But do be prepared if trying to copy a setup from photos, that your straps might not quite match.

The windscreen angle is the first thing to tweak if you can, though!

[Westie66]

With my half hood the first thing I did was send it back to be altered, took loads of surplus material out. That gave me a nice fit but still getting slapped on the head on the move so came up with this

Used steel tube from B&Q covered in pipe insulation. Had it out on the motorway and no issues at all with it.