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Hi all,

I'm in the process of fitting a very splendid and well made double duck canvas hood, and when it finally arrived today I realised I hadn't really thought about how I might need to apply some kind of waterproofing to it immediately after fitting it (especially given the current summer weather !), to the seams in particular, given that it's a stitched canvas. It is quite thick and a double layer at that with what seems to be a rubbery mid layer, but as I'm used to a vynal hood I wasn't expecting it to look quite so water absorbent on the outside..... Looks like the outer layer would suck up the inevitable rain just like a sponge....

So I imagine I need to get some kind of "dubbing" or somesuch thing, like I used to put on me hiking boots when I was a kid being dragged off up some drenched hill in the lakes.. Is there a special thing available for d.duck hoods that anybody knows? was'it called and where can I get it quickly , Or should I let it get drenched initially so that it shrinks a bit to get rid of the creases and tightens up... MY GOD should I allow for some shrinkage as I fit it ? not doing it up too tight, incase I'll never be able to get it fastened once it has shrunk?..

Any answers please.... I've been driving about for the last 8 weeks without a hood, having removed the old one after being reassured 9 weeks ago that i'd have it within a week... the things you can do with tarpaulins and bungy cords to avoid getting wet whilst crawling about in London traffic on the way to work in the most wet period history has ever known, you don't want to know, safe to say I'm used to being laughed at a lot whilst managing to stay relatively dry.....

Cheers Nick

I used some waterproofing spray -on the inside of the hood -from a local camping and trailer tent supplier.

Especially concentrate on the stitching and joints,

I cannot recall it's name, but it is designed to waterproof canvas tents, and worked well on my old double duck hood.

Eventually, when the sun faded my canvas hood to a shade of dark grey, and I have seen them go almost white, I used MAXOL from the TSSC shop.

You can paint Maxol on the outside of the hood with a wide paintbrush, but you must remember to cover the bonnet and bootlid with old blankets etc to protect them from getting black spots on them.

The Maxol both blackens and waterproofs the hood to some extent, but I still would recommend spraying the inside also.

Regards

LÃ©on

Further to what Leon has suggested, the most common tent waterproofing stuff is called Fabsil, and is available from most tent and outdoor gear shops. If anyone can recommend a SPECIFIC waterproofing agent for mohair or double duck hoods, (perhaps the supplier) I would use that, but Fabsil is pretty good on tents and should do what you need. Have you looked at Frosts catalogue or similar (Woolies?) for any proprietary products?

You got it Chris,

FABSIL is exactly what it was...

L

Thanks guys, I'll get some Fabsil then on my way out of town on saturday...

Fitted the thing this evening onto the frame, having blasted, welded, and 2 packed it, all fresh bolts and webbing.... looks amazing, but fitting the canvas was a bit of an ordeal really, and I'm used to fabricating stuff, one off mechanical contraptions mostly... thats what I do for a living, first time Ive ever fitted a hood though and I have to say it's not easy.. Its on and taught when locked, I started at the back and moved forwards as all the resto manuals suggest ( but I first pinned the corners onto the frame above the B posts, because really they have to be exactly in the right spot, with the seem on the edge of the frame with the corner in the right spot...) anyway its all good 'cept for a bit of baggy-ness behind the B post, It seems like the hood has too much material here, but I'm hoping the shrinkage will alleviate it.. I'll post a photo soon....

Thanks again, Nick

Nick,

When you spray on the fabsil, make certain that you do it with the hood frame half-way up, so that you get to the material behind/above the hood sticks. Where they touch the material is where any leaks will occur if left un-treated.

I spent too many wet nights in old canvas tents in the boy scouts and soon learned that wet canvas would only let water in if you touched it when it was wet.

L

The hood should have a flap that fits down the INSIDE of the rear wing. This is folded over the edge of the "inner wing" panel and secured with a trim clip (like those which hold seat fabric to the front seat frames). This will keep the hood taut in a vertical sense, but won't do much for fore and aft slackness. For that the only options are to pull the rear window section down and further back, or move fabric further round the hood frame to the rear of the door window. Neither terribly easy with the rest of the hood secured in place, and will affect the fit elsewhere. Unless it does shrink, or you start again from the back, you will have to live with a compromise. (Some adjustment of the frame itself may also help).

Thanks for your comments guys,

thanks for the tip Leon, I hadn't thought of that, but I'll do it, it makes sense. And Chris, I'm happy with the front to back taught-ness, it really is just the area between the side windows and the B post, where there seems to be an excess of material, I'm thinking I'll let it get wet without proofing it first, to see if I can get maximum shrinkage to take care of these bits, the front I can adjust as I have only evo stuck it currently without any final trimming of excess material or screwing on of channel.....

I'm going camping in the west country tomorrow where I understand it will rain sunday , shortly after which I'll be driving back into a hot and sunny london...

A receipe for success I'm hoping,

I'll let you know how it goes...

Cheers Nick

Ps - where can I get those spring clip things, my old hood only had one left !

Section : Hoods, Hardtops and Sunroofs

Best thing to waterproof a canvas hood...?

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