Exmoor trim hood life expectancy

[Gareth]

My hood is 3.5 years old. 3/4 tilt from Exmoor trim. The car is 50/50 garaged, but when outside it's impossible to avoid tree debris (and bird poop) but it was cleaned regularly.

It's just split badly, on the top section in one of the creases that naturally form and hold water when it rains. It's also split along the seam of the roof to side joint.

Examining the tear, the canvas is stiff in these areas, and very brittle, and I can stick my finger through it easily.

Is 3.5 years acceptable?

I'm thinking of doing away with a tilt and making a pickup truck!

[Clifford Pope]

When I used to have a soft-top sports car that lived permanently outdoors I made a simple canvas over-cover from an old lorry tarpaulin, held on with bungee cords. It protected the hood itself, even resisting a vandal knife attack.

[scotty38]

I would have no idea what actual life expectancy is but gut feeling is that 3.5 years is not acceptable, imho....

[Richard]

I remember a post on the subject of life expectancy of these hoods. I found one on the old forum: "The canvas hood for my 2A is less than 5 years old and is disintegrating." And yet another one. Apparently five years is about the limit. I have a full length hood (see image), some sort of plasticated canvas, military in origin I suppose, and it's near indestructible, was on the car when I bought it over ten years ago. Small tears and holes I repaired with Tear Aid (a beech branch the size of a small tree fell on the car, nearly missed it, but there was some minor damage to panels and the hood). Maybe search for something similar at army surplus stores?

Richard

[Richard]

Something like this maybe?
Richard

[PaulR]

I've had hoods rot through even quicker - other makes as well as ET

I am experimenting with "Wet and Forget" - it is sold mainly as a long-acting patio cleaner, but has some track-record on covers and hoods.
The thinking is that the fungicidal properties stop the cotton from rotting when damp.
So far, so good - my ET cover is now over 5 years old (first fitted, November 2018) and still in good condition.
It used to stay outside all the time, but I ruined the experiment last year by building a garage......

[Sunny Jim]

I am in my 46th year of ownership, and found that the soft tops lasted 10-12 years in the past. The modern ones are more expensive, leak, don't fit well, and don't last nearly as long!

I sent one Exmoor hood back because it leaked like a sieve, and its replacement was no better. The gutter tapes started chafing on the second one, as they weren't in the right place, so it was replaced prematurely.

The current one is from JGS but needed a lot of waterproofing around the windows etc. It fits better than the Exmoor ones, but needed the holes for the ropes along the sides altering.

Mine is garaged now, but there is a layer of white mould on the inside of the roof which I will deal with once we get some actually dry weather! I wonder if we need to start using a liquid wood preserver on the canvas before re-waterproofing? The current roof is 7 years old, but has never lived outside.

Sunny Jim

[Ken]

I've been asking around the makers in anticipation of needing a hood before too long.
Mostly the weight seems to be around 18oz.
Exmoor trim told me they expect a 4 year life but may be less.
Others say that is a little optimistic and it's from 2 to 4 years.
My recollection is that exmoor's fabric weight is around 18oz.
On our visit to them last year I was surprised at how thin the hood material was ( my background involved materials for the uk car industry) I thought it more like clothing material.
Looking at the double duck stocked by Martrim they give the weight at 2.1 kg per running metre. A larger area than the square metre weight of 18oz but I would think considerably heavier than the hood material sold to Land Rover buyers.
Martrim also give a thickness of over 2 mm.
I have some double duck here and it's a great deal more substantial than the LR canvas.
At present I can't see any option other than buying duck and making up my own, I'm not prepared to spend going on £500 for an item with such a short life.
A further avenue of enquiry I'm yet to pursue is what the sail makers use for canvas sails for something like a big Brixham sailing trawler. Pilgrim is 90 tonnes gross weight and needs some seriously strong canvas to pull it about. I also can't see the sails giving up after 2 to 4 years.

[nathanglasgow]

In the marine industry if sail covers, stack packs, sprayhoods ect only lasted 2-4 years there'd be multiple lawsuits and angry mobs with pitch forks decending on sail lofts. As an example our sail cover is at least 20 years old(used for 8 months out of the year) so fabrics are out there that will last. Sunbrella is one make I'm aware of.

[diffwhine]

Maybe the collective voice of the club could be used to voice our expectations on this?

I agree that spending £500 on something that only lasts 2-3 years is totally unacceptable. Makes me want to see if suppliers are using this legislation on preservatives excuse as a way of pulling the wool over our eyes.

I had a look at a canvas on an 80" in Kenya last week. It was locally made with a much thicker material and tighter weave than the canvas hood I've just bought for a Ninety here.

I might look at seeing if there is some mileage in having some made there and brought back.

[geoff]

^^^ Good idea ... Should sell with ease.

I do hope your not a friend of Tom Pickford .... if you are you won't be for much longer ... Lol 

[Smokey 11a]

Modern canvas has been a victim of the EU's ban on certain chemicals that are used in the production. 2 to 5 years is now seen to be the norm. I can't sat what I actually think on here as it would involve a shed load of 4 letter words. The best part of £500 and several months wait for a roof that may last a few years is totally unacceptable. When I bought mine from UCC they did not say the live expectancy of a new canvas was so short, I now have a Hard top and the canvas is in storage.

[diffwhine]

Modern canvas has been a victim of the EU's ban on certain chemicals that are used in the production.

We keep hearing this, but has anybody seen any definitive which proves this? Also I'm convinced that modern canvas weave is not as tight as it used to be when new (before shrinkage). I also think the canvas weight is much lighter. The cynic in me says this is down to cost and ease of handling. I'm sure tilts of yesteryear were heavier.

[Gareth]

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one. I thought it was me, not looking after it. I'm very disappointed with Exmoor Trim. They do warn on their website that life expectancy is shorter than it used to be, but like said above, to pay £100's for a substandard product that takes ages to come is not on.

I'm not expecting any recompense but I will be writing to ET tomorrow, and will point out not only my disappointment but that of many unhappy members of the Series 2 club who seem to have suffered the same problems.

[island dormy]

  Hi Gareth

  You will not get a satisfactory answer from Exmore.  (Based on the nightmare issue) myself and 2 friends had trying to get a huge order (3 rovers worth) of shoddy defective upholstery replaced.

 Good luck but dont expect them to do anything except make excuses.

  Victor