Hood Cover Replacement - Part 1

Time has come to replace my old cracked vinyl hood cover, my replacement cover to match interior and contrast against the body colour.



First job is to remove the rear seat back and head bolster, look above the parcel shelf and below the body waistline and you'll see a silver frame held in with a row of bolts. Undo these and pull the frame lose, bonded in with sealant and then left this frame up and out of the body (put down something to protect the paintwork)



Next job with the hood up is to carefully push the glass out starting from a corner and with the help of a friend, once you push the corner free they can help pull from the of side. Once the glass is out you can remove the seal and leave the heated screen wires in the seal.



Seal out.



Now this is where 30-40mins of the job take place (I should add music here!!!). You are now presented with around 100 staples to remove, a small screwdriver or metal pick slid between the metal frame and the vinyl under the staple will help you pull them out with the help of some pliers.



Now fold the hood back to the fully open position and with a T15 Torx driver undo all the screws in the metal strip along the windscreen header.



There are also a screw next to each release handles to undo and then the strip is free to remove.



Next remove the seals in the front section of the hood frame.



Now you will find a row of T20 Torx screws in each seal frame to remove.



This frame will need a little help to remove as there is sealant holding it in place.



You now need to remove the last plastic insert that goes through the vinyl and into the frame.





Now peel up the vinyl thats glued to the frame and cut the corners so the whole vinyl cover is free from the front of the frame.



There is a strap above the rear side glass riveted to the frame, but to save time cut them off. I'm cleaning up and removing rivet before fitting the new cover.



In the upright part of the frame, the part that goes up the rear side glass is another seal that needs pulling out.



Behind the seal are more T20 Torx screws and plastic inserts to be removed plus one rivet at the bottom of each seal frame.







This is the usual damage you'll find at pivoting part of the hood near to the hinges.



Cut this away from the silver frame.



Now cut the hood from the window hole to the front, hinge part on both sides. If the wires are still in one piece and not rotten away, unhook them from the frame and slide the cut off piece of hood along the wires and now it's free.







There are rivets at each end of the silver frame that need removing (drilling out).



Now if you cut the remaining vinyl from window corners to frame both sides, this will allow the vinyl to slide around the frame better and spray with WD40. With vice grips at each end, pull a little at one end and push a little from the other it'll soon free itself and slide out.



And now the whole hood cover is off.



Rivets that now need drilling out and removed.



Seal frame next to the hinges at the rear of the rear side glass.



Those straps I cut earlier above the rear side glass, the rivets can be accessed through these slits already in the second skin.



Now you are ready to fit the new cover, but this is not a reverse process of the above. This is a good time to clean the frame and make sure there are no staples and metal drillings from removing the rivets, also clean the silver frame and spray with WD40. Once sprayed where the new hood piping needs to slide, clean the rest of the WD40 off the outside of the frame. You don't want to get the new hood dirty with oil etc when sliding it into the frame.

Next job is to fit and will start a new post on this soon.