There is a yellow Velocity that has a blue top that is at every show I have been to but whose owner I haven't met yet. Or if I have met them I haven't realised the connection between owner and car. Anyway, I would like to do a similar top but do not know where to get the roof material and the trim that attaches to the windscreen frame from. Could the owner of that car point me in the right direction please?

This one?


I saw it at Newark...Looked very smart.

[Edited on 26/6/08 by tul214]

newark hood

[Edited on 27/7/09 by tul214]

Its Piddy's and its home made.

Basically its a bit of Caravan Awning channel fixed on top of the windscreen. A thin fold of the material with a piece of round plastic in it threaded thru the fold. which then slots into the Caravan rail. All machine stiched on his granny's sewing machine.

The rear is just a piece of ally rod thru a simmilar fold to the front, and tied down with some strapping to the rear deck.

VERY SIMPLE, and IMHO VERY effective.
Also it the truest Locost tradition.

I am sure Piddy will tell you where he got the material. The rest is easy to obtain.

Hi. Piddy here.

company I brought the fabric from

link to the fabric used



I made the top as a temporary item until I had a full roof made and have stuck with it since because it works so well and is small to pack away.


I cut the material to size and then stitched a channel in both the front and rear. The front contains a length of TV coaxial cable to give a tight fit in the awning rail.
The rear channel contains a length of steel rod (6mm think). The straps have a loop stitched in the end of them to enable the rod to fit through them. The side straps are stitched direct to the Surrey material.
Where the items are stitched I have stitched them in an oblong and then corner to corner using a good strong Nylon thread.

The roof has been tested up to 90 MPH both wet and dry.

The awning rail can be purchased from any large caravan camping store.
I hope this helps and hope to meet you at one of the shows in the future.
Rescued attachment Overall.jpg

I should have said you can also get the plastic buckles and adjusters from the same comapny.
Rescued attachment Side stitching.jpg

and another.
Rescued attachment Buckle stud.jpg

Spoke to a very helpful lady at Pointnorth yesterday who is sending me some samples Thanks for your help Martin.

That's excellent Piddy, thank you very much. They do the material in black which will match my car perfectly.
I'm delighted.

See you at one of the shows I am sure.

Steve

Pictures of awning rail as requested
Rescued attachment 1.jpg

and another
Rescued attachment 2.jpg

and another
Rescued attachment 3.jpg

last one
Rescued attachment 4.jpg

Thank you very much

Piddy

Is your bonnet a standard one or modified to have the bulge ?
Is it to fit a your engine in standard chassis ?
It looks like I may have a similar "challenge " getting my pinto under the hood.

RD

they have a buldge as standard - or they did. depends if they have been changed by the new luego.

as above it is a standard Luego velocity bonnet. It will also fit the book chassis.

If you fit a velocity bonnet you would need to fit the scuttle and nosecone too because they are all a bit higher than standard locost bodywork, but it does give you a nice bit of extra room.

If you look at a side profile of a velocity, the scuttle etc is above the line of the rear deck, hope this helps

I wondered if it was a taller version.

Thanks


RD.

Good point Andy I hadn't thought about that.

Hi martin got the top finished see sunday
[img]http://052[/img]

dam and blast cant get picks up

Black top looks good, well done. Both of you have used an awning channel that has a P or F shaped cross section. I have not been able to find such a channel anywhere. I have only really got access to the internet though. Would you guys know the name of the shops that supplied them please as I am no comfortable with the channel I have got.

Cheers

Had the same problem, local caravan dealers hadn't got the right type so we ended up getting ours of an old caravan that was being scrapped, it was the bottom skirt bit, but still needed alot of work as we had to cut off parts of the rail that we didn't need. Martin (piddy) got his from a caravan & camping place at Norwich not sure what it was called.

Lift the dot fasteners work well on the top of the screen frame . I took the screen and the frame off the car , dismantled the frame, drilled and tapped the frame to take the screws then used a dremel with a cutting disc to cut off any excess length of screw . Easier than a length of channel ?? but neat

awning channel link

http://www.blackburnsmetals.com/products-aluminium-hanging-z.html

Piddy - I'm in the process of making my hood and had already decided to use the nylon strapping with tension adjuster thingy like yours. I was having a bit of difficulty deciding how best to fix the bottom of the straps. It looks from yours that they are removable fasteners - are they Tenax? I was wondering if they are secure enough when the straps are under tension?

If you reckon they are good enough I will look out for some myself

Cheers

Simon

Hi.
They hold as much tension as my strength will allow me to put through them.
Must be secured to the car well, I secured mine by drilling and tapping the top rail.

ok, cheers

I Like I Like,

How much fabric did you order 3M ??

Piddy - one last question: did you use Traditional Weave Webbing (nylon, which PointNorth says stretches...) or Traditional Weave Webbing (polyester, which they says is stronger and doesn't absorb water)?

Cheers

Simon

What a genius thread! Favourited this very seconds. Thanks to all!

Description new top


thats for kellogs who was having probs showing his pic

looks great too