Hood repair

A common fault with the Elan hood is when the lower edge of the hood comes away from the underside of the rear frame rail or the edge of the hood that is folded under the rear frame splits at the corners. It is not a difficult task to repair.

Tools & materials required

• Webbing 1” & 2” wide to repair any splits or to reinforce the lower edge.
• Hairdryer to reactivate the glue.
• Sandpaper to clean any area that needs glueing.
• Glue “evostick, bostick, gripsotite etc” any good contact adhesive.
• Brush to apply the glue
• Clamps to hold the lower edge until the glue sets.
• Paint and rust treatment to repair any rust on the rear frame.

Instructions

Remember for glue stick, both areas must be thoroughly clean.

First task is to support the hood so as to allow you to work on it. I used a length of doweling between the hood frame and the hood cover. Using the hairdryer heat up the edge of the hood that is folded under the rear of the frame, just do a strip of about 6” at a time and be careful not to get it too hot hold the dryer about 6” from the hood. Start at one end and as you warm it up lift the edge of the hood from the frame. it will not take too long for the glue to reactivate. Once you have removed the hood from the frame you can now clean the frame with sandpaper to remove any old glue and prepare it for the glue. Now is a good time to treat any rust spots you may have on the frame. As I had splits at the corners of my hood I decided to support it with webbing. I used 2”webbing for the corners and for the centre I used 1” webbing. Do not work on too large a section of the hood at any one time. I split the areas into 3 sections (both corners and the centre section). I did both corners on the same night and the centre section the next.

Apply 3 coats of glue to both the hood and one side of the webbing and allow 30 minutes in-between the coats of glue. After the 3rd coat of glue had dried I warmed the webbing up until I could touch it with my fingers and it was tacky to the touch. Then starting at one end carefully place it on the underside of the hood pressing it in place for about 5 minutes to make sure I had a good bond. Repeat the same procedure to the other sections of the hood.

After leaving the hood overnight, I again gently warmed the hood up to help me fold it over the frame. Again working on small sections at a time apply 3 coats of glue to both the underside of both the hood and the frame allowing 30 minutes between coats. When the 3rd coat has dried, warm up the folded edge of the hood until it is tacky and press it firmly in place to hold it in position until the glue sets. I used small spring clamps “with pieces of unused webbing to stop them marking the hood” I again left the hood overnight before lowering it in place to allow the glue to set. It will take about 3 weeks for the edges of the hood to finally lay flat again.

Take your time and you will achieve a good result.