Materials

Overview

We manufacture all of our hoods, tonneaus and envelopes in high specification automotive grade materials which are used as standard throughout the industry.

There is a wide choice of five different grades of hood fabric. At least one of these will have been the original equipment for your car or an equivalent to it. Three of these grades are of vinyl origin (also known as PVC) and the other two are of canvas origin. Each material is different. Each has its own characteristics and behaviour. Please find an explanation of each opposite:

Heavy Duty Vinyl (HD)

This is the cheapest contract hooding available only in black.

Superior Quality Vinyl (SQ)

This is the material that has the original grain for most MGB, MG Midget, Triumph Spitfire and TR models. The earlier 1960's models had the PQ grain (not sure on the changeover year but it was probably 1964/1965 when the SQ started to be more widely used than the PQ) The SQ is obviously a better quality material than the HD and more original on most vehicles but the HD is still a good, strong product. Some people do prefer original spec though! It is available only in black.

Premium Quality Vinyl (PQ)

This is the material that was original for most pre 1965 MGB, Midget, Spitfire and TR. It was also original for all of the Big Healey range from BN1 to BJ8, all Morris 1000's, all Daimler Dart's, all Sunbeam Alpine's and all Lotus Elan's. It is available in black and colours.

Stayfast Mohair Canvas (SMC)

This is a thinner and lesser quality version of DMC. As it costs as much as the DMC for us to buy in, we no longer use it (although it's on our price list to emphasise that we know the difference between the two).

Deluxe Mohair Canvas (DMC)

This is the best quality canvas. This replaced Double Duck Canvas and is a far better product. It is now our most popular material. It looks better and lasts longer than any of the PVC's. There is hardly any shrinkage with this material. It is available in black and colours. The price for black is as listed but please add 10% for colours.

A Note on Shrinkage - the HD, SQ and PQ will shrink over time. If customers do not put their hoods back up into place overnight after they've had the top down for the day then they can tighten very quickly......... some people mistakenly keep their hoods down for the Summer and then can't fix them back into place at the end of the season.