Canvas hood masterclass
We’ve all struggled fitting, removing and stowing canvas hoods. Alisdair Cusick provides the definitive guide from the experts at Undercover Covers
How to fit, remove and stow a hood
EVERYONE LOVES a canvas hood, don’t they? The look of the car, the smell of the canvas, not to mention the fun of driving around with the back or sides rolled up, all bring a bit more fun to our Land Rovers. Driving around with a canvas hood may be one of the greatest pleasures but, perversely, removing, folding a hood up, or refitting one can be a frustrating task. Taking it off involves all manner of undignified struggling, ending up with a huge, badly folded lump too large to store easily. Now though, in perfect time for the summer sun, LRM brings you a masterclass on all things hoods from renowned experts, Undercover
Covers, who are based in Birmingham. There are three main aspects to handling hoods: fitting one to a vehicle, furling the various side or rear panels, and removing the complete canvas. We’ve all got into all sorts of messes with any one of those tasks at one point or more. An incorrectly-fitted hood will wrinkle badly, or wear out prematurely as the wrong area bears the stress of tension. Do it the right way and it will be tight on the car, and the life of the hood will be maximised. Fitting and removal can be done single-handed, but it’s definitely quicker and simpler with two people.
The team at Undercover Covers will run us through all their tips, gleaned from four decades of working with canvas.
Fitting
When fitting a hood, the aim is to have the canvas tight and wrinkle-free on the vehicle. To do that, the hood must be secured at each of the many contact and anchorage points on the vehicle, and tensioned in the correct way at each of those points. Tension in the wrong place will quickly damage it in use.
All of the information here assumes your hood sticks are relatively straight and true, otherwise the fit will be affected by those alone. Canvas shrinks over time, so hoods should be stored fully fitted to the vehicle, under tension. Even leaving just the rear flap rolled up can cause that section to shrink irretrievably compared to the rest of the hood.
Gain experience, fast
It sounds simple, but to get better at fitting, simply spend some time putting it on then taking it off, repeating the process. How many times do you normally take the hood off in a year: two, three? In one single day’s practice you can accumulate the equivalent of two of your normal years of fitting experience.