Folding the Hood

[JohnWilliams6437]

Any tips or perchance even diagrams on correctly folding the hood on a VDP 3 litre.
(Promise it won't be put up unless monsoon arrives.)
John W

[John Murch]

I put my hood up last year and found a hole in it where it had rubbed against the supporting bracket, so there is an area that requires thought, perhaps some straps to hold it down?
However that is not an answer to your question.
It is a mystery to me as to how people manage to fold their hoods so neatly, despite many years of trying, mine always looks a big lumpy in its bag.
John

PS
The material of the hood makes quite a difference, mine is double duck and a bit bulky, I expect mohair is much lighter and easier!


The mountain photo shows the hood as it had been for over 50 years, the second one is after I realised that the hood frame had been incorrectly assembled, the frame now folds into a more compact form.[/img]

[Dan Suskin]

I don't have any tips - mine too looks lumpy all the time. But I do have a little story.

A friend of mine had a 4.5 litre WO for years, and always had the hood folded. When he decided to sell it, as he said it never really ran well and he preferred his Silver Ghosts, a potential buyer asked to come drive the car. The two of them set off on the test drive, and the car purred like never before. They drove for quite a while, and he said the car has never been better, even giving him some pause in his resolve to sell the car.

Arriving back at the house, the buyer expressed his desire to buy the car but asked to see the car with the roof up. My friend explained to him that he had not had the hood up in years, as Bentley drivers never have the roof up. On that car, the roof was held down with a spring loaded mechanism, that when released allowed the roof to unfold about a quarter of the way and then you manually pulled it up the rest of the way.

My friend released the holding mechanism, the roof sprang forward, and launched a mouse and several of her offspring - in a shower of mouse poop - forward - they landed on the hot bonnet, danced around for a while before sliding down the side never to be seen again.

The buyer left without buying the car.

[Chris Card]

I attach the hood bag to the back of the bodywork and let it hang down.
Pull all the main part of the hood out from between the frames so that it drapes over the open bag and the fuel tank, with the frames resting on the brackets.
The part with the rear window will hang separately and leave that to last.
Fold the two outer corners of the hood in towards the centre, forming a triangle.
Fold up the base of the triangle towards the top.
Roll the hood forward over the frames and tuck it down.
The rear window section can than then be folded up over the top and tucked into the bag.
Pull the hood bag up over the hood and frames and clip it down.

I normally get it right at about the third attempt!

Chris

[JohnWilliams6437]

Thank you gents - all replies appreciated and Chris's actually worked!
John W

[Chris Card]

Glad my method worked for you too!

Chris

[John Murch]

That is how I fold my hood too, I suspect that my hood bag is not as well cut as it could be.