Summer Car Hood Care

We never thought we would get away with saying this...but summer does seem to be here, albeit possibly temporarily in the South East. And if you do live in the South East, then, perhaps like me, you woke up find a layer of fine sand on your car this morning? It's important to keep your car hood or soft top conditioned in the winter months, but it's equally, if not more so important to protect it from the heat, direct sun UV's and acidic rain in the summer months as well.

The first thing you need to do in the summer months is a weekly clean. Soaking your soft top with soapy water and rinsing off with a hose is normally good enough - don't use a pressure washer though.  For owners of Cloth Car Hoods, when your car hood has dried, then take a clothes brush and gently clean the roof (you'll see the dust coming off!). For vinyl or PVC car hood owners, clean the hood in the same way and then condition your rood using a soft dry cloth sprayed with Autoglymn's Vinyl and rubber cleaner. This will leave the roof looking like new.

It's also very important to ensure that water collection points are cleaning and the build up of dirt removed. On my Boxster, there is a point at the bottom rear corner of the glass rear window. If need be, use a cotton bud to clean this area on a weekly basis but take care as to not damage the bonded seal.

This time of year also see's lot's of air contaminents - it's a good time, before the winter, to ensure all your car bodywork drain holes are cleared. These normally sit near the pillar behind the door(s) and run down through the rear wing. On some cars, especially the MX5's for some reason, these get very easily blocked and when the heavy rains do come again, the water backs up and spills into your car sometimes soaking the rear shelf or the footwell (if we had a pound for every time n owner told us they needed a new hood because their old one leaked when actually it didn't....)

Finally, it may be an obvious point, but ensure the actual folding mechanism of the hood still works ok, and if need be, apply a liberal helping of WD40 or similar to stiff joints. If a hood has been up for several months, and in the damp months, there is always a possibility the hinges may have rusted...so go gentle!

Now get out there and enjoy our few days of summer whilst they last!