An occasional series of articles taken from old magazine issues.
This article from Autumn 2021 Issue 145 looks at a fix for the flapping of Mantara roof covers.
Stop Flapping!
(Chris Bell)
My choice of favourite modification is rather limited as I have only ever made one modification! But it’s definitely my favourite…
As much as possible I normally try to drive my Mantara Spyder with the roof down with the roof cover on. Having the roof cover on has the dual benefits of hiding the roof and deadening the sound of the rattling securing mechanisms, as well as making the car look even sleeker. However, over the years the roof cover has started to ‘lift’, particularly at speed, making rear visibility very restricted. I have no idea why this should have started to occur; I don’t believe the cover has stretched or that my method of tucking the flap under the roof has changed, but whatever the cause it became so much of a pain that I eventually stopped using it and put up with the rattling.
That was until I saw a modification to Colin de la Cour’s Mantara at the Kop Hill Climb in 2019. I have shamelessly plagiarised the modification on his car, and with his permission describe it here. Its beauty is its simplicity. It consists of two cotton webbing straps sewn onto the rear edge of the roof cover, each about 100mm long, with a piece of dowel of about 5mm diameter and 50mm long wrapped by the webbing at the other. The ends with the dowels are put into the boot before it’s closed, where they sit snugly stopping the roof cover from lifting. I’m afraid the execution of my modification was hampered by the lack of both a sewing machine and skill. However, what I lacked in the skill department I made up for with copious quantities of
Copydex. The end result in my case is not particularly pretty, but effective!
Ed: I think a few others have had similar issues, so well worth a try.
Straps securing roof cover when fitted
Straps securing roof cover from inside boot
