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https://www.ebay.com/itm/254781079600

https://www.flickr.com/gp/farsightful/6oZG9z

I bought this item on ebay - about $78 with shipping - and I am somewhat favorably impressed at first look. Would commit to it right away if it were black rather than white. A big discount versus $500, and I will have to do the snaps either way. Next step is to blue-masking-tape it on to see how it fits and how long it takes the packing folds to fall out.

It seems heavy and well stitched, weighing about 4.4 lbs, bathroom scale accuracy. The zipper is large, plastic, with pull tabs inside and out. The edging has a leather grain different from the pinpoint grain of the main vinyl surface. The inside layer is black canvas, with a substantial hem turned back and sewn all around.

Do any of you who have and use the $500 covers have comments about appearance and function of the more matte and canvasy surface? Any recommendations about the viability of dying the vinyl from white to black?

Thanks for any insights.

Bill

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JBTrades ended up with a lot of old CMC/Street Beast stock.  He's in Miami so probably reason. It is vinyl and not the now more popular Haartz cloth fabric.  Several years ago I bought a tan Haartz cloth one from VS for $380.  Stitching was rather indifferent (not great).

It can be dyed black - the special vinyl dye seems to hold up quite well even on seats.  I'd leave it out in warm sun and the 30 year old wrinkles should go away.

Please see https://www.flickr.com/gp/farsightful/v3670Q

Let's call it half-time in the saga of the inexpensive white tonneau cover on ebay. Snaps are mounted now to use the existing studs of the quarter tonneau. The fold lines are becoming less obtrusive all the time, just as comments above said they would. Next step is to figure out where to place the dashboard snaps and then gather the nerve to drill holes in the car.

Back on the topic of whether to dye the tonneau black or leave it white, the photo shows how the white tonneau picks up the chrome wheels against the silver body. Completely unanticipated, and not bad.

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Just a note of caution.

The (canvas) tonneau that came with my ivory-colored VS is in two layers. The upper side is tan, but the under side is black canvas.

I frequently drive with the passenger side attached and, since new, this has always left black marks along the upper edge of the passenger door and on the front edge of the vinyl-trimmed dash (which I have to continually scrub off.)  The tonneau was delivered from the canvas shop that way - it wasn't dyed after the sale. And it's now seven years later.

So, maybe leave well enough alone? I've never seen a white cover on a silver car, but it looks pretty nice in your photo.

.

Thanks, Mitch: Interesting to know this is not specifically a vinyl problem. I gave the cover a long scrub bath and rinse and there is MUCH less schmutz coming out of the black canvas now but still traces along the hem where the canvas is doubled.

The unusual white-and-silver look is a feature, to me. I was worried about walking to the wrong silver-with-black-tonneau speedster in the grocery-store parking lot.

But hey -- there are still three more covers on ebay. Maybe someone on SOC will get one and let us know how it holds dye.

I mounted the dashboard studs for the front of the white tonneau and made a disappointing discovery: I can use the cover open or shut but not with just driver's half open.

I drive with the seat further back than this tonneau's zipper extends.

white-tonneau51110773723_6b623131c8_w



Could some good Samaritan take a minute to measure how long the zipper is on the typical $500 VM black tonneau, so I know whether I would have had the same trouble with the much higher-priced cover?

Also, in another photo, this little widget is free to slide up and down the windshield support rod. Do I guess correctly that I am missing a set-screw? If so, what specs?

Thnx re both or either.

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I mounted the dashboard studs for the front of the white tonneau and made a disappointing discovery: I can use the cover open or shut but not with just driver's half open.

I drive with the seat further back than this tonneau's zipper extends.

white-tonneau51110773723_6b623131c8_w



Could some good Samaritan take a minute to measure how long the zipper is on the typical $500 VM black tonneau, so I know whether I would have had the same trouble with the much higher-priced cover?

Also, in another photo, this little widget is free to slide up and down the windshield support rod. Do I guess correctly that I am missing a set-screw? If so, what specs?

Thnx re both or either.

@aircooled is the designer/creator/maker of the windshield bling and could provide the needed specs for the set screw.

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@wrkinprogress

If it's any help, the zippered slit in my tonneau is 38" from front edge of the fabric.

The back end of the opening is about an inch aft of the door gap (the gap in the outside panels).

I have a 2013 VS and drive with the tonneau half open most of the time. It just clears the back of the driver's seat when tucked down to the floor. I think Greg at VM is using the same source for tonneau covers as the old VS.

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@DannyP posted:

I'm in Hudson Valley NY near Newburgh and New Paltz, with a Vintage Motorcars Spyder from Greg in 2016. I also had a 2002, same make, long story. So almost a 20 year Spyder fanatic.

Ordered the first roller from Greg 20 years ago in April-May 2001!

Dang, I wish I’d have been active on the forum back when I was living in West Haverstraw. Perhaps my Spyder wouldn’t have sat while I was “too busy” with work.

Just what I was looking for, @Sacto Mitch, thanks for your trouble. On the white vinyl one the slit is 38.5 of which the zipper traveler leaves 38 free, so it seems to be the same pattern. But the top of my speedster seat is well back from the door edge, over 29 in. back from the horn button, so I have to unsnap the tonneau from the first two studs back from the door in order to tuck it down behind the seats, and that means the turn-down point is beyond the zipper. Next time I'm out I'll have to see what the driving position would be if I slid forward. Thanks again.

I know what you mean even if you love the hobby a community helps to encourage you to get involved.

I think that is why home gyms outside of Covid wen't unused for years and people got the Extra 19, in lbs during COVID, no surprise they called it Covid-19 lbs



Dang, I wish I’d have been active on the forum back when I was living in West Haverstraw. Perhaps my Spyder wouldn’t have sat while I was “too busy” with work.

Just what I was looking for, @Sacto Mitch, thanks for your trouble. On the white vinyl one the slit is 38.5 of which the zipper traveler leaves 38 free, so it seems to be the same pattern. But the top of my speedster seat is well back from the door edge, over 29 in. back from the horn button, so I have to unsnap the tonneau from the first two studs back from the door in order to tuck it down behind the seats, and that means the turn-down point is beyond the zipper. Next time I'm out I'll have to see what the driving position would be if I slid forward. Thanks again.

If/when I drive with the full tonneau I do the same thing with undoing a few snaps.

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