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Home-made tonneau - has anyone tried?

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wifegonnakillme

Jedi Hopeful
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Bought a couple of Brookland racing screens the other day (feeling guilty about the purchase, but I am sure that will pass) and I now need a tonneau cover for my tr3. I was thinking rather then spending the bucks on a factory tonneau, I would make one. I know that I would have to find a good vinyl or other weather resistant material, and that I may run into problems with the thickness of the material and my non-industrial sewing machine...but I was wondering if anyone else has done this with any success?
Cheers,
Kerry
 
Kerry, I have a very low-end Pfaff sewing machine and I routinely use it to sew multiple layers of very heavy duck cloth (up to 6 layers) and have also used it for multiple layers of vinyl. I make a lot of tire bags and cargo liners so they give the machine a good workout!

Get yourself some needles made for jeans/denim and you should be fine. Obviously, you'll want to slow down your speed a bit. Oh, and get yourself some upholstery thread too. That will hold up nicely.

Your biggest problem could be finding a nice heavy duty vinyl that will hold up well. I know my local fabric store doesn't have anything even close to the weight of my current tonneau.

Good luck!
 
One of the guys in our Jensen club made some beautiful custom tonneaus for his car and a few other clubbers.

Getting the right cloth made all the difference. He used convertible top fabric made by Haartz.

The cloth is soooooooo much nicer than vinyl. You really owe it to yourself to check it out. I will never, ever even consider getting a vinyl top or tonneau ever again.

You can get topping fabric from automotive upholstery suppliers.


PC.
 
I have known some to have a tonneau made for them by one of the local shops that do auto & boat upholstery. Ended up costing less than the ready-made.

If you're up to doing it yourself I would think borrowing a factory tonneau to use as a pattern would help... but be aware that most of the original TR tonneaus will have shrunk quite a bit thru the years and even the factory-mades I have worked with are almost too small (possibly because they are using shrunken originals as their pattern).
 
Possibly someone who makes replacement boat tops could make one. In my area there are a few companies offering this service and prices seem reasonable.
Simon.
 
We have a local Amish canvas shop that some of the hot rod guys have discovered.

My buddy had the front seat of his F-1 pick-up done by him...blue velour (yuk!) but it was $110.00 complete!

He's also done some roadster tops...usually about $250.00 if he has a pattern to work from...pretty cheap!
 
Good advice, thanks - I found a local boat guy that has an array of material (and vinyl) choices, so I will go see him this weekend or next - as a bonus he also has the lift-a-dot fasteners. I'll poke around here and see if anyone has an old tonneau for a template (either that or I will look at some pictures, make a template from a cheap material and go from there),
Cheers,
K
BTW: Takes me months to get around to stuff like this, but will report back on progress
 
Kerry - When you have one made (or even if you buy a new one), the snaps are not installed on the tonneau. Same with a TR top. When it's sewn, lay it in place equally all around, tape it with duct tape in several places and then put in one of the lift a dot snaps. Then work your way around. If the tonneau is a little large or if it has shrunk a bit, the snaps will always fit, because you put them on yourself for your own tonneau on your own car. The pegs may be in different places on different cars. For example up to mid-TR3A the peg just aft of the door is low like on my black TR3A. On later TR3As, that peg is much higher - see the red TR3A.

To put the snaps in, mark the top of one peg with a felt marker. Then punch a hole in the tonneau with a circular open center punch and hit it with a hammer against a block of wood. Now you have the hole. Take one of the new snaps you just bought and sharpen the round ends on the 4 tabs. Then with the hammer and block again, tap this snap (centered about the hole you just punched) so the the 4 sharp points cut small slots through the vinyl, Remove this punching tool and insert a good snap, turn over the tonneau at this spot, insert to inner half of the snap and bend over the 4 tabs neatly. Then proceed with the other 30 or 40 snaps you have to put on.

It'll take a while but take it slow. Make sure it's even all around before you proceed further. Don't base your starting point on the assumption that the zipper in perfectly on the centerline of the tonneau or on the centerline of the car. I started mine in the two rear corners then across the back
 

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Papito Crespo in Vega Baja, PR
is without peers when it comes
to custom crafted tops.

d
 
I just realized that I need to get a new tonneau, now that my roll bar is installed.

It never ends, never, never, never.....but that's OK!
 
Aloha Kerry,

Don method of installing the lift the dot fasteners will work as I've done it the past. When I installed a new tonneau on my car I decided to invest in a special tool. Here is a link for a special punch, about half the price you'll find at the LBC supply houses.

https://www.rochfordsupply.com/product_listing.asp_Q_CatID_E_421_A_SubCatID_E_501

Here is a source for vinyl material:

https://www.worlduph.com/vinylJAG.htm

Moss offers vinyl material and they even have a sample card you can request, part # 878-900 at no cost.
 
A tonneau cover is a deceptively complicated device that is a challenge to custom make. After sourcing the appropriate material, and getting enough to work with and make mistakes, and finding a sewing machine stout enough to sew, and spending much time to figure out the pattern (unless you have one to copy)....find a new one on sale and you will come out way, way ahead. And don't try to install one in a cold climate. Like tops (hoods), they need to stretch with heat to make them fit nice and look good, to a point.
 
That will be my on list as soon as it gets warm. I have a great local shop and the original cover that came with the car, so I have nothing to lose by trying.
 
Brosky said:
I just realized that I need to get a new tonneau, now that my roll bar is installed.

It never ends, never, never, never.....but that's OK!
Click to expand...

Paul let me know when yer ready maby we can get a package deal on 2
 
Bill, the guy that I go to is really good with his pricing and his work is top notch. If you remember I posted pictures of how he trimmed the rear deck carpet around the roll bar with leather piping to make it look like a factory installation and his work on custom interiors is second to none.

I'll go over to see him Friday and get the details on how he'd want to do it and let you know what he says.
 
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