Hood tie down straps BD20660 A Comedy of Errors!

[288gto]

Hi chaps,

I've just received a pair of hood tie down straps from SNG Barratt, the ones that attach to the hood bow and swivel to hold the hood down in its folded position. At over £100 not cheap but their sales guy assured me they were premium quality items.

A few questions to help me fit them properly and even better if anyone has pictures.

Can anyone confirm the correct shape of the ends that have the lift the dot fasteners as my new ones may need trimming to the correct shape . At present mine are more the shape of a 50p piece where they have been roughly cut to size. I think the final bit of shaping is up to the customer so if anyone has a pic of an original that would be great. Also should the lift the dot fastener be central or offset and slightly at an angle. Are they handed as one seems a significantly different shape to the other?

Moving on to the other end that is permanently fixed to the hood, should the small shouldered spacer washer fit inside the strap end. Mine doesn't so when you tighten it, it prevents the strap from swivelling. Do you just leave the screw loose so it can swivel on that. The only problem with that is the strap end then jams on the screw and washer as it turns.

Can someone confirm that my strap ends are angled the right way , in towards the hood rather than out from the hood. The sharp and jagged edges of the metal strap ends are going to damage the hood material. I'm thinking it might be better to get new ends made and washers that fit properly.

The central part of the strap isn't too bad, I think I maybe need to make new ends and fixings . I'm optimistic that I have the first 10% of a strap that will work so if anyone can supply pics or suggestions on how to make the last 90% that would be hugely appreciated.

Pics of the new SNG Barratt ones....











Thanks,

Simon

[Heuer]

As far as I know the majority of the hood straps were green from the Factory.

[Monkeyfinger]

Simon, those look appalling on so many levels, and shouldn't grace an E-type. As stated, the colour should be an olive green. However, the end shape should be more pointed - the shaping on the SNG ones is very bad, and also the end loop looks rough as anything. I have attached the only handy photo I have of one of my straps - this was actually made for me years ago but was an exact copy of my one remaining original strap. I actually mixed some leather dye to match my original sample and then re-coloured the new one ( I guess you could do this with the black ones, but I suspect they would look even worse) I have a broken off end somewhere and will take a picture if I find it. The lift-the-dot should be central, and straight. In my opinion I would return these to SNG, certainly considering the cost - not sure if you can make much of them as they are, and surely they aren't sold on the basis that the customer trims them to shape, since if you are buying them you probably don't have an original to copy! I've just found an old thread I posted on, with a good shot of an original strap that another member posted. You can see how wrong the SNG ones are.
http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php? ... cf4cf39d78

[288gto]

As far as I know the majority of the hood straps were green from the Factory.

Thanks David, I was more concerned with the ends of the straps and the shape/correct attachment.

The stepped washers supplied by SNG Barratt do not fit inside the metal ends of the straps again supplied by SNG Barratt. They just don't seem right. I have resigned myself to making new ends but want them to be as per the factory originals. If anyone has detailed pictures of the original ends and the shouldered washer, that would be a huge help. The leather ends with the lift the dot fasteners I can trim into shape again if I have pics
The fact I should need to do all these alterations to one of Julian's "premium" products is an altogether different discussion. Joking apart, as mentioned above, it does look vaguely like a hood hold down strap, I just need to improve it a bit. I'll post more pics up later.

Interesting though that you say the originals were green if I end up re making the complete strap.

Simon

[288gto]

Richard that's great thanks. Can you confirm that the end that fixes permanently to the hood and swivels, sits around the shouldered spacer washer. That is that the shouldered washer sits inside the metal part of the strap so that when the screw and washer are tightened, the strap rotates freely. I suspect the SNG Barratt washers are too big or the strap metal end the wrong shape .

[Monkeyfinger]

Yes, the straps fit as you would expect, with the top hat washer underneath, then a flat washer on top (at least mine did). Not sure that the original washers weren't plastic/Nylon? I think I 3D printed a replacement on one side - they are a pivot point so need to be free moving, but don't really take a great load.

[288gto]

Thanks Richard,

That's what I assumed was the case. I think the next step is to get new ends made. Unfortunately as you say, I didn't have the originals otherwise I would have done what you did and refurbished them. I don't know if there's a market for ones that are to original spec and fit but I can certainly get the ends cut in stainless easily enough.

[Gfhug]

Any help?


Screw is very tight, but can try to extract given time and could post the parts to you

Geoff

[288gto]

Geoff that is very kind of you. Rather than you risk damaging the screw Angus is going to have a look to see if he has one.

From the pics and other feedback I've had it is clear the SNG Barratt ones are completely wrong. In fairness they do at least have a lift the dot fastener. In conclusion I've bought two lift the dot fasteners for £100.

I wouldn't mind Geoff but this is the picture on their web site



I'm now concerned Julian has some sort of rodent problem in the warehouse and they have been gnawing away at the ones I received

[Gfhug]

Simon, all you need is an industrial sewing machine then you could be making your own

[abowie]

Seriously? Can no one just say that what you were sold is shit?

[Monkeyfinger]

Unquestionably these are sh1t...
However, if needed, here's a detail view of an original strap end - I think the SNG catalogue item image is a reasonably good match. No idea what they then managed to do to achieve the sorry item that the OP received. Surely, copying a 2 dimensional piece of leather would result in a half decent end result without too much effort? The fastener is obviously meant to be central and aligned, and the profile isn't even close.

[JulianBarratt]

Hi All,
Agree that the evidence looks quite damning on this but i will check into and report back shortly.

[288gto]

Hi All,
Agree that the evidence looks quite damning on this but i will check into and report back shortly.

Thanks Julian, SNG Barratt have brightened up my week. The straps have been a huge source of amusement to everyone I've shown them to. The part that has made me chuckle the most is your guy Steve managing to convince me that the SNG Barratt straps were of a much higher quality and closer to the originals than ones competitors were selling at less than half the price. He certainly gets salesman of the month from me.
As regards the straps and as mentioned to Caroline, if you paid more than a couple of pounds each for these, you've been ripped off.

I look forward to your findings.


Simon

[JulianBarratt]

Having taken a look at these, it would appear that the recent supply is indeed sub standard and do not look like the picture on our website or the originals in terms of the pointed end.
We will return all our stocks to our supplier and contact any other customers who have purchased recently so we can swap them over for the improved version.
I will also put a Quality control note on these to ensure that the ends are pointed so future supply is consistent.
We have had to change suppliers occasionally in the last year on certain items as suppliers have been closed or on reduced capability and i understand that this is the reason for the change of supplier and subsequent quality issue - no excuse though and we will put measures in place to rectify for future.
I will also check the pricing and the fitment issue mentioned above with regards to the mating part/s...

[288gto]

Having taken a look at these, it would appear that the recent supply is indeed sub standard and do not look like the picture on our website.
We will return all our stocks to our supplier and contact any other customers who have purchased recently ......

Thank you for the quick and honest response Julian stating the SNG Barratt product is sub standard and more importantly initiating an SNG Barratt product recall.

Simon

[Series1 Stu]

Nice work, Simon.

You got a result but this issue speaks volumes about general parts supply quality.

Its great that Julian is placing a QC note on them but the problem is that Julian's supplier doesn't seem to have any pride of work or appreciate the quality that is expected of them. It is also interesting to note that there doesn't appear to have been any QA oversight of the new supplier.

This is a complete contrast to my everyday battle to get product through the factory doors and past the Quality Team so we can actually build stuff.

Regards

[JulianBarratt]

Nice work, Simon.

You got a result but this issue speaks volumes about general parts supply quality.

Its great that Julian is placing a QC note on them but the problem is that Julian's supplier doesn't seem to have any pride of work or appreciate the quality that is expected of them. It is also interesting to note that there doesn't appear to have been any QA oversight of the new supplier.

This is a complete contrast to my everyday battle to get product through the factory doors and past the Quality Team so we can actually build stuff.

Regards

Stuart,
I may be wrong but from my records its been many years since you bought anything from us and rather than pick out what i feel to be inaccurate in you above comments and other similar comments made by yourself - i would like to offer you the chance to come down and see us again and to see whats changed here in recent years. We put a lot of effort into the quality of the parts that we offer and it would be my pleasure to give you a bit of an insight into the way we work now and some of the products we are making - as well as some of the challenges we face. Of course, I would also love to hear your views on what we could be doing better and how your own experience might help us to improve also.
You arent far away from us and i would be open to doing a visit/tour at any time to suit you - we are operating with COVID protocols in place so there should be no issue in arranging something. I will drop you a private message shortly and hopefully we can get something in the diary.

p.s. this offer is of course open to anyone in the forum, so do drop me a line if you are nearby...

[Series1 Stu]

Hi Julian

My comments are not aimed at Barratts alone. The quality of aftermarket Jaguar parts is sadly lacking in so many items we buy. However, there is a sense of "the Emperor's New Clothes" in that it seems taboo to dare to mention it.

I'm sure that nobody in your organisation gets up on a morning looking forward to sending out rubbish to your customers but the cold hard truth is that it's happening. In my opinion we shouldn't be buying parts that then require fettling to make them fit. I can cite dozens of parts that I've bought that just don't fit or match the original parts in any way. This is especially galling at the prices demanded.

Being met with a response of "send them back if you don't want them" doesn't really help as we are left without suitable parts and have lost time in the process.

It takes a little more effort to get something right than it does to turn out ill-fitting rubbish but doing so will win you loyalty from customers in the knowledge that you can be relied upon to provide things that they can actually use.

I believe that you are trying to improve things but I've been tolerating sub-standard Jaguar parts from all suppliers for over 20 years and things haven't really improved. Getting defensive about such comments is understandable because you clearly care but, as my grandmother used to say, "fine words butter no parsnips".

Keep up the good work and I may consider a visit in June, after my second jab immunity has built up. Although I am throwing a lot of time at getting my FHC finished so I can actually use it this year. Although it would help enormously if the new parts actually fitted.

Regards

PS sorry for hijacking your thread Simon.

[max-it-out]

I have to agree here - I ordered a vac advance capsule for my car which did not work - the spring inside was much too strong . Does nobody actually check on the quality of the stuff being sent out ?