My upholstery guy is recovering my hatch because I installed a blower scoop. He would like to know what everyone is using to glue the vinyl down around the scoop. He claims that he hasn't had very good luck gluing vinyl to solid surfaces and doesn't want it to come loose and get air underneath it. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks, Joe

Isn't your vinyl wrapped over your foam and stapled underneath wood and then screwed on in section/sections from under hatch. When I was going through this it was going to be starting from scratch so I was just going to build in a couple sections just over laying the fastened part of the scoop. Otherwise can you just have him make a trim ring of some sort. Guess it's kinda of hard to tell without seeing a pic of what your doing but there are some amazing epoxies etc now a days.

Is the goal for increased air flow or mostly looks? In my experience scoops don't add more to preformance and they are a PITA unless you are mostly racing.

The vinyl is sewn to the top layer of foam and then wrapped and stapled all the way around underneath. His concern is where it is cut around the scoop. He is afraid air will get underneath it there and get to flopping and stretch the fabric. I had to install the scoop to clear the blower.

so the scoop sticks thru a "hole" in the vinyl? have him wrap the vinyl around the foam and attach industrial strength velcro to the backside and the top of the hatch. you can get some pretty gnarly duty velcro that will hold it.

He's got blowers so the more outside air you can pack in and get out the better. Even with NA engines will increase power especially if boat was built and vented for stock power - 454/502. Just ask endeavour32 with his 650 NA engines in his formula. I witnessed it myself.

Here is one way to do it, but I don't really like the look - a ring around the base of the scoop. Sorry, no good closeups on this computer. I've been wanting to change it for 13 years, lol. The scoop still has the flared out "foot" on the bottom of it (that you would glass to a car hood), with a 2.5" wide 2 piece wooden ring that is covered in one piece of vinyl. The way the scoop is shaped, with overhangs on front and rear, there is no way to get the ring off it now, without detaching the vinyl from the ring. To build it, it looks like the vinyl was stretched over the scoop, then the two halfs of the ring were brought together and then the vinyl wrapped and glued over the ring. Then four vinyl capped bolts were run down thru the ring, two on each side, thru the flared foot of the scoop, and into the hatch. The padding on the hatch is only 1/2-3/4" thick, although the hatch is made to look like a standard 4" pad, but is hollow underneath for exhaust clearance. To do it without the ring, I figure I will have to cut the flared foot off the scoop, and make brackets to attach it after a new pad is placed on the hatch, and it would be secured from inside the scoop - that way the pad can have a wrapped and finished edge right up against it, for a clean look. With the shape of the scoop, I don't think you could ever get the pad over the top of it, if the scoop attached first. So pad would go down first, with a finished hole in it, then the scoop would set down in the hole - but then I guess the bottom edges of the scoop will have to be sealed from the inside to keep the water from going down the sides of the scoop onto the engine. The scoop has always been open, and water going in the opening has never been an issue.

By the way, if it's a standard Harwood race car scoop, be sure to add a few layers of glass to the underside of the scoop to strengthen it first. After 8 years of warning people not to sit or lean on mine, I finally cracked it myself one day when I lost my balance and pushed on it. A few layers of glass later, and you can sit on it all you want now...

so upholster the whole scoop with foam and vinyl. nice thick layer of foam so she won't be uncomfortable when being bent over the scoop...