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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Hard top on Frogeye

My car came with what looked like a factory hardtop, which to be honest never fitted properly. The back half seems to be too high, and 40 years of brutal encouragement have not improved it much. Every autumn I have removed the chrome hood bar retainers and clamped the back of the hardtop down with custom made brackets that use the same holes in the rear deck. Otherwise the hardtop creaks and leaks under the rear window.

The hardtop design is not very impressive. There is no fixing rearwards of the B post where the brackets are, and the fit over the curve of the rear wing in that area was never going to work well as the bottom of the hardtop is flat. It has always been difficult to stop water leaks in this area so more rubber has been inserted there. When the screen clamps are done up they pull the hardtop forward slightly, creating a small gap at the back. The B post clamps are tightened up solidly, as they stop way before the hardtop moulding touches the car.

So the question is, has anyone utilised the existing hood bar retainers to hold down the back of the hardtop? I have laboured mightily and can't work out how this can be done. The rubber seal gets in the way, and some butcher in the past has cut away the rail that the seal fits to, presumably to clear the hood bar retainers (quite unnecessarily). I would rather not put screws right through the moulding, but can't see any other way.

Les
L B Rose

Les

Can you please post some pictures of your hardtop so we can see the type as well as the problem. Just in case you have some obscure aftermarket one that looks similar to the factory one.

Thanks
Mike
M Wood

Les,

I did bend the B post brackets in a vice till the rear had a good fit. After that I closed the front in a warm garage. It took some time till I found the right rear rubber. Be careful, the hard top is brittle.

Flip




Flip Brühl

You are describing mismatched surfaces and other than adding more sealing rubber and clamping it down solid, it leaks and creaks and looks gappy. Have considered recasting the bottom rail so it can all fit?
As an aside I think the chrome retainers are there to act as hard points for the top to sit on to. And the rubber is intended to be squished down till it meets this dead stop.
Recasting the bottom rail is not for the faint hearted. It would mean covering the curtain area on the shroud & wings in electrical tape and release agent, taking a fiberglass impression of the surface and essentially replacing this cast surface in lieu of the one you have. You would have to be mindful of the vertical gapping to the sidescreen rubbers and outside edge, and include an allowance for the sealing rubber, but once corrected the top wouldn't need any additional clamps at the back, and of course you'd end up with a dead fit.
f pollock

Flip, that crack is exactly what my hardtop does. Did you cure that by bending the brackets? Mine is basically too far back in that area. It has moulded dimples to clear the hood studs and they don't line up correctly. See first photo. I had to grind out the underside to clear. Second photo shows hardtop on the car.

Les




L B Rose

Are you sure it isn't a Mk2 Sprite hardtop?
Rob
MG Moneypit

Les

Thanks for the pictures. Can you show the front of the hardtop from the outside so we can see how it is attached to the windscreen and what clips, if any, are used to confirm its identification.

Cheers
Mike
M Wood

Les,

It is all old brittle polyester not enough glass in it and not in the right direction. Like you I have to redo the B post attachment wit epoxy and kevlar but it is not so far out of line that I have to relocate it now. It is not expensive but it will be a lot of work.

Flip
Flip Brühl

View from front. Please excuse the finish, I am preparing for another respray.

I think I will try Flip's method and bend the brackets back a bit. Hopefully that will tip back half downwards.

Rob, as I say it was on the car when I bought it. I didn't think Mk 2 tops were different, but anyway it's the one I have so will have to live with it. I haven't found anyone who supplies a different one for the Mk 2. Mine looks exactly like this from AH Spares:

https://www.ahspares.co.uk/austin-healey/sprite/hoods-tonneaus/hardtop-works-style.aspx

Les


L B Rose

Flip, you have solved my problem. After a bit of brutality with the vice, the top sits down properly at the back, and even the little dimples line up over the hood studs. Also the rubber seal meets the side screens more closely. I have struggled with this for 40 years and could kick myself for not spotting the root cause of the problem. I was convinced it was warped fibreglass but it was distorted steel.

To get the brackets exactly right I will have to cut and weld them as the steel has stretched, but that's the least of my worries.
L B Rose

This thread was discussed between 19/06/2020 and 22/06/2020

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