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MG MG Y Type - Sun visors

When I bought my YB in 2009, it had been mostly restored by the previous owner. The sun visors were covered in the correct material matching the head lining. However, the material was just stuck on with'flanges'about 1/4" all round. The adhesive has now started to fail,so I have enlisted the help of my daughter to refurbish them.

After removing one to consider what needs to be done, I found that the visors are made of plastic.
Reference to 'Let there be Ys' reveals that the visors should be made of hardboard with the covering stuck and stitched on. The photo is unclear as to how the stitching goes. I intend to make new visors using plywood and my daughter will do the covering.

Can anyone enlighten me as to how the covering should be stitched? My daughter is a competent needleworker, but cannot see from the photo how to fix the covering.

Mike
M Long

mike,
my yb has been in the family since 61 still has original headlining and sun visors. on checking the visors they are hardboard. with the visor against the roof the material is stuck on curving round the edges onto the top with about a 1/2" band all the way round the top of the visor. A second piece of cloth was stuck on covering the 1/2" band, i cannot see any stitching and cannot remember them being recovered. I also have two from a 51YA which the owner has had for forty years and they are covered in the same way. I know "let there be Ys" mentions stitching but these two sets are stuck both in the same way.
John YB0362
JC Jebb

Mike,

I have the original visors from YB0952. They are hardboard. The "fronts" are covered in the same material as the headlining. It is glued on, there are no stitches. The "backs" are covered in vinyl. These pieces are cut to fit the shape of the visor and glued on to cover the turned over edges of the cloth. Interestingly, one visor has maroon rexine vinyl matching the interior material. The other has brown vinyl matching the material used on the piping around the windshield and along the front of the sunroof headlining.

Rocky
Rodney C "Rocky" von Dullen

Thanks to you both for quick replies, as usual. We Y Type owners are fortunate to have this well-supported website.

The two replies make me wonder which is the correct material for the 'backs'. I have good quantities of both to match my car, so, I will have to give it some thought. At the moment, I tend to favour the headlining material on both sides.

Mike
M Long

They should be the same material front and back Mike.

Paul
Paul Barrow

John
Any chance of a photo of the 'back' of your original visor, to show how the overlap is done? I have added my email address.
Mike
M Long

Mike, here are some pictures for you.

Terry Y2866

T J Ciantar

Picture 2

T J Ciantar

Picture 3

T J Ciantar

Picture 4
T J Ciantar

Try Pic 4 again.

T J Ciantar

Terry
Many thanks - just what I needed to ensure that my new visors are like the originals. They certainly look a lot better than the ones currently on my car.
Mike
M Long

Hi Guys, I do not have a saloon to look at but in Terry's Picture #4 can I see stitching along the raw edge, definitely looks to me like it is stitched. I showed my wife who does a lot of sewing and she believes it would be a very fine blanket stitch to stop the material fraying along the edge. It is only the edge that is stitched not through the underlaying layer of material or hardboard. Nowadays our wives, girlfriends and mistresses use "overlockers"!
Cheers
Richo YT3208
R A Prior

Well you live and learn. Thanks for the observation Richo.
I had a very close look and you are correct, there is stitching along the edge. What I assumed was a raw edge was actually the stitching which was fraying. I'm not an expert on stitching but it does not appear to be a blanket stitch but a very fine straight stitch over a folded edge, which as you have suggested would prevent fraying. I attached some close-up pictures.

T J Ciantar

Image 2

T J Ciantar

Image 3

T J Ciantar

the two pieces were not sewn together but the smaller piece was bound over on its edges with a coarse white thread i presume to stop it fraying during assembly
John YB0362
JC Jebb

Picture of material edge
John YB0362

JC Jebb

This thread was discussed between 29/10/2017 and 02/11/2017

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