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MG MGB Technical - Hardtop ID and How to Repair

Hello everyone.

Today I came into possession of a hardtop that I am hoping to use on my 71 mgb. It has no name on it that I can find but was thinking maybe a Snug Top?
I can't tell what it is made of...fiberglass or some sort of plastic. It has a textured surface, to make it look like vinyl I suppose.
It is loaded with cracks that you can see in the attached photos. They don't seem to make it through the interior white liner but they definitely penetrate quite deeply.
So...can anyone id this top and does anyone have any ideas of the best way to repair this?
I was thinking of putting on a few layers of fiberglass cloth although the texturing would be lost. Thanks for your help. Tim


Tim Mayor

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Tim Mayor

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Tim Mayor

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Tim Mayor

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Tim Mayor

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Tim Mayor

Hi Tim

What you have there is an original works hardtop. It should have a glass rear window and Perspex side windows.

As far as I know, they were all finished in smooth gloss//gel coat. Yours may have had the texture finish applied at a later date.
Dave O'Neill 2

Tim you've hit the jackpot there,I agree with Dave, good looking top, worth fixing up-they would have to be the best looking lid about for a B
I think you'll find the cracks are only in the coating that has been sprayed on it
Usually, if the 'paint' is over thick and coats have been piled on too quickly without allowing each coat to dry properly in between and there has been too much thinners in the top coat of 'paint' trying to get a good finish it will end up shrinking back like that after a couple of years. It's weird how it cracks in big lines like that but it does, I've seen it before
I reckon you'll find that if you get a nice thin spatula styled scraper you'll be able to get under it and scrape most of it off, be carefull not to get into the fibreglass though
Don't use paint stripper on fibreglass, some fibreglass resins don't like it so not worth the risk
I've heard of people getting fibreglass things sodablasted with great success but haven't had it done myself so don't really know about that-
When you get it ready for primer, I'd give it a couple of coats of two pack primer to help seal it up and give you a good surface to work with
willy
William Revit

Definitely a proper MG Works hardtop. Mine was painted in black gloss finish but you can paint any colour that matches your car. Incidentally there is a paint stripper you can use on fibreglass. I have some which I used on my Elan. I think it's called Release, but that might be wrong as I am not at home.
Mike Howlett

The paint stripper I used for fibreglass was RemovALL 620. It is formulated for marine application and is even environmentally friendly. http://www.dtep.com/rm62010.htm
Mike Howlett

This thread was discussed between 10/08/2019 and 13/08/2019

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