Congradulations on your purchase, welcome to the family...
If you put your top down without unsnapping it first you will surely rip it
over a short time. The first to go will probrably be the hooks being ripped
out at the door jam. Here is a repost of one of my emails explaining how I
do it. It's kinda hard to explain. Let me know if you need more info
Pictures would make this easier but...
Unsnap the snaps then latches fixing the header rail to the windshield.
step outide the car and unsnap the snap strap which snaps down on the inside
of the car to the top frame near the corner of the door window
Lift up all of the fasteners around the rear corner and then you will have
enough slack to unlatch the clip on the top located at the door jam.
Move around the car and repeat on the passenger side(stay there)
Now lift the header rail back a bit to slacken the top. This will allow you
to pull the back edge of the top off of the two clips on the back
Now, with the rear of the top detached, grab it by the back edge and lift it
over the top turning it inside out.
Pull the moveable bow back (the one the top is sewed or glued to) and smooth
things out so they lay flat.
fold the corner window up over the back window making sure that the fold is
on the fabric between the two windows not on the window its self and that
the windows are laying flat.
pat it down a bit so there is only a little dip in the window/fabric between
the two bows
move back to the drivers side and fold that corner window up and over the
back window.
Now with your arm like a big karate chop push the back window with the two
corner windows on top down a bit to start a fold in the middle between the
two bows
With your right hand grab the bow that the top is glued or sewed to, with
your left, the header rail and ease the whole thing back. It should calapse
into a neatly folded top.
Get into car and put on seat belt before light turns green.
The nice thing is you start on the drivers side and end up there only having
to travel to the other side of the car once. There are no folds in the
windows just one gentle bend along the back.
I've been using this method for years with no problems. I'm not sure if it
is the official method but it works very well for me. If you decide to do it
some other way just make sure that you unlach the clips near the door handle
on the jam. Just forcing the top down with the clip still in place will
surely rip the clip from the top in a short while
Chris Reichle
----------
From: mgs-owner
To: MG Mailing List
Subject: new subscriber
Date: Tuesday, July 01, 1997 4:02PM
This is an introductory message, I went convertible shopping, and after
driving a bunch of Alfa Spiders, I ended up with a '75 MGB with 55,000
miles. Unfortunately, since I got it (yesterday) it's been raining cats
and dogs in Portland OR (what a shock), so I haven't been able to drive
it with the top down.
I've owned a bunch of cars in my days (I think the MGB is number 18 or
something in 17 years of driving). But this is my first LBC
Currently, my stable includes:
1988 Merkur Scorpio (daily driver)
1986 Shelby GLHS (#311 or 500)
1975 MGB
1995 Chevy Suburban (wife's car)
A few questions:
-Am I going to hurt anything by folding the top down without unsnapping
the back of it? It won't look nice down, but until we get a stretch of
nice weather, I need to be able to put the top up relatively quickly.
Anything I should watch out for? The car has the original paint and
original upholstery and zero rust.
Any special convertible top hints? Do I just wash the top with my normal
car wash soap and sponge?
I guess I'll have more questions later...
--
John Steczkowski
PSW Technologies, Inc.
512-343-6666
stecz@pswtech.com
http://www.pswtech.com/~stecz
http://www.pswtech.com O-
|