> you guys helped my friend with his midgit now how about my 76 mgb how do
> i put the nice new top down without trashing it thanks RAY HUFF
>
>
I'll give you the procedure from my 1972 manual, the 1976 should be
the same.
1) Undo the clamps at the header rail at the top of the windshield,
then undo the snaps for the draft excluders at the top corners of the
windshield. (Personally, I do the snaps first, so that when you undo
the clamps, the entire tension of the top isn't being held by
the draft excluder snaps.)
2) Undo all of the snaps and fasteners that hold the top to the body,
not forgetting the little straps with the snaps on them that attach
the top to the frame, near the upper-rear corners of the door
windows.
3) Pull the header rail away from the windshield enough that you can
unhook the rear edge of the top from the hooks on the rear deck
between the cockpit and the boot.
4) Pull the header rail back up towards the windshield and just leave
it there.
5) Take each quarter-window, and fold it up over the top, making sure
that the fold "crease" is in the fabric between the quarter-light and
the rear window, so you don't crease the clear plastic. Continue
this fold all the way up to the header rail. Repeat for the other
side.
6) hold the very back edge of the top in one hand, and guide it so
that it's laying over the boot as you pull the header rail back and
the frame folds up. Push the header rail behind the seats, tucking
as necessary to make sure it goes in snugly. Reclose the two
clamps on the header rail as you do this so they won't scratch
anything. The U-shaped frame bar that's right above your head when
you're driving with the top up doesn't always fold properly during
this step if your frame is worn, so make sure that when it goes
behind the seat, the "legs" of the U are pointing forward to the
front of the car, and not pointing down. If they're pointing down,
they'll gouge the paint around the cockpit header trim, and the top
won't go behind the seat as neatly.
7) Now, take the rear window off of the boot, and fold it forwards
over the folded top and frame. There should be two straps to keep it
tightly wrapped around the top-frame assembly. The straps are
necessary to keep the wind from blowing the rear plastic back over
the boot, unless you fit a tonneau cover. Even with a tonneau cover,
the straps are nice because it keeps the whole top folded tightly and
gives you a little more room for storage back there.
The owner's manual procedure was obviously written with a
non-zippered rear window in mind. I don't know how the procedure for
a zippered rear window differs. Anybody else know?
Scott
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