The best way to stretch the top is to make sure the material is warm when
you do it.
My Landcruiser top in particular is quite a pain to install or remove, such
that I usually take it off in June and then do not put it on again until
early September. And it does have some shrinkage in storage. For the final
fit (stretch) to the rear, I usually let the car with the partially
installed top sit outside in the sun on a 80 degree day for a few hours and
then it stretches right on.
But if I miss that final warm day, I put the top on and in order to make
the final stretch, I have to put a space heater in the car and heat it from
the inside. And that is my fate this year - I fractured my right ankle
during a mountain hike three weeks ago and have yet to regain the ability
to drive a manual transmission. So now I have both a topless Landcruiser
and a MGB in my garage and topless weather all but gone here in Montana.
Normally the B top stretches to the front with the header rail. The two
clips can pull the top in for the final 1/2" or so. You can eyeball the
header placement and then try the stretch after the top is fairly warm and
pliable. Being in Texas, that likely won't be a problem. Just try to make
what you do reversible - meaning don't trim any fabric and use a light
spray adhesive that will not be permanent.
Even with a warm top, there is a stretch limit so still use some caution
and slow stretching rather than trying to get it all in one pull.
David Councill
67 BGT
72 B
74 Toyota Landcruiser
92 Ford Explorer (daily driver for now)
At 11:35 AM 9/20/2003 -0700, Bill Collier wrote:
>I appreciate all the input on the type of adhesive to use on the header rail
>of my MGB.
>
>I discovered an interesting fact when I started the installation.
>The top had shrunk!
>Stretching the material to the windshield left the rain channels at least an
>inch back
>from the header.
>I left the top in the trunk of a spare car for over a year to be sure it was
>not damaged.
>Could the heat reached in a Texas trunk cause a top to shrink?
>OK. For whatever reason it is now smaller than it should be. Is there a fix?
>If I unbolt the top frame from the body and attach the top with the rain
>channels
>reaching the header rail, will it stretch back out to proper size or am I
>going to rip it when
>I raise it. (If I can). Porter warns against tightening the top so much that
>raising it in winter
>could become a 3 person task.
>
>If you have tried to install a "shrunk" top before, let me know what worked.
>The top is only the basic Moss economy top but I would much rather spend the
>$225 on other restoration parts than
>buy another top.
>
>Thanks in advance,
>Bill Collier
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