At 12:15 AM 11/27/03 -0500, Michael Ohleger wrote:
>.... I'm selling a tonneau for an MGA 1600 on ebay (not a plug) but so far
>I have received questions from 3 people asking me if this is a long or
>short tonneau. I wasn't aware that there was ever a long tonneau offered
>for the MGA, any model, factory or aftermarket.. Anyone know?
There are actually three different lengths.
The one traditionally called "long tonneau cover" attaches to lift-the-dot
machine screw studs attached to the sheet metal tonneau panel on the body
just behind the rear cockpit rail. The factory used six studs here, and
also attached the cover to the quarter turn fasteners mounted on the
cockpit trim rails immediately aft of the door opening. This one is by far
the most common style, and MIGHT have a standard fastener pattern, as they
were installed this way on the production line (but not necessarily on all
cars). Sometimes these covers can be switch from car to car (but not all
cars) with the body mounted studs in the same location. Any car not fitted
with a tonneau cover at the factory may have the studs in different locations.
The one traditionally called "short toneau cover" is only slightly
shorter. It attaches with wood screw LTD studs attached to the rear
cockpit rail itself. I believe these were most often dealer or owner
installed, having the advantage of not having to drill holes in the painted
tonneau body panel. They are more rare, but they are seen
occasionally. Some people might like to order one like this new as a
replacement for a pre-existing one, assuming the LTD studs are already
present in the rear cockpit rail.
The third one is much longer and attaches to the rag top mounting hooks
farther back on the body tonneau using the same type steel bar as is used
in the back edge of the rag top, and also attaching to the same LTD studs
used for the rag top. These were for a while fairly popular as aftermarket
covers, primarily due to the convenience of installation, not having to
install any studs at the back of the cockpit. That could also be an
advantage if the opportunity were to arise to have the homecoming queen
sitting in that location.
All three of these styles would attach to lft the dot studs on the scuttle
(front body tonneau body panel) just ahead of the front cockpit
rail. Those studs are most comonly flanged and attached with two flat head
machine screws each. Some may be attached with sheet metal screws. None
of these covers were ever intended to attach directly to the front cockpit
rail, as that rail was optionally either solid wood or soft rubber (with a
thin plywood backing piece), which would not hold a lift-the-dot stud. The
factory used six studs across the scuttle between the windscreen grab
handles. Two of those studs were (originally) fairly close together near
the rear view mirror, so the "unzip down the middle" cover would be held at
the inside front corners.
Early MGA, through late 1958, had four LTD studs on top of each door, the
front one being at the very front corner of the door, and the others being
on the aluminum door skin just outboard of the trim rail. In late 1958 or
early 1959 the door mounted studs were deleted, and one stud was added to
the scuttle on each side outboard from the grab handle. The shape of the
cover was altered accordingly to reach this new stud. Restored cars may or
may not have this outboard stud. Many restored early 1500 cars may have
the door studs deleted.
For any tonneau cover not fitted at the factory, all bets are off for the
position of the fasteners. This is why most new tonneau covers are
supplied with the fasteners not installed, but in a separate package, to be
installed in the cloth at the time the cover is installed on the car.
Good luck selling your tonneau cover on eBay. Don't make any claim about
it actually fitting the buyer's car. Also be aware of the possible
confusion between the traditional "long tonneau cover" and the MUCH longer
one which attaches to the rag top hooks.
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
http://MGAguru.com
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