[Mgs] Tops, hoods.

[Max Heim]

I'm afraid I really wouldn't blame the top -- it's probably the
installation. Sure, anybody can poke some holes, install some fasteners, and
glue the header. But knowing how much slack to allow in each area requires
experience with the materials, and those of us who install one top per
lifetime can't be expected to have it. I have a packaway top, which you
would think would be the simplest case possible, but I still had it
installed by a professional. And it fits nice and taut, with no
quarter-window wrinkles (a commonly-seen flaw). Only after 25-some years is
it starting to shrink enough that the push-the-dots are hard to do. And at
this point the vinyl is getting a little brittle. I did tear a little
stitching around the top windshield snap tab -- the tabs seemed to be just a
hair short from the get-go (though this can also be a function of the header
placement and the catch adjustment).

This is a Moss "OEM replacement type" top (not the "economy" top or the
Robbins), that has spent most of its career in a canvas bag in the boot.
Good features about this top that some others seem to lack are the rain
gutters above the side windows, and the deep flap that sits inside the side
glass for sealing.

--

Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the primer red one with chrome wires


on 1/12/10 4:19 PM, Charley & Peggy Robinson at ccrobins at ktc.com wrote:

>  I have a Robbins top on my '69 B.  When we first fitted it, on a warm
> day in the shade, we didn't make it very  tight, hoping that the later,
> inevitable, shrinkage wouldn't make it hard to put up later.  Well, it
> shrunk so that it's a pain to put up and the snap fastener straps that
> are supposed to fit to the windscreen frame don't reach (never did after
> a month).  When I erect the top now I can only get two of the lower
> lift-the-dot fasteners to engage the posts.  Fortunately, they're the
> ones at the rear corners so the thing seals up pretty well, in B terms.
> (G)  It's such a chore to put the top up that my wife won't drive the
> car by herself if the weather forecast indicates even a chance of
> rain.   Bummer, because she loves the car and drives it well.
> 
> If there are any vinyl tops out there that are better I'd like to know
> about them.
> 
>   CR
> 
> 
> 
> Tuck Southworth wrote:
>> my .02
>> 
>> The Robbin's is great value and no issues after 12 years.  Not so much with
>> Victory Bit.