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Convertible top installation
- Thread starter Griz
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bob hughes
Luke Skywalker
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Griz
You could be in for a ride of a life time with this one, I have installed mine by guess work and listening to the upholsterer at a Healey refurb centre.
There are some 30 or so clips that clip the rear of the hood to a metal strip ( it is j shaped in section ) that is screwed into the edge of the channel from inside the cockpit. the metal strip is turned over at the top to overhang the channel and it is this edge that the hood is clipped to.
But before you do that there is a need to mark the centre of the hood front and back and also the centre of the rear of the cockpit and the front bow and the metal strip to get the alignment. I used string to space out the hood sticks and then fit the hood around the rear of the side screens ( temporarily using scrapes of vinyl as a washer and the odd tack) and to the front wooden bow again temporarily to get the spacing right. Then you pull the hood down at the rear and mark the line of the channel on the hood (in a crayon that can be wiped off at a later date) as a guide to fitting in the metal strip and the clips. The metal strip is then screwed to the channel. ( it may pay you to dry fit the strip to the channel before you fit the hood, using some scraps of vinyl as a spacer, as holes may need to be drilled for the self tappers) The fitting around the rear can be a trial and error situation and it may all have to be unscrewed and the rear re-clipped to the metal if the hood does not look right. Before I screwed mine in I found that several small clamps helped to fit the metal strip to the channel so that I could see the sort of finish that I would get. I found it impossible to get the rear window to be taught, and looking around many Healeys, it does not seem to matter too much, you can easily see through it in the driving mirror. Once you are happy with the result then you can start looking at permanently installing the hood around the side windows fitting the webbing and pulling the hood over the front bow and fixing to it, and trimming any vinyl projecting from the bottom of the rear metal strip. You need a warm day it helps the stretch.
Best of luck
Bob
You could be in for a ride of a life time with this one, I have installed mine by guess work and listening to the upholsterer at a Healey refurb centre.
There are some 30 or so clips that clip the rear of the hood to a metal strip ( it is j shaped in section ) that is screwed into the edge of the channel from inside the cockpit. the metal strip is turned over at the top to overhang the channel and it is this edge that the hood is clipped to.
But before you do that there is a need to mark the centre of the hood front and back and also the centre of the rear of the cockpit and the front bow and the metal strip to get the alignment. I used string to space out the hood sticks and then fit the hood around the rear of the side screens ( temporarily using scrapes of vinyl as a washer and the odd tack) and to the front wooden bow again temporarily to get the spacing right. Then you pull the hood down at the rear and mark the line of the channel on the hood (in a crayon that can be wiped off at a later date) as a guide to fitting in the metal strip and the clips. The metal strip is then screwed to the channel. ( it may pay you to dry fit the strip to the channel before you fit the hood, using some scraps of vinyl as a spacer, as holes may need to be drilled for the self tappers) The fitting around the rear can be a trial and error situation and it may all have to be unscrewed and the rear re-clipped to the metal if the hood does not look right. Before I screwed mine in I found that several small clamps helped to fit the metal strip to the channel so that I could see the sort of finish that I would get. I found it impossible to get the rear window to be taught, and looking around many Healeys, it does not seem to matter too much, you can easily see through it in the driving mirror. Once you are happy with the result then you can start looking at permanently installing the hood around the side windows fitting the webbing and pulling the hood over the front bow and fixing to it, and trimming any vinyl projecting from the bottom of the rear metal strip. You need a warm day it helps the stretch.
Best of luck
Bob
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BJ8Healeys
Jedi Warrior
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The procedures in the link above are mine, which I put together during the installation of a new top on my BJ8. I based them on a sheet of procedures that I found in a box with a new BJ7 top (from J.C. Whitney, I think,) that someone gave to me years ago. Although the procedures are similar, there are some differences between BJ7 and BJ8, and since you are installing a BJ7 top perhaps these would be more useful to you.
OP
Griz
Jedi Hopeful
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All very informative and helpful!! Thanks guys. My BJ7 resto is very nearly completed and the top will be one of the final tasks performed. I bought the car totally disassembled so did not have the benefit of knowing how some things fit together. If I'm understanding things correctly, there is a metal strip shaped like an inverted "J" that screws to the drain channel. The top material is clamped between the "J" strip and the drain channel held in place by self-tapping screws...correct? This J-strip is missing from my pile of used parts and I cannot see it listed in Moss' catalog, nor in British Car Specialists (unless I'm missing something).
Griz
Griz
bob hughes
Luke Skywalker
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You got it, but don't forget the clips. you cut off the bit of the soft top that dangles below the inverted J at the end when you are satisfied with the result and not before.
Bob
Bob
Randy Forbes
Yoda
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BJ8...
A ton (257) of boring BJ8 top installation pictures here: https://spcarsplus.com/gallery3/index.php/reMKIII/top_work