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Advice asked for restoration two seater hardtops

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hama61

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Gentleman


I'am in the posession of 2 two seater hardtops. Allthough they are in very rough condition ( as you can at the attached picture of one of the tops ). They are complete but I like to restore them the coming months

1 The surface of both tops are in similar condition. The paint is peeled off ( rough surface) and i an see cracks in the polyester. What is the right way to start a restoration of the polyester.

2 Where can i find a matching headliner. The headliner, which is in at the monet has turned into a kind of plastic like material.

3 Where can i find the rubbers and seals or who has experience with other rubbers and or seals which fit as well

4 The most important thing is how to deal with the aluminium parts. What can be done to them as these parts seems extremely fragile

Harry
 

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Hi Harry, I will try to answer some of your questions.

hama61 said:
Gentleman


I'am in the posession of 2 two seater hardtops. Allthough they are in very rough condition ( as you can at the attached picture of one of the tops ). They are complete but I like to restore them the coming months

1 The surface of both tops are in similar condition. The paint is peeled off ( rough surface) and i an see cracks in the polyester. What is the right way to start a restoration of the polyester.
Of coarse it would be necessary to strip off the paint down to the bare fibreglass. If cracks are deep and penetrating all the way thru the piece or almost all the way thru it is necessary to repair by filling with new resin and fibre. You must cut away by sanding or carving the edges of the cracks into a "V" or shallow valley around the crack on both sides. Then gradual layup of new mat and resin gradually eminating from the middle area of the crack to the outer perimeter of your new valley with each layer of mat coming outward to the perimeter more. Then finish off with a thick layer of resin so that you can sand it all flat. If the cracks are just hairline cracks which do not appear to be all the way through the piece, this then can be somewhat more difficult you will not be "V" ing out each crack but of course you must apply something strong enough to hold it all from occurring again. Many times I will still sand this as a large area to take off enough thickness that I can apply at least one layer of matt with resin on top of it. Finish with a thick layer of resin so you can sand it all smooth. There is a sprayable gel coat from fibreglass suppliers but I have never used it. I usually coat my fibreglass work with an Epoxy Primer and let it dry for at least a week before I finish sand and the primer and paint.
There are bonding adhesives available today that are very strong. Although I have never used them for a large area repair the manufacturer may have some suggestions as to their applicability for such a repair. I have used bonding adhesives to create a finished edge on fibreglass panels where I did not want any typical body putty and it has worked very well with no indication of breakdown after many years.



2 Where can i find a matching headliner. The headliner, which is in at the monet has turned into a kind of plastic like material.

3 Where can i find the rubbers and seals or who has experience with other rubbers and or seals which fit as well

4 The most important thing is how to deal with the aluminium parts. What can be done to them as these parts seems extremely fragile
Recently I watched a video of a restoration shop restoring a Bugeye Sprite (don't remember where I saw the video) that had all the aluminium trim pieces around the cockpit and interior coated with aluminium powder coating. They claimed it to be very strong and durable. I did notice even thru the video that the finish was not as an original polished aluminium piece would be but was a little more satin looking. But it was still very nice. One point about powder coating is that as with chroming it does increase the final dimension of the piece and that must be considered.


Harry
Click to expand...
 
Harry
https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcf/showthread.php?46107-Hardtop-Restoration&highlight=coat
Here it a link about my hardtop restoration. I put a support layer of glass on the underside. Then I groved out the crackes and filled https://www.tapplastics.com/product/fiberglass/gel_coat/tap_gel_coat/39 here is link to gel coat repair video and the gel coat repair repair material I used. I used an epoxy boat primer and boat paint to paint the top. Still looks good today image.jpg
Groeten van California
A. Paul Bos, DVM
 
one photo album dedicated to HTOP (focused to 4 seaters but particulars are the same) here you can see the interior structure of the head liner and as was placed on the origins
https://get.google.com/albumarchive.../AF1QipP8kDtBbjERgp01u2XyuAtq3TNzaqNg27waWUjZ
on this you can see some photos of the rebuild of my HTOP -The main difficult was the rear prexpex window sistemation (all photos are of a 4 seater-but the strucures are the same)
https://get.google.com/albumarchive.../AF1QipMHxGmX2GHwGeqt4b89LBpdFiLG0NIGFgg0yStmnd photos
great help came from Lin Rose intructions- you can find it on 100/6 site in PDF
https://www.healey6.com/Technical/LHRose Hardtop Restoration.pdf
 
Head liner, head liner? when I had my first Healey, a BN4, it was 16 years old and it came with a hard top, but I was looking at the raw fibre glass shell when I stared up at the roof from the drivers seat. Perhaps it was not a factory unit, I recall that the rear window wrapped around the back of the hard top and that there were two struts around the third points ish of the opening.

:cheers:

Bob
 
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