How to erect at BN7 hood [top]?

[RDKeysor]

It's been a year now since I sought help on reinstalling the hood on my '60 BN7--not exactly a necessity here in Florida--and of course I can't find the correct instructions a forum contributor provided me at the time. Taking the top or hood down is nicely explained in the manual that comes with these cars: erecting, nothing. So, do I engage the front edge at the windshield and pull down the latches, or do I first engage the two fittings at the rear of the hood? This, I think, is the essential question. I've already broken one of the aftermarket 3/16"-thick plexi wind wings, so I thought I would do a consult before doing further damage. Yes, I did try to find this in the search function. Help!

 

[bighealeysource]

If I recall correctly from the BN6 I owned, you need to engage the rear fittings on the top/hood, get the frame straightened out right ( cross members folded out properly) and then engage the front latches. Believe the front of the top frame has the tabs that go over the top edge of the windshield frame like a BN2 so make sure those are aligned right before you pull down the latches. Don't think there is any way to do it in reverse as could not pull the rear section over the chrome pieces. This is the way I do the top on my 100M. If it has not been on in a year, I would sit the hood out in the sun to warm up the vinyl/fabric before you go to put it on and go stretching it and possibly tearing it. Might have some of this confused with the way the BN2 top attaches at the front but same basic operation as I recall and take your time to get it right.
Regards
Mike

 

[steveg]

Here's how I do it:
Insert uprights into sockets in body.
Pull out rear anchor bar and insert in chrome fittings in front of rear boot latches
Attach tenax and turnbuckle fittings on either side behind the doors
Get in the car and pull the header rail forward to the windshield, making sure the tabs are behind the windshield top bar
Do up the latches on either side
Push the movable bow back as far as it will go - this tensions the top

Optional:
If the side bows are hanging down you may want to add a tensioner on each side:

 

[RDKeysor]

Thanks, Mike and Steve. That procedure worked very nicely, requiring only some effort to press the front bar down on the windscreen to secure the latches. The PO supplied two handmade S hooks to serve as tensioner's such as Steve suggests. They can be slid along the rails to snug down the hinged bow apparatus. I keep a little sketch to help me remember how they install. I also made myself a note on installing the hood for the day when I want to do it again.

 

[steveg]

RD,
Could you post a picture of one of the tensioners your PO built? Unmounted would be OK if you don't have your hood up.