Tonneau snap replacement - any tips?

[tdskip]

Hi guys - need to get at least some weather protection going on the '74 TR6. I have a decent tonneau, but is it missing the rear deck lid snaps. Any tips on repleacing them and if any vendor has better snaps than others?

Thanks!

 

[Andrew Mace]

Most hardware stores will have the snaps and the "anvil" tool to install them!

 

[Gliderman8]

Snaps are easy to install... my only comment is to use a hole punch of the correct diameter to make the hole in the tonneau. I got mine in a fabric store and it has a wheel that rotates with a few different sizes.
It yields a cleaner hole than using a sharp object to make the hole.

 

[Gordon_Dedrick]

And remember to install the snaps facing the SIDES of the car so they do not tear your tonneau when removed!
Gordon

 

[Marvin Gruber]

Hobby Lobby carries them (snaps) for $.15 ea. I made a good installation tool out of an old pair of vise grips pliers. Used an old socket ( correct hole size), ground the edges off sharp for punching the holes. They've been working for many years now.

Marv

 

[BobbyD]

If you're real lucky you'll have a friend who has a Press-n-Snap tool. With this tool you can install all 18 snaps on a boot cover in about 10 minutes with no need to pre-punch any holes. Here's the tool and a boot cover I sewed up a few months ago. It's not a cheap tool but if you're going to do a bunch of snaps or grommets, it a real time saver and installs the snap/grommet perfectly every time.

 

[tdskip]

So my car has holes in the rear lid area - are those supposed to be there. They are close to where the tonneau snaps want to go, but not exact.

 

[Andrew Mace]

Well, there oughta be enough holes for snaps for the tonneau or boot cover. Any filler in that area? Perhaps someone filled around there and then, for whatever reason, randomly drilled holes they thought would be useful for snaps. It wouldn't be the first time I've seen that.

I remember once convincing a buddy with a Spitfire MkIV that he "needed" a nice tonneau cover for his car. (Ok, I just happened to have a nice tonneau but had no use for it!) He went for it...and I spent about an hour carefully probing around the top of each door to find the three tonneau snap holes that I knew had been there before he'd had the car repainted. Found them, riveted in new snaps and he was set! :wink:

 

[tdskip]

Hi guys - anyone have a close up of the location of the snaps on the back deck/lip handy?

Fair to assume that the TR4as and TR6s used the same snap locations?

Thanks!

 

[DNK]

Is there a dependable location, I figured none where really alike. Are you installing in the body or the top?

 

[tdskip]

Hi Don - I figured that there <span style="font-style: italic">might</span> be a stock/standard location. I can always locate them to match the existing snap locations on the tonneau but wanted to ask I started making holes in the car.

 

[DNK]

I would match them to the top you will use. I think that's why tops don't always come with snaps