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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - ashley hardtop rubbers

Evening all.

I'm getting round to restoring an Ashley hardtop for a mk3 midget but a few things are unclear...

Along the top of the windscreen - My works hardtop has a rubber slotted in to an aluminium channel which is riveted to the fiberglass. The ashley top I have has no signs of this, cant really work out what it should have to seal the gap?

Fixing - Is there a bracket style fixing at the B post by your shoulder, like the works hardtop?

Rear seal - Should there be some sponge/rubber along the rear edges of the hardtop where it sits on the body of the car?

If anyone who's got one fitted to a car could help/take some photo's of what they have it would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Richard
R T Jakeman

Hey RT

Try this website...I realise its not exactly what you want but the man the owns it is monty, and he knows everthing there is to know about hard tops of all makes

If anyone knows what your looking for he will.

just click on his contact us button.

good luck

prop

http://www.williamsandpritchardregister.co.uk/hardtop.htm
Prop

Hi Richard,

I went through this exercise last year - I've got a whole new set of rubbers for my ashley top sitting in the garage but due to someone driving into the car just before Christmas, I've been busy straightening the car out rather than restoring the Ashley.

Having looked at a couple of tops and carefully examining the perished bits that were still hanging on to mine, I generated a shopping list and bought myself what I hope is a full set from Woolies Trim. ( http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/ )Came to about £60 from memory. It's all sat in a bag in my garage; I'll try and dig out the receipt and send you a list of what I ordered.

In answer to your specific questions the folliwng are not definitive answers, (I'm certainly no expert!) just the conclusions I came to from investigation -

The seal along the front (top of the windscreen) is stuck on, and is about 1" square section.

My top came with one rather fetching stainess steel angle bracket which should fit to the top and to the top of the tonneau stick brackets. Unfortunately the other one is missing so I'm going to need to manufacture a repro.

rear seal, mine has the remnants of a seal about 4mm thick and 12mm wide (like a draught excluder) stuck all the way around the lip where it rests on the bodywork.

I'm more than happy to stand corrected, as I've not actually fitted these yet so not proven that I'm right!

Anyway, hope that helps?
Mark
MarkH1

for my MKI I am producing (still not finished)side brackets whith steel:



ld derancourt

Richard.
I'm restoring an Ashley top that was on the car when I got it in 1967. Mine is a mk 3 Sprite so the fixing may be a little different to yours. The front seal is flat rubber about 1 inch wide but only about 1/4 inch thick. The over centre catches which clip on to the top r ail are adjustable, so can accomodate this or the one Mark mentions as being 1 inch thick. On my car there is a hole in either side of the hard top which coincides whith the Tenax fastener for the hood. You remove the Tenax and bolt through the hard top flange and car body, but it may be different on your car as it is the later hood and the rear deck is not the same. I also got a full kit trom Woolies but at the NEC show , so I took bits of what I had and matched them up on their stand. The door seals were most difficult and I had to compromise. As Mark says there is a seal about 4 mm x 12 mm all the way round the bottom flange where it sits on the car.
Like Mark, my bits are sitting in a bag in the garage as I've not got round to finishing it off. It's painted and I would like to line it with something like thin sponge covered by acoustic cloth which you can mould into the corners.

Bernie.
b higginson

This thread was discussed between 07/03/2010 and 08/03/2010

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