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MG MGA - Sun protection

We are about to travel to southern France and Italy and are a bit concerned about how best to protect our faces and head from the sun with the roof down. Hats with brims all round flap around a lot and have to be tied on. Baseball caps don't protect the side of the face and lashings of sun cream risks getting it on clothes etc. Does anyone have some recommendations especially for ladies to keep protected?

Thanks

John
John Francis

A tilly hat with chin strap works great. My wife wears one now and then. Me, I prefer sunscreen and no hat.
Steve Simmons

A great option is a "bimini" top for the car. Dave Godwin used a version on his "around the World" car. There is a chap in the USA making these, and I have one on one of my cars..great sun cover, and you still get the feel of top down motoring.
Gary Lock

John,
I just purchased one of the bimini tops that Gary refers to. It's well made and perfect to keep your brains from boiling in the Italian sun!

Manufactured by Ed Kirkland in Florida, USA. I found him very responsive to enquiries.

edkirkland@centurylink.net

Have a safe trip.
John
JR Alexander

Thanks John..I didn't have his name handy at the time. Ed is a great bloke.
Gary Lock

Hi Gary and John

Thanks for the suggestion. It looks really interesting. Does the Bimini flap around at speed - say 70mph?

John
John Francis

Couple of crash helmets and visors with intercom. Satisfies wind/sun, conversation, music and safety all in one.

Steve
Steve Gyles

A pic from MG experience
Mike


Mike Ellsmore

Thanks all. I have ordered a Bimini from Ed in the light tan colour which looks perfect. I just hope it arrives in time for our trip!
John Francis

Mike, that's the one. And John, no movement at all. We have travelled down our local M1 at 110K with it.
Gary Lock

Mike and Gary
I assume that you ditch your soft-tops and just fit the Bimini top?

I would love to do this as I really don't enjoy driving with the soft-top up, but when it rains (and on all of our European trips over the last 10 years or so, it has rained really heavily at least once), I just wondered if your Bimini top will keep the inside of the windscreen clear of water.

Also, can you make it work with the sidescreens?

I suppose I should really ask Dave Godwin as he seems to have driven half way around the world using only a Bimini top.

Cheers
Colyn

John, you will still need to apply a decent sunscreen if you drive without side-screens, the sun reflects off the road surprisingly strongly in Europe.
Colyn Firth

Colyn, the Bimini fits without taking out the soft top...it just clips onto the existing brackets. It is supplied with a "plastic?" header rail as well. The bimini will definitely keep the inside of the screen clear...unlike Dave Godwins which doesn't cover fully to the screen. You could put the sidescreens on, but there would be a gap at the top...some protection though I guess.
Gary Lock

Thanks Gary
one last question, do you leave the Bimini frame on the car all the time, even when the hood is fitted?

I cant think of where it could be stowed if not.

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Colyn,

The top frame breaks down and, with the top cloth rolled up, all fit loosely into a sleeve about 4 inches in diameter and however long the header bar is.
I must say I've not tried it yet but the unit should fit behind the side curtain bag on the battery shelf or fore and aft in the boot unless you've got your spares inventory in those areas ;-).

It is really a worth-while purchase.

John
JR Alexander

Colyn..John says it all.
Gary Lock

John

In your thread opening words you said "recommendations especially for ladies".

We do not use the MGA hood unless there is a deluge. We drive to our destinations in Italy and France with side-screens up, and then do the rally or our touring without side-screens.

My wife uses a Japanese sun hat, which does not flap about at all and gives excellent protection. The front brim can be folded back at the front when driving, but still gives excellent protection. She uses it both when driver and when passenger.

I use a baseball cap bought on-line, but a type with a "Foreign Legion" panel protecting ears and neck - it has been quite sufficient in the past eight years of MG TC and MGA touring in Italy and France. (A bimini is not on my wish-list.)

The attached photo was taken in Italy last week.

Mike



M D Card

Hi Mike

Thanks. I especially asked about protection for ladies because my partner who hasn't travelled in the MG a lot, as we have only been together for 18 months, is particularly concerned about the sun as both her parents died from brain tumours from skin cancer.
We do want to have the open top experience though so its very tricky. We have tried hats with brims but they possibly leave the side of the face exposed. I have ordered the Bimini in the hope that it will be the most comprehensive solution and will protect arms/hands as well.
I really hope it works well because this is a first European MG tour for me after 40 plus years of my MG and I do want to keep my partner safe otherwise we'll be in the Merc next time!

My partner used to drive with her family in an Austin Cambridge to Sicilly most summers in the 60's and 70's to see relatives - pre many motorways so quite an adventure in those days. She is looking forward to the MG trip to relive some memories.

John
John Francis

That's the same reason that I am interested in the Bimini top John, I have had the odd piece of me cut out because of sun damage and so I am trying my best to avoid a recurrence.

I have to use factor-50 sun lotion which is effective but doesnt do the seats and trim much good.

It also tends to permanently stain most light coloured fabrics and so whilst it saves your skin, it can ruin your clothes.

I wear an extra large baseball cap with a large flap at the back which the slipstream blows down over my neck.

I will try to attach a pic of it. (Its from 2012 when we did a tour of the Mont Blanc region)

Cheers
Colyn




Colyn Firth

Colyn, That's almost 'Luck of the Legion'in style; a great bit of kit. Room for some spares under the flap, even?
Shane
Shanerj

Are the MGA "Bimini" tops the same as Bimini boat tops & what is the price for one?
I Hazeldine

Ian, just email Ed Kirkland (as on an earlier thread).
Gary Lock

My Bimini is taking much longer to arrive than expected. It is now stuck in customs for several days and it won't arrive till after we leave for France. I should have asked Ed to use UPS not the postal service. It would have been cheaper too.

Does anyone in the UK have a Bimini that they would be prepared to lend me for three weeks? My partner is desperate!

I'm in Cardiff but will travel.

Thanks

John

John Francis

Thankfully the Bimini arrived in the nick of time. £70 of customs duty to pay. Just to say that it is beautifully engineered, well made and fits a treat. Ed even casts his name into some of the resin components.

My only slight concern is that the two front to back aluminium sprung loaded tubes that stiffen the fabric top run right on top of the driver's and passenger's heads. I'm tall and its only about an inch above my head. On a test drive I touched my head on it going over a bump in the road. However, I got used to it very quickly. It really is very cool and looks great.

Ed was also able to supply one in the same colour as my hood.

John






John Francis

Glad you like it John. I think I was a first for an overseas delivery order, after seeing a couple of them at GT-42 in Solvang last year.
Gary Lock

Gary,
What did it cost landed in Oz? Might need one in Victoria with global warming!
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

John,
I cant see exactly how the two stiffening tubes are actually connected to the front cross member of the Bimini top but it looks like it wouldn't be too difficult to modify it slightly to move it away (either inwards or outwards) from where your head is.

Let me know how you get on with it.

Colyn
Colyn Firth

Mike, I think it was about A$350 plus or minus a couple.
Gary Lock

Colin we are now on the Cote D'azur and the bimini has been brilliant. It's 30 degrees C and full sun. I don't need to wear a hat and it keeps us cool. We love it.
The two tubes are sprung loaded into recesses in the hood stick on the windscreen and there are two indents in the rear cross tube to keep the tension bars in place. So not that easy to move sideways. The headroom has been fine though.
The centre toggle clip on the windscreen has gone too loose and comes undone.

Ps cost to the UK was $330 including $80 postage. Customs, VAT, and parcel force charges came to another £71.

John
John Francis

Good to hear John, we are also in Northern France, near Alencon, been well over 30 degrees today.
Probably even hotter in the Pyrenees where we are headed in a couple of days.
The Bimini top is next on my listfor next year.
Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Here, in Granada, we are already some days at 40 degrees, but I will never use a bimini, it seems an attack on the design of our cars. I feel if I upset someone. It is only an opinion although I think that only those who prefer to use it participate in this topic.
Gabriel Martínez

Gabriel, maybe you Spaniards don't get skin cancers!
Gary Lock

We'll see each other on Halloween. If sunscreen creams are useful for sunbathing on the beach, why not to drive our wonderful MGAs? There are some bimini for a corvette, MG TD, Aston Martin, Ferrari California, Jaguar xk, Mercedes 300 sl, SSK, Triumph tr3, 4, 6, SEAT 850 sport, Hispano Suiza, ........... ?
Gabriel Martínez

Gabriel
Just wondering,
Is your car still going ok--after the head problem
William Revit

Thanks William. My Car is ok.
I think a folding rear window can be a better solution for this topic.
Gabriel Martínez

I agree with Gabriel. Use sunscreen and enjoy nature! Never liked the look if bimini tops, as they kind of remind me of the rat rods in Malibu back in the 60's. But whatever keeps people driving old cars is what really matters.
Steve Simmons

This thread was discussed between 26/05/2018 and 23/06/2018

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