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MG TD TF 1500 - TD Top Fasteners

As you can see from the picture my top is screwed to the tub along the back. It does have one snap on each side to facilitate folding the top. According to Horst Schach in his restoration book these should all be snaps.
It seems to me that if you have no tonneau cover then unsnapping the rear would provide an opportunity to wrap a bungee or strap around the top to secure it while driving. However I am getting a tonneau.
Shall I convert to snaps?
Your experience with either would be appreciated.
I am not trying to duplicate the factory. I just wanted to know the pro's and con's of screw vs. snap.
TIA,
Mort


Mort TD 1851

If you check the archives, Mort, you'll find good arguments for using the snaps. They make it much easier to gain access to the tonneau area. Bud
Bud Krueger (TD10855)

....I had the snaps put on when I had my new top installed a couple of years ago and haven't used them yet....bit of a pain to me....just sayin'
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

Mort - Adding the snaps essentially gives you a hatch back TD. Make it much easier to load things in the back when the top is up. Having been treasurer for our local 'T' Register and now my wife is historian, we are always hauling stuff to and from meetings. Being able to unsnap the rear of the top and fold it back to load stuff behind the seats beats trying to crawl into the car such that you can load the stuff. I have added snaps to the top of the tacking rail also and my wife made a cover to snap into place then strap to the tonneau bar so that whatever is behind the seats is covered up and unseen to anyone passing by the car. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Gentlemen,
Thanks for the comments pro & con. I am inclined to convert the screws to snaps. My original thought was to undo the snaps when I take the top down to aid in folding the top and to give me a lower. Using it as a "hatchback" is a nice bonus.
Just one question.
Would it be the proper procedure to convert to snaps, then undo the snaps and fold the top all the way down before fitting the tonneau? I assume the change in the bulk profile of the top will affect the tautness of the tonneau.
Mort
Mort TD 1851

Idealy, I think you would want to use the same snaps for both the top and the tonneau,,, I think you would want regular flat snaps, and not "lift the Dot" snaps,,,



.
SPW
STEVE WINCZE

Usually, the lift-a-dots are down lower on the tub (see photo below) and the snaps are along the wood rail......
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

There is a bunch of weather equipment installation pictures on my website, http://www.dbraun99.com

I used the snaps along the hood rear rail, and the hood fabric stays. Note the correct fitting of the snap at the forward lower edge. I used the lift the dots along the upper edge of the tub for the tonneau. I could have set my side ltd a bit lower to avoid a slight interference with the hood.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

Mort, I installed my top with snaps last summer exactly like what Dave Braun has on his website and could not be any happier. I also followed his directions for the tonneau.

Regards,
Bill
Bill Brown

Mort - Yes, undoing the snaps when stowing the top does make for a much neater line under the tonneau. I forgot to add that as one of the bonuses. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

David,
I installed the snaps. I opened them up and lowered the top. The top did not recess down any further than it did before. The frame touches the wheel well. The loose edge just sticks up and is in the way. It does not seem it will make the line of the tonneau any better.
Is there a different sequence to folding the top with the snaps open?
What am I doing wrong?

BTW... did you put snaps on the two top straps? Each strap had two screws so I converted one to a snap for the top and left the other as a screw.

I love the "hatch back" access!

Mort
Mort TD 1851

Never Mind!!
This morning, when I wasn't so tired and could actually think, I did some creative folding and it looks much better now. Next step is to buy a tonneau.
Mort


Mort TD 1851

I fold my top per the owners manual instructions. Works well. My top is still fastened with screws.
I hesitated to put the snaps on the back after following a TD once that the snaps kept popping open at speed.

The best mod to the top is a zipper on the back window.

Attached are factory folding instructions.




Dallas Congleton

My top (hood), is folded according to the above instructions, and the rear is screwed to the body....
With the tonneau in place, you don't even know the top is there...No bulges at all.
It took me a couple of trys to get the feel of folding it....

Edward
E.B. Wesson

The thicer material on the 'cavnass' replacement hoods means the support bars on my hood don't fold down into the rear. Common problem I have seen other discuss. Was wondering about moving the front mouting point a fraction but wondering if this will then interfere with the hood position too much when up.

Devil and deep blue sea.


Anyone tried it ?

Dave

mgtf 1500
Dave Moore

Any thoughts on doing this to a TF? PJ
Paul J

With snaps on the rear you are nine tenths of the way to removing the hood and frame comletely. So why not just do that?

Dave; is it not also the shoulders of the bows that are causing the jam? In which case moving the mounting screws forward may not help? I guess you could unscrew the mounts and see the effect of sliding the frame forwards. But I expect this will alter (stuff) the fit of the hood.

Matthew.
Matthew Magilton

On my TF I installed snaps on the rear, fastened the tapes to the bows to position the bows, BUT did not fasten the top to the bows, except at the front rail.
When the top is put down the entire top is pulled to the rear and the frame folded down into the tub with no clearance problems since no canvas is attached to the top bows. The canvas is then easily folded over the frame an into the "well" with none being trapped by folds within the frame

The tonneau easily fits over the folded top.
Don Harmer

I'm reviving this thread to ask the question: my TD has lift the dot fittings screwed into the metal tub. Looks like people who convert to snap fittings put the snaps into the top of the wood rail projecting above the metal tub. So if I convert to snaps, I either leave the lift-the-dot screws in (I could continue to use them for the tonneau) or remove and fill and repaint - which I don't want to do. Has anyone directly replaced the lift the dot screws with snaps - i.e. just putting snaps on the metal tub, not the wood rail? I'm concerned about putting snaps on the wood rail only because we're talking not about new wood in a frame-up restoration, but the original 63 year old wood....
Geoffrey M Baker

Geoff: The LTD are for the tonneau cover and leave them in place. There is another thread recently that talked about how many there were in the top area (4 or 5).

The snaps for the top are on the wood railing and are covered by the tonneau when installed.

My car has the snaps and the straps are fastened with tacks permanently to the wood rails. When I fold the top up I pull the window portion all the way back and then fold the rest over itself tucking the corners in square. Everything drops down into the well in the boot and then I just flip the window portion back forward as kind of a cover. The tonneau then fits completely flat.

In addition to having the window portion free which allows for the hatch back as was previously mentioned, I also find using the snaps makes it easier to put the top up. I fasten the front first and then go back and do the snaps. Its a lot easier to do that for me than trying to align the two studs and tighten the wing nuts while ensuring you have not trapped the front lip of the top when its not under tension.

Sorry for the dark picture but you can see the snaps on the rail and their spacing and also make out my LTD studs just below the straps. You can also see how everything tucks in nicely.


Christopher Couper

It sounds like everybody using snaps has used the top rail instead of screws into the tub. I guess I'll have to use the top rail, with either screws or snaps.
Geoffrey M Baker

Geoff,the top rail is where the hood was originally attached by the factory. It's the natural place to install snaps where the screws/washers had been. Bud
Bud Krueger

FAYI (For All Youse Information)...
My old convertible top was an odd aftermarket top which was made to fit WITHOUT rear side curtains. It also used the same lift the dot points as the tonneau did (which might have been made by the same people) and the LTDs were twice as long around the back where the top mounted.
My replacement top is a twenty year old canvas Moss top my dad had sitting on the shelf. I had to purchase two rear side curtains so it will fit. It is pretty clear to me I'll need to mount it to the top rail, as most of you have done. Instead of two canvas stay straps to take the tension, I'm going to use seat belt webbing material, which I think will be both stronger and less stretchy than the originals.
I'll post descriptions etc as I go along.
Geoffrey M Baker

Geoffrey, FWIW, I attached the stay strips with snaps also. Makes both access to the boot and folding up the rack easier. Jud
J K Chapin

This thread was discussed between 17/05/2011 and 13/10/2014

MG TD TF 1500 index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG TD TF 1500 BBS is active now.