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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Another frogeye dimension

I am fitting the studs for a tonneau on my frogeye. I have all the mounting holes etc on the rear deck and wings but the scuttle was replaced and the new piece isn't yet drilled for the lift-the-dot type studs. I do have a fabric tonneau and pulling this taught I have marked on some masking tape for the one just left of centre.

Before I take the irreversible next step with my drill, can someone provide a measurement of the distance this should be from the forward edge of the cockpit trim rail. Mine is 7/16" which looks a bit close to the edge for my liking. Maybe my tonneau has shrunk a bit?
GuyW

31 mm centre to inside trim rail.

Flip Brühl

Thanks Flip, that's over twice the measurement I was getting! So it looks like I wasn't pulling the tonneau taught enough. Or maybe it has shrunk, although it's a canvass one, not vinyl, so it shouldn't have. Or maybe the stud position varies for different production years. Mine is a 1960 car.

Anyone else confirm that dimension?
GuyW

On my 1959 I have two studs, one for each side of the zipper and the studs go into the mirror mounting holes. Since I've never had the mirror off, I'm assuming that those were original for that year (mine is an April, 1959 production car) and my tonneau fits there nicely. And my tonneau doesn't attach to the top attaching points but along the leading edge of the boot area. So now you have a problem deciding which way to go.
Martin

My 1960 agrees closely with Flip but I think nearer 32mm (1.25") but it feels as though the vinyl padded rail comes over the rear edge of the scuttle slightly but not sure by how much so a measurement from a car without the rail fitted would be useful.
David Billington

Since other apparently normal items were optional extras on these cars, Martin's version of a tonneau doesn't surprise me. There could well be some other variants in "original" equipment like this. At the very least one has to assume that the normal driver's side (RHS) would remain clipped in place on a Stateside car, with the single stud on the right.

Come to think of it my rear deck- which came from a different car - had several holes along its forward edge, immediately behind the alloy trim. They could well have been for studs for a shortie version of a tonneau. I welded them up.

I suppose the other check measurement would be the distance between the front and rear edges of the cockpit. When rebuilding a body shell as much as I have there is lots of scope for variation there too. Not that I would be changing that dimension now the paint is all on!
GuyW

Clicking through Horler, the single stud is to the left and either in line with it slightly ahead of the two holes for the mirror mount. There appears to be some variation, with some looking slightly further forwards than others though it may be just a photographic effect.

I have just tried again with my tonneau and with a firm pull can stretch it forwards about 1" so I think I will do it to match David and Phil's at 1.25" which will hold it nice and taught.

Thank you!
GuyW

Guy,

On mine the mirror mount holes are about 3/4" in front of the padded rail edge and the stud hole is to the left.
David Billington

I get 35mm from scuttle fold line to C/L of the peg. Middle peg definitely left, so that you can have the tonneau over passenger seat while you drive. I wonder if US market cars had it on the right? Poor old Flip - he can't cover his shopping.
Nick and Cherry Scoop

Yes it definately only needs the one off-centre one on the left so one can keep the tonneau in position when driving alone. My only real doubt was how far forward to drill for it, but this is getting a consistent meeasurement of around 30 mm or a little over. Seeing as it is a British built car this is almost certainly suppoed to be 1 1/4"
GuyW

Thanks Guy, a useful measurement for me as well as my shell has the mirror holes pre-drilled but not the tonneau. But how far to the left of the leftmost mirror hole is the tonneau hole? Do you just stretch the tonneau and see where it ends up or measure the offset on the tonneau itself?
Bill Bretherton

35mm again on mine, Bill. Centres. And the mirror bracket holes at 40mm.
Nick and Cherry Scoop

Thanks Nick, it would be so easy to forget about the tonneau holes!
Bill Bretherton

The scuttle top on mine is a replacement, so positions of things may not be exactly correct, though they should be. It has the two holes for the mirror mount, with captive threaded inserts. They are 1 9/16" apart and 1" in front of the edge of the trim piece.

The offset of the peg is 1" to the left of the left mirror mount hole - so 1 3/4" left of the centre line. I judged that by aligning the tonneau zip dead centre between the mirror mount screwholes, I think safely assuming the zip is in the middle of the tonneau. The only unknown was how tight to pull the tonneau forwards over the top of the scuttle. Seems that the stud is best at between 1" and 1 1/4" from the trim. I think that some trim - possibly the later padded crash rail style - may overlap the edge of the scuttle slightly. Mine doesn't.


GuyW

That's a 10mm difference (35mm to 25mm) to Nick's if I've understood measurement points correctly. Perhaps the factory wasn't precise!

I see you've got the wiper ferrules in Guy.
Bill Bretherton

I am not sure, but I suspect that the scuttle tops as sold are a "universal" fit and what are the mirror fixing screws on a Frogeye are the plate that holds down the centre windscreen rod on a later car. That could explain the difference. As long as the holes are the correct spacing to take a Frogeye mirror base, I don't think it matters if it is 10mm further back than original. I am not going to worry about that.

Introducing my own thread drift with the attached photo - a signifcant step this afternoon!


GuyW

Oh I do like the look of the Bumble bees !

R.
richard b

Just needs a battery then!
Bill Bretherton

Yes, Richard's Bumble Bee leads go particularly well with the blue bodywork and the green engine.

I will have quite a long list of "acknowledgement credits" for this car by the time it is finished!

Its changed a bit since I collected it!

GuyW

This thread was discussed between 09/11/2019 and 10/11/2019

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