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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - New Frog hood

My Christmas present has arrived!
New hood for my Frog Sprite.
So now to do a dry run check before fitting, and I could do with advice.

I have a rear bar which came with the car, but as with everything else in the boxes, this is no guarantee that it is correct for this model. Laid against the hood (this may be difficult to see this in the photos) but the bar doesn't match the curve of the material. Should it?

I do have a tonneau, but that just uses two short metal inserts, rather than a full length bar. Is that a better arrangement?





GuyW

Guy

It does need the full length bar as the hood will flap in the middle. Try the bar you have on the car.It should snugly fit into the two chrome slots and broadly follow an arc towards the studs and turn buttons on the side. I think the mk11 sprite had the same bar but not certain about the mk111 so the chances are the one you have is correct. From the photos it looks about right.
Bob Beaumont

Thanks Bob. The bar fits into the broad hem, and hooks down into the two bullets on the rear deck Ok, so it holds the hood in position. But the bar itself isn't as curved as the hood so although it holds it down, I'm not sure how well it will resist the pull from the front when it gets some tension on, especially in the middle. (I don't yet have that front bar to try it properly)

The two ends of the bar only extend about 4" beyond the hooks and rise up so the bar is lifting the hood clear of the body at both ends. It looks like they need bending down a bit to hold those rear corners tighter downwards against the body.
GuyW

<forgive me asking the bleedin' obvious> does it sit better if you turn it over, left to right and right to left?
David Smith

Good one David, but the bar is flat. I did try that. I can tweek the ends down a bit. I think the hood is lifting there because the bar doesn't folow the curve of the seam so it concentrates any pull onto the two ends of the bar, pulling it upwards. Perhaps its a case of "they all do that, Sir!
GuyW

Mine lifts slightly at the ends and there is about 4" 'overhang' beyond the 'hooks'. Sounds about right from the description.
Bob Beaumont

The bar I have with my car is curved and follows the seam. It is a bit tight to slide into the hood pocket because of the curve. I'm not sure if it is original to the car, but it works well.
Trevor Jessie

Yes it should curve to follow the hood. I think I mentioned before that I was glad I bought one as it would have been such a pain in the backside to make yourself. The new one looked like it had been laser or fluid cut. Ten quid well spent - though I didn’t have one at all to start with.


John Payne

I tweaked mine by firstly laying down a guide tape to the correct curve on the shroud, and then tapped the bar so when slotted back in it matched the desired plan line.Then adjusted the profile so it sat parallel to the surface. So you are essentially trying to match both the plan and elevation.
f pollock

This thread was discussed between 29/01/2021 and 30/01/2021

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