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MG MGA - Hood Bow

I'm replacing the ends of the wooden hood bow. I have scarfed in some maple and in the process of shaping it all. The attached pic shows one of the old ends and I intend to copy it. But I am curious as to the function of the 45 deg. cut at the very tip. Is this to accommodate the shape of the sidescreen, or what?

I also luckily found out that the sockets for the wingnuts in the hood frame had rusted and the good looking screws were only hanging on by a hair's width. They are now tapped out to 3/8 NF.


Art Pearse

The angle on the end may be to clear the wide flap seal on early model side curtains. Recent issue Moss Motors wood bow has no such angle, and it seems not to matter. The angle on your appears to have excessive cut-back, too much material removed. See pictures here:
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/top/top107.htm
Barney Gaylord

So, how do I tell if my refurbed bow is the late or early 1600 type? My chassis is #98813, which would make it "late". I have a top from Moss, but I did not know to order early or late type. Do I have to try the fit, or is there a key measurement past the peg holes?
Art Pearse

Art, The ends on my hood bow looked nothing like yours. I'm fairly sure my bow is original to the car (1600 - 95194) - it was certainly ash as yours appears to be. But I don't think the ends had any 45 deg. cut; from memory they looked closer to the Moss one in Barney's picture but the rebate for the hood frame front didn't go right to the end.

I'll have a look tomorrow but the bow is covered now so I may not see much of interest. You'll have to be careful how far you come out beyond the pegs otherwise the hood material might not stretch completely over it. And don't forget the hidem banding comes around the end with the metal finisher being nailed into the wood quite close to the edge. Let me know if you need measurements..................mike
m.j. moore

The late model bow (3rd style) is longer with more overhang at the ends. The MK-II type canopy is wider at front with about 3/4-inch overhang above the side curtains. The 3rd style bow and MK-II canopy go together. The 3rd style bow does not work with with the earlier canopy, unless you trim the ends of the bow shorter to convert it to 1600 type (2nd style).
Barney Gaylord

As I thought the bow ends on mine are now completely covered so even a picture was not worth taking. However, the length across the bow (not along) from one side to the other is 41.375" max. if this is of any help. My hood overlaps the ends by 1/2" which is just the width of the material hem.......................Mike
m.j. moore

Mike, mine is 41-3/4, which is same as the original I copied. I will check the new hood against it, may have to trim the bow. Good to have all this help!
Art Pearse

I checked the bow against the rag top, upside down. Not sure if I have aligned it correctly, but to me it looks like it will fit. As I have it clamped, the front and side rolls over the bow with the seam overhanging its width, about 3/8". The other side is the same. So, have I positioned this correctly to come to this conclusion?
Or do I need to trim the bow ends?
And I still don't understand the reason for the 45 deg
cut in the ends of the originals.
I lined up the very tip with the end of the sidescreen flap.
Now a really dumb question - do the sidescreens fit outside of the flaps?
And are the copper bushes inserted permanently before any fabric is attached?


Art Pearse

I put the copper bushes on over the material. I thought if they went on first there would be nothing to stop the edges of the hole in the material fraying. The thickness of the flange on the bush is around 1/16" and at the ends of the bow with the frame attached the metal was roughly flush with the wood so I think the factory must have used some sponge to fill in the gap. I used some I had available (around 1/16" thick) but I think it was too thin because, although I haven't been out in the rain yet, some drops of water came in when I used the screen washers! If I were doing it again I would use a 1/8" min. sponge thickness.

I have a double flap on my hood; the outside flap is only about 1/2" to 3/4" wide whereas the inner flap is much wider - about 2". I guess the idea is to have the small flap draining to the outside of the side screen frame and the large flap is to cut down draughts.

The end of the 2" flap is shaped at roughly a 45 deg angle to suit the windcreen frame; unfortunately on mine there is a 1.5" gap between the two......................................Mike
m.j. moore

Thanks Mike. there was the remains of about 1/16 thick black goop on the bottom of the bow when I stripped the old top off. Does the width across the bow look OK to you?
Art Pearse

Art, Mine is 1.625" wide but after knocking off two thicknesses of vinyl it will be closer to 1.5".

Have you done a trial fit of the bow to the top of the windscreen to see if the centre catch lines up?.............Mike
m.j. moore

Sorry Mike, I meant the width across the bow from L to R. I too have the double flap. Yes, I installed the old pegs in the W/S frame top (The W/S is dismantled) and it all fits nicely along with my re-tapped wing nuts to 3/8 UNF.
Art Pearse

This thread was discussed between 13/06/2013 and 20/06/2013

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