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MG MGB Technical - Snugtop Question

Does anyone have any experience in removing the vinyl covering from a Snugtop hardtop that they will share with me? I would like to have a smooth texture and paint the top to match the car. Thanks!
Robert Stafford

The hardtop I've used on my B is an older Snugtop with the 'vinyl' surface. It is really fiberglass (GRP) molded to look like vinyl and painted matte black.

That's not to say they never produced one with an additional vinyl covering. I have seen that finish on a Parrish Plastics hardtop though.

Regardless, if you want to remove vinyl from a surface this is how I'd proceed:

It will likely be tacked down at the edges by trim or gasketing, so you'll need to remove those. The balance of it will be attached with contact cement. This can be released with the judicious use of a heat gun. Just remember that getting it too hot will affect the fiberglass. Getting it VERY hot will result in it igniting, and well, then you won't have to worry about stripping the rest of it off! Once you get it started you may be able to do without the heat gun and just pull it off.

Stripping off the remaining contact cement will be a messy job. Either use a solvent like acetone, or fiberglass safe paint stripper.

You may find that underneath there is a lot of work to be done to get the hardtop ready for paint. They may have opted to use the tops with blemishes/defects for vinyl instead of paint to avoid a lot of rework. But this is strictly speculation on my part.

Good luck.
Tom
Tom Sotomayor

Thanks Tom. I haven't been able to determine if the vinyl is a coating or the pattern in the fiberglass. I don't know if this top is an early or late model so I will show it to my body man and see what he says. If it is the pattern, perhaps it can be sanded down to smooth it out. Or maybe I'll just have to live with the pattern.
Robert Stafford

An easy check is to see if the surface is "hard". If there is essentially no give when pushed on with your fingernail, it's likely fiberglass. If it is soft, it's vinyl. Also check any seams - the vinyl may have been stitched together to fit.

When I acquired mine, the same thought occured to me - sand it / fill it to be smooth and painted. After studying it for a bit it became apparent that the overall shape wasn't uniform and it would take a lot of work to make it look good. That's why they went with the faux vinyl - it hid a lot of sins! I've left it alone.

Best bet if you want a painted one is to get a Parrish plastics (looks something like a football helmet), or go with a factory hardtop.
Tom Sotomayor

I'm glad to see this thread pop up. Sorry I can't help you, Robert, but maybe you or someone can help me. The 77 B I bought about a month ago came with a SnugTop.

If you will allow me to piggyback on the thread, I have a few questions.

Mine has what I think is the factory mounting hardware at the windshield, but the hardware behind the doors is most certainly homemade. Maybe someone with both a SnugTop and a digital camera could attach a pic of the factory hardware for that connection?

Next, to put the hardtop on, are you supposed to remove the entire soft top, bows and all, or are they supposed to co-exist?

Finally, does anyone know where to get new weather stripping? I could probably get by with a reglue on the back side, but the weather stripping around the roll-up windows is pretty shabby.

I have many more pressing issues with this car, but thought I would take advantage of this thread while it was available.

Thanks,
Charley
C R Huff

Thanks for the suggestions Tom. I tend to agree with you, the Snugtop is probably not readily convertable to a smooth finish. I may just remove and reverse the side and back window gaskets to eliminate the fake chrome strips and paint the aluminium trim black to make the top look a bit more modern.

Charley, the Snugtop hardware is not very professional looking. I will attempt to attach a photo for you. And you can either remove the soft top and just fold it up and leave it attached to the car as the Snugtop will fit over it. The only place I know of to get gaskets for this hardtop is at www.macgregorukcarparts.com. I believe they have all the seals and are nice folks to deal with.

Robert Stafford

Thanks, Robert. That's great. I can make up a bracket like that and it will be a little cleaner than the threaded eye-bolt that is sticking out of the car now. I will also check out Macgregor.

Charley
C R Huff

Charley,
My mounting hardware looks like what Robert posted as well.

About McGregor..... I got replacement seals from him several years ago. It took several attempts and about a month / month and a half before everything showed up. Seems he "forgot" about my order - more than once!

The seals do fit well, but clean them thoroughly of the mold release compound first. Otherwise they will fall off about mid season. It's really difficult to get them to rebond when it's -5º F outside.

That's why I finally located a factory hardtop for this upcoming winter. It needs to be restored (it's about half done now) and it will get done just as soon as I finish up the GT project....
Tom Sotomayor

Thanks for the tip, Tom. I've often had trouble getting glued things to stay glued.

Anyone have recommendations for the glue type?

Charley
C R Huff

That's noy vinyl its a pattern in the plastic on the snugtop. Don't know how you would get it smooth short of sanding a bunch of material to get it back to level then re-gel coat it.
As an aside...those double "L" brackets for the side fastenings are factory supplied. Seem to work ok, my top is now pushing 20 years old..this will be it's 20th winter of use when it goes on.I made some rear brackets too that snag under the soft top chrome fittings at the rear of the cockpit, a bit like the factory tops use, (in fact I used the factory part to go on the the chrome fitting) but don't always use them cause the top has not shown any interest in coming off at speed.
Wayne Hardy

This thread was discussed between 19/08/2008 and 22/08/2008

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