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MG MGF Technical - Sof top will not fold down

Hi,

My soft top will not fold down all the way no matter how I try.

I can't for the life of me figure out why not!

All the linkages look like they are OK but it still will not fold all the way down .

Help Please.






B kRT

Is it jamming about two thirds of the way back?
If so, try taking hold of the middle bar and pushing it back before pushing back the front piece - making sure you've tucked the rear window in first, of course.
Steve Madden

If that's all there is to it then that is great advice.
I will give it a go ASAP.
Thanks for you advise.



B kRT

Common problem. Seems to happen when the car gets about three years old. You can get some rubber webbing to fit between the bars which does the job that Steve is telling you to do manually. Again look in the archives - you could spend a week in there no trouble at all :-)
David Clelland

Steve Madden,
Forgot to answer, yes it folds 2/3 of the way back.


David Clelland
I have several things I need to fix with this car (see my other topics) and am slowly looking at the archives for info. Funnily though, the softtop problem happens to be the one that is frustrating me the most.

I've only had this car some 6 hrs and have learned so much from this forum.

Many thanks to all!!!!

B kRT

Well, welcome aboard, you won't find a better or more helpful resource then this site!
Apologies about how long you had to wait for answers, in the week the site is much faster, with an answer in under 5 mins in a lot of cases 8-)
Will Munns

Hi B, & welcome. Well worth checking that the material of the hood isn't catching in between the folding sections of the frame - these can 'scissor' the material and repairs are not easy, and new hoods not cheap!

Kinda jealous that you have top-down weather - it's blowing a gale and raining buckets here...
Mike Hankin

Will Munns, Many thanks for the kind welcome.
It looks like this forum will be very helpful in solving some of my problems. The answers actually came very quick I thought.

Mike Hankin, thanks for your kind welcome. Looking forward to being involved online with loads of Q & A.
Yes, summer is always nice, here, but to be honest I love the winter as it will be Skiiiiiiiiiing time. :-)

I've had a nights sleep now and will approach this baby with a fresh set of eyes and new found knowlegde.

May have to put on the sunglasses as its a very shiny red.

Will post results of my toils when done.

B kRT

Hip Hip Hooray! (Well at least I'm excited!!)

Steve, you advice was 100%.

Did what you said and just like magic, the softtop flattened out into the back recess.
Now it's a real convertable :-)

Now the other thing is that the cover has 5 studs at the front which are OK, but the back does not have any studs and just sits there loose. Is this supposed to be like this? If so then I would imagine that the back would flap all over the place when in motion. (Haven;t tried it yet as I need to fix the clutch first - see my other post)

Looking forward to your help again.

Branko

Branko

The cover has two fixings methods depending on the age of the car. The early ones clip round the frame but is fiddly. The later models changed and you open the boot and lay the back so it gets trapped when the boot is shut.

Hope this helps.

Tom

Tom Randell

... and possibly twisting the boot lid out of alignment. I'd forget the hood cover.

Regards, Kes.
Kes

The cover is not wide enough to get anywhere near the
book.
It doesn't make sense to me (yet).

(The car is built in 05/1997 but rego here in 01/1998)

Branko

I assume it is the black plastic cover?

If so have a look at the long end opposite the 'poppers' and it should have a rolled seam and through this seam is a wire insert.

At each end of the wire insert there should be a tab about 2 to 3 inches long with a popper on it.

You put one of these poppers on the mating popper in the door jam then (after having drunk a pint of Guinness) you stretch the wire at the rolled edge along the underside of the rear edge of the hood - where it meets the bodywork - keeping a good hold of the rolled seam you work your way round to the other side of the car where you give the seam an extra good tug and then put the other tab popper onto the matching popper in the door jam opposite the first one.

If all of that is too much like hard work then purchase the Mk 2 cover along with its different studs or do as I did and bought one of Mike Satur's hood covers.

Ted
Ted Newman

Yep its black plastic.

Will give it a go when I get home.
Branko

The back part of the cover does have a thin edge with wire thru it.

I tried to insert this in to the small gap between body and rear window but in 2 sections where the canvas joints are made (overlap), there is no or very little clearance.
I may have to use a tool like a putty spatular to forse it in. How else can this be achieved?

Any ideas?

thanks.
Branko

There is a real trick to it, the wire rests in a groove that does not look deep enough for it, and tension keeps it there.
It requires some practice, but it's such a pain I rarely use the darned thing.
I was amazed the first time I got it on that it stayed there ;)
Forget the cover unless you REALLY need it. The newer versions are much better and if you have to use one, think hard about getting the later version!
Grant

I agree with Grant. The Mk1 cover can be fitted and many owners use it frequently. I gave up after 4 months and bought a Mk2 cover and the replacement fixings (2 posts instead of press studs).
JohnP

Branko,

here's a picture of the Mark II hood cover that shows it's tail tucked under the boot lid.

http://www.csmgf.co.uk/darkside/windstops/ms_big.jpg
David Clelland

Hi Grant,
Was over to Tas about 2 years ago and did a tour of the east coast......Great Stuff.
I will give it another go and see what happens. I hate to give up.

Hi JohnP,
Do you slide it in from one end or do you just force it in form the top?
Still looks to me as not enough room in front of the seams. The canvas material does;nt seem to compress at all. Will give it another go.

David,
Thanks for the link. Yep that would be easier, but since I'm strapped for cash at the moment (just bought the car), I will make the existing one fit.

Will post update when I get the thing in.

cheers.
Branko.

Branko

Hi all,

Thought I would post an update for this softtop problem. Hopefully this post prevents future frustration for someone.

I have finally solved why I was having this problem of the softtop getting stuck and not folding down.
The softtop should be a smooth and one action to fold it down.
Manually having to push the second bar along is not a real solution. :-(
I had discovered (due to my highly tuned and practiced problem solving skills and with a sharp eagle eye), that there is an elastic strip sewn into the top part of the seatbelt type material that joins the front bar to the next bar back. This strip is hidden from normal view and had eluded me in my initial search for a permanent solution.
It had been designed to automatically pull back the second bar as you push the softtop backwards.

(OK, OK, I actually found the elastic strip by chance, no skills involved) :-}

This elastic strip, over time has lost it's elasticity and needs to be replaced.

Problem solved.....

cheers
Branko.
Branko

Branko

go back up and read the 4th post in here, from David Clelland, where he told you about the elastic strap. Because the hood doesn't always fold down properly, some hoods trap the fabric on both sides just behind drivers head. Over the years this has cost MGR quite a bit in warranty; they now stress how to put the roof down correctly in the Owners Handbook; this is presunably a way of reducing warranty claims. They have also introduced an additional elastic strap that is now standard on all new cars. The kit is approx GPB £11 from MGR and is retro fittable to all hoods.
JohnP

Have a look at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/tim.jenner/tf_hood_recall.htm

Tim.
Tim Jenner

JohnP,

Yes, I had read that post but at the time I hadn't equated "rubber webbing" as being "elastic strap". But I see what you mean. ;-)
And thanks for the update info about the straps.


Tim,
Thanks for your link. You have lots of good pics and info there.

Just on the side, what happens to be the front ride height of your blue MGF that you have set down to?


Thanks,
Branko.
Branko

I had this problem, if you move the hood till it gets stuck, the second bar in from the top needs to be pulled in slightly, the the roof will fold down.
James Alexander

Hi James, Its already been fixed. See the posts above.

But, Thanks anyway.

Branko.
Branko

This thread was discussed between 12/02/2005 and 24/02/2005

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