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MG TD TF 1500 - Buying new hood and screens

Hi Guys,
Has anybody bought and fitted a mohair hood and side screens from Don Trimming Company in Birmingham (UK)?
Was the experience/product a good one?
Thanks,
Jon


J Harrison

Hi Jon,
Yes, I bought a mohair hood, and tonneau from Don's about 5 yrs ago. Excellent quality material and construction, and reasonable (I thought) pricing. I even spoke with someone there about them, by phone. My installer had buggered up the tonneau, his fault, mine too, for lack of oversight.
I bought tan (beige?), Emma is green, like yours. Looks and fits fine.
Al,
54 TF
"Emma"
Al Parker

I bought a hood, sidescreens and full length tonneau in beige mohair from them last year. Quality is good. Fittings and instructions are minimal - but both are easily obtainable elsewhere. Fitting the hood was fairly easy and it looks good (it was a generous size, so plenty of material to get hold of and tension along the front). Fitting the sidescreens more difficult, but I've done it they are better than many others that I have seen. The tonneau was difficult, but it fits and works.
Dave H
Dave Hill

Hi Jon,
I bought a hood and sidescreens from Don Trimming a couple of moths ago. The hood is superb and whilst the quality of the sidescreens is similar the stitching through the mohair and clear plastic falls within the metal frames. This means you cannot trim the mohair back level with the chrome strips but have to leave a 1/4" band all round. I hope you understand what I mean. I know this is a problem with sidescreens from other suppliers. I would buy again from Don but would get the to send me unstitched sidescreens

Jan T
J Targosz

Many years ago, about 45 the Don trimming replaced the rear window in my Bug -eyed sprite. last year they replaced the hood on my 'C' I got them to fit it. left the car in the morning and picked it up late afternoon
excellent job decided to leave it to the pros. you dont get too many second chances with material.... Only problem was the waiting list was about 4 months that tells you something
EDDIE
E I Buckley

Thanks very much for the advise. I think I will be purchasing a set.
Just one more thing, did you go for the Stayfast or Deluxe option? The Deluxe is apparently slightly heavier but has a herringbone patterned inner side. There's only a couple of quid difference in price. Is the pattern really noticeable? If so I'd go for the plain. But if the Deluxe is a more substantial material I'd probably go with that.
It's all going to be black. The TF is as black as the ace of spades and I'm not sure how Al Parker is seeing green.
Cheers,
Jon

J Harrison

I bought their best material and am happy with it. There is a herringbone pattern in the weave on the back, but not visible from the outside. The hood on your car would have originally been beige, even on a black car, however its less practical than black and difficult to keep clean. I recognise the issue that Jan T mentions above with the side-screens, however with a lot of adjustment of the frames and positioning of the covers on the frames I got them to fit well with the stitching as supplied. Every car is slightly different.
Dave H
Dave Hill

Many thanks for that Dave.
This is the option I'll go for.
Spanners and hammers I'm ok with but I'm a bit worried about fitting it. I struggle to sew a button on a shirt! I've had a couple of quotes from companies who do this sort of thing but the cost is prohibitive. I'm obviously looking for the best finish possible. Is it something the average ham-fisted Joe can do or should I go with the professionals?
Thanks,
Jon
J Harrison

I did it all myself, though I am a fairly handy, practical type. As long as you find a good set of instructions and follow them exactly, it can be done. Schact's book on restoring the TD is worth having, but you should also be able to find the info from Moss or NTG. First make sure that the hood frame is straight and set up correctly. Then do the same with the side screen frames. The advice given on From The Frame Up website tech section is worth reading. I attached the hood at the back with Lift The Dot fasteners (Snaps), but you can use tacks or staples. At the front I used staples (with a pneumatic stapler) but you can also use tacks.
Dave H
Dave Hill

Thanks again Dave. I'll search for some decent fitting instructions.
Cheers
Jon
J Harrison

This thread was discussed between 01/03/2016 and 02/03/2016

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