Lif the Dot Pegs: type, location and order of fitting?

[bigmalcy]

Dear collective

I'm at the stage of fitting the Lift The Dot (LTD) pegs to the 3A and need a little guidance on a couple of matters:

 

Firstly, I’ve attached a photo of the car before it was dismantled which shows two LTD pegs next to the LHS elbow capping. Based on the quantities of ‘self tapping’ and ‘nut and bolt’ LTD pegs in the Moss Catalogue, and assuming that the originals in the photo were in the ‘correct’ position, I have concluded that one of these pegs should be of the nut and bolt variety, with the other being of the self tapping variety.

 

So – my first question is: which one is which (and why should they be different types)?

 

Second question is regarding the order of doing things:

 

I have to drill into the body to fit these pegs, as well as those in the door skins (the rest of the pegs have been fitted to existing holes).

 

I also have to fit the female LTD fittings to a new Soft Top and Tonneau cover.

 

So which one should I do first? Fit the LTDs on the tonneau cover / soft top and then drill the holes to match the cover / soft top, or vice versa?

 

I’m thinking that it would make most sense to fit the soft top and cover to the already installed pegs then use this as a guide for where to drill the remaining holes in the body, before finishing off with mounting the LTDs on the soft top and cover to give the right amount of stretch… but it could work the other way round, too!

 

What do yous think?

 

Thanks

Malcolm

PS – Sorry to have made a couple of simple questions so long winded!

[Dave Larnder]

Mal

I would fit the nut and bolt type to both as rear access to the nuts is there. The top one definitely needs it, because of wind drag on the hood which could cause the self tap to enlarge the hole and pull out under pressure of the wind.

What I have done (and a lot of members disagree) is to put the top part through the hood, tonneau and hood stick horizontal and not vertical for ease of getting them off. If you do this then the top one you are talking about MUST be placed backwards i.e. you undo it pulling it forward,or the wind will do it for you, if placed like all the others then you end up with the first part flapping in the breeze.

 

Dave

[stuart]

Fit all the pegs to the car first and then fit the LTD to the hood/tonneau/hood stick covers.

If its a pre 60K car then dont drill the holes in the doors very deep and use a much smaller drill so that the self tapping peg actually winds its way in properly or they will pull out.Use a 1/4" drive socket to fit them The head of the peg is 1BA size if original. Dont forget the leather washer behind all the pegs and soak them in some waxoyl before fitting.Put some DumDum or similar on the threads of the bolt in ones.

Stuart.

[Graham Harris]

Mal, from memory all the pegs in the 1/4 panel and arround the cockpit are the nut and bolt type. The door skin pegs depend on the model eg. post 60000 the top of the door frame has a wood insert so the pegs are the screw in type.

I would fit all the pegs before fitting any covers. With the door skin pegs fit the side screens as a guide so the pegs follow the right profile and dont end up under the frame.

Sounds like you are getting to the good part.

Graham

[Lebro]

Self tapper across the top of dashboard, & into the doors. Nut & bolt type elsewhere.

I would not drill the door holes, or the hole just behind the doors untill you have fitted the tonneau / hood, & sidescreens to the car.

I did (I simply opened up all the original holes) & ran into trouble when trying to fit the new tonneau. Even with the LTD fastener as close as possible to the edge of the toneau it is a real struggle (impossible in winter) to get that one onto the stud. Likewise the sidescreens have to line up, & if you are like me you already have the sidescreens complete with fasteners.

By the way I fitted the LTD fasteners to the hood & tonneau sideways around the back as mentioned above.

 

Good luck

Bob.

[bigmalcy]

Thanks fellas - I'll fit the nut and bolt variety everywhere but the front cockipt capping (car is post 60k so no wood in the doors). Point re the direction of LTD fittings also noted and has been mentioned to me previously ( I think I would have automatically positioned the dot 'down' otherwise).

 

One final question relating to the Tenax fittings across the windscreen. The Moss catalogue is a little confusing with respect to what I need and mentions some parts not being available. Looking at the Woolies site, though, I presume that all I need are 10 of either:

 

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/p-1104-tenax-fastener.aspx (up to 2.5mm thick material)... OR

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/p-1113-tenax-fastener.aspx (2.5mm to 5mm thick material)

 

Which one?!?

 

I presume I will also need the tools:

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/p-1114-tenax-fastener.aspx

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/p-1584-hole-cutting-punch.aspx

 

Thanks again!

[Lebro]

I used LTD type on widscreen so can't advise I'm afraid.

 

Bob.

[stuart]

Thanks fellas - I'll fit the nut and bolt variety everywhere but the front cockipt capping (car is post 60k so no wood in the doors). Point re the direction of LTD fittings also noted and has been mentioned to me previously ( I think I would have automatically positioned the dot 'down' otherwise).

 

One final question relating to the Tenax fittings across the windscreen. The Moss catalogue is a little confusing with respect to what I need and mentions some parts not being available. Looking at the Woolies site, though, I presume that all I need are 10 of either:

 

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/p-1104-tenax-fastener.aspx (up to 2.5mm thick material)... OR

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/p-1113-tenax-fastener.aspx (2.5mm to 5mm thick material)

 

Which one?!?

 

I presume I will also need the tools:

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/p-1114-tenax-fastener.aspx

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/p-1584-hole-cutting-punch.aspx

 

Thanks again!

Personally I would go with the tenax for the thicker material and the tools are very useful. Also get some tailors chalk to mark the centre of the hood and to mark for the holes.

Stuart.

[bigmalcy]

Dear collective

An update, a story, and another wee query:

 

The update: On inspection of the car, I have concluded that the lower LTD peg (close to the bottom of the elbow capping) needs to be a self tapper, because the body panel here has an inner element and an outer element (i.e. even with the trim removed, there would be no access to the nut on the LTD bolt). This ties in with the fact that the catalogue of parts includes 2no. self tappers for the body mounted LTD studs.

 

The story: I asked my old man recently if he had his old soft top before I went ahead and bought a new one. Having been told a definite ‘no’ and sourcing an excellent unused replacement on the forum, lo and behold this past weekend I found not one but two old soft tops in the garage. One had been clearly used and had a ‘24 Heures du Mans’ sticker from 1966 on it. The other has never been used (no LTD fittings) but is missing the flappy thingo on the leading edge and seems to be made from thinner material… so I’m happy that I’ve managed to get a better quality hood to fit to the car.

 

The question: the old hood (and the old tonneau cover for that matter) are still fitted with their LTD and Tenax females… I like to reuse parts wherever possible, mainly for nostalgic reasons – so the question is, can I reuse these fittings? It seems pretty straightforward to me but wanted to check if it was a no-no.

 

Thanks

Malcolm

[stuart]

The LTD fittings may be OK if the little spring clip is still springy and you can straighten and rebend the tangs. The tenax just unscrew but often the three little clinch plates inside get broken or the wire spring breaks. Try them on a good stud before re-using.

Stuart.

[Ian Vincent]

The update: On inspection of the car, I have concluded that the lower LTD peg (close to the bottom of the elbow capping) needs to be a self tapper, because the body panel here has an inner element and an outer element (i.e. even with the trim removed, there would be no access to the nut on the LTD bolt). This ties in with the fact that the catalogue of parts includes 2no. self tappers for the body mounted LTD studs.

 

 

I have now got to the stage of fitting the LTD pegs and remembering something about there being two odd man out pegs I searched for this thread. Your car must be different to mine Malcolm because I can get to the rear of all the LTD pegs to fit a nut, so even though the Moss catalogue identifies the lower peg behind the B pillar as being self tapper, I will use a threaded one.

 

But back to my original thought, is one of the pegs on each side longer so that it will accept two layers of material?

 

Rgds Ian

Edited July 15, 2014 by Ian Vincent

[Don Elliott]

Before you insert the pegs along the top of the windscreen, compare the length of the new ones against the thread length of the original ones. The new repro pegs for this are made for other cars (MG ?) as well as for the TR and the thread length is longer. For the TR, you will have to shorten the thread length on your new ones or you will crack the glass when the longer threaded portion gouges into the glass.

[mleadbeater]

Malcolm,

 

just another tip for you based on my recent experience; when using the self tapping studs, as the thread is not very hard, they can be chewed by the steel bodwork as you screw them in, so I always screw in a decent self-tapper of the same size and pitch frist to cut the thread.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[mleadbeater]

Malcolm,

 

just another tip for you based on my recent experience; when using the self tapping studs, as the thread is not very hard, they can be chewed by the steel bodwork as you screw them in, so I always screw in a decent self-tapper of the same size and pitch first to cut the thread.

 

Cheers

 

Mike