Lee Dutton Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Can anyone confirm the front fitting arrangement for the soft cover on a surrey top please. I believe on the 4 and 4a the cover has a sewn in metal strip which hooks under the lip on the front of the facia panel fixed to the top of the windscreen surround. On the 5 I believe that the front fixing is the same as if a hood was fitted with two chrome locking handles. Can anyone confirm the history please and any pics of the latest fitting method would be gratefully recieved. Regards Lee Quote Link to post Share on other sites
angelfj Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Can anyone confirm the front fitting arrangement for the soft cover on a surrey top please. I believe on the 4 and 4a the cover has a sewn in metal strip which hooks under the lip on the front of the facia panel fixed to the top of the windscreen surround. On the 5 I believe that the front fixing is the same as if a hood was fitted with two chrome locking handles. Can anyone confirm the history please and any pics of the latest fitting method would be gratefully recieved. Regards Lee Lee: Several years ago I converted my TR250 to fit a surrey top. This required a new aluminium capping piece from a TR4. As you stated, this type of capping allows the sewn-in metal strip of the soft-top to hook under the lip at it's front edge. This TR4 capping , unlike the TR250 capping, also has a snap socket in each corner to accept the pair of snaps on the front left and right edge of the soft-top. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Fremont Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Lee, The Surrey top fitment is the same for all models, though the windscreen frame may not be identical throughout - I've never had an original '250 Surrey topped so that's still a mystery to me - nonetheless, all the conversions I've done have used the '250 windscreen frame, filling in flush the recess where the hood fastenings are. The aftermarket capping piece lacks the little ears where the snap stud goes but is serviceable to a degree. What you may be thinking of is the conversion some determined souls have done to render the Surrey's front fastening the same as the soft top, i.e. use the steel lip and the latch hardware. This is to allow high speed use, as 80+ mph in the rain will almost always cause the original Surreys to peel out from under the capping. I expect the aftermarket capping will lend itself even more to this kind of drama. If you do this type of conversion you should be able to leave the original capping alone, though I don't know how well it works with the hardtop Welcome to the Surrey conversion community; it's well worth the switch. I'll never go back, and wonder if I'd still be such an enthusiast without it - with advancing age the wind effects grow ever more tiresome Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 (edited) The conversion to use the front header rail from a hood frame as front fixing is the best way to guarantee a soft surrey wont peel off. If you are converting to a surrey then you have all the bits you need from your old hood frame. You will need the "H" frame as well to be altered slightly to fit into the holes in either end of the header rail instead of just hooking into the capping and you will need a soft cover making to suit. This arrangement will obviate the need for a hard top as it makes the car very weatherproof and the soft section will still roll up small enough to go in the boot or behind the seats. The hardtop can still be used as normal as the holes are in the windscreen frame anyway and the capping is essentially the same except for the front lip. Stuart. Edited March 17, 2010 by stuart Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lee Dutton Posted March 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 Thanks to you all for your expert info much appreciated. Lee Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 Thanks to you all for your expert info much appreciated. Lee Just a thought... When the header rail of a TR5/250/6 hood is used for the front end of the surrey rag top is there enough width in the boot to stow the thing? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 Just a thought... When the header rail of a TR5/250/6 hood is used for the front end of the surrey rag top is there enough width in the boot to stow the thing? Yes there is. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 Yes there is. Stuart. Fit's like a clove Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chris59 Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 I may be wrong, but isn't the Spitfire screen the same as TR 4 to 6 ? If yes, is the Spitty header rail the same ? Just think that a Spit 1500 header rail may be cheaper (and easier) to find than a TR' one Chris. PS : yes, I have bought a Surrey top for one of my TR6s Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 I may be wrong, but isn't the Spitfire screen the same as TR 4 to 6 ? If yes, is the Spitty header rail the same ? Just think that a Spit 1500 header rail may be cheaper (and easier) to find than a TR' one Chris. PS : yes, I have bought a Surrey top for one of my TR6s MK 123 spit is the same frame but 1500 MK4 isnt. Capping is no good for Surrey as it doesnt have the extension lip. Stuart Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 MK 123 spit is the same frame but 1500 MK4 isnt. Capping is no good for Surrey as it doesnt have the extension lip. Stuart Apart from the sun visor mounts in all case's Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 Apart from the sun visor mounts in all case's True, but minor point when your frame is as bad as Guys was Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GregG Posted June 1, 2020 Report Share Posted June 1, 2020 I have the issue mentioned above where the front of the surrey top soft cover flips up above 80 kmph - very rarely use the soft cover however got caught in the rain and it flipped up and leaked. So I am looking for a fix. Does anybody have the dimensions for the sewn in metal strip - width and thickness. On mine the metal strip is quite thin easily pliable. Thinking a thicker metal strip may fix the problem? Many thanks Greg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Farley Green Posted July 20, 2020 Report Share Posted July 20, 2020 Hi - Iv'e currently have the adapted (Revington) Surrey Top and remember the original when I had a TR5 in the early 80's. If you require any pics or dimensions, PM me. Philip Quote Link to post Share on other sites
roy53 Posted July 20, 2020 Report Share Posted July 20, 2020 Greg dose it fit fully into the screen top capping ? usually the reason for this happening. Roy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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