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surrey soft top fitting


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hi all, i have fitted a Honeybourne rear screen and am in the process of fitting a soft surrey (from John Skinner), the rear attachment is fine but i am not sure about the front. i am using the front header from a soft-top to give a secure and easier fixing but am a bit concerned about the amount of material needing to pass under the header rail where the surrey is 4 layers thick at its reinforced edge. anyone got any tips on this please? also i have found the near side A pillar is raked back more than the OS, the passenger door glass has always hit the A post which i thought was to do with window movement but now realise otherwise. i have slacked off the 3 bolts, (2 just forward of the open door and 1 inside, above the tube holding the screen bolt) held the screen forward with a broom handle wedged to floor pan, and then tightened bolts but after an hour or so the pillar moves back, and i am wary of over tightening the bolts; again any guidance greatfully received 

many thanks in advance  Richard

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From the looks of it that soft section is a waste of time and will never fit right, its not wide enough in the main section as theyres not enough to go round the outer edge of the header rail, It wouldnt even be right as an ordinary soft top. I buy mine from The Coventry hood and tonneau Co in Telford they fit very well when doing that modification..

Stuart

 

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12 hours ago, Malbaby said:

Stuart...is that a "Honeybourne" rear?

No thats a genuine Surrey rear section on a TR5 I run my Honeybourne with the steel roof as I prefer the closed coupe style these days

Stuart.

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Following with interest as I was also just about to order the unfinished Surrey soft top from Skinners, along with their boot trim kit.

My tr4 is already fitted with a tr6 soft top for summer and honeyborne surrey hardtop for winter, so have the required frame fittings.

Just need to source a spare complete tr6 header rail for the new Surrey soft top.

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47 minutes ago, Upriis said:

Following with interest as I was also just about to order the unfinished Surrey soft top from Skinners, along with their boot trim kit.

My tr4 is already fitted with a tr6 soft top for summer and honeyborne surrey hardtop for winter, so have the required frame fittings.

Just need to source a spare complete tr6 header rail for the new Surrey soft top.

I used a late Spitfire rail, they were easier to find and much cheaper than a TR6 frame.

John

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Thanks Nigel.

A picture paints.....:D

So the spitfire 1500 type header rail is the one to go for.

I shall start scouring eBay for one to get this little project going.

I have the "H” frame, still require the rear bar, though contemplating just using pop studs for rear attachment.

Still keeping an eye out for updates from Richard (op) on how the skinners top fits, before ordering.

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Hi 

Afew more details:

In standard form the handles are pushed towards the centre of the car to lock the hood down. In my case this would foul the forward frame bars so to lock the hood down they are pushed to the outside.

Of course I hadn’t thought everything through at the beginning ( I took the trial and error approach ) and had to remove the screen capping again  to reverse the cam locks in the windscreen frame. The handles also required a slight bend.

My windscreen frame had two additional holes close to the locking cams that look standard from the factory so I decided to use these for the forward frame bars and suitable holes were drilled in the capping. Looking at the Moss catalogue there appears to be a capping with 4 holes so will investigate further when things back to normal as my capping is very tatty.

Holes were drilled in the header rail to take the forward frame rails so the pegs go through the header rail. Screen capping and frame. More cutting of the header rail was require to accommodate the handles and front poppers.

A new rubber seal was used and after using a garden hose appears to be extremely waterproof.

The method for erecting the top is to lock down the front of the cover, secure the rear of the cover, engage the poppers, insert the rear frame bars and then the front bars holding the frame angled to one side, centralise the frame which will tension the hood section and finally engage the poppers on central section of frame. Sounds complicated but very quick.

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11 hours ago, Upriis said:

Thanks Nigel.

A picture paints.....:D

So the spitfire 1500 type header rail is the one to go for.

I shall start scouring eBay for one to get this little project going.

I have the "H” frame, still require the rear bar, though contemplating just using pop studs for rear attachment.

Still keeping an eye out for updates from Richard (op) on how the skinners top fits, before ordering.

If your buying a new soft section I would buy from here https://coventry-hood-tonneau.business.site/

They fit really nicely.

Stuart.

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If your buying a new soft section I would buy from here https://coventry-hood-tonneau.business.site/

They fit really nicely.

Stuart.

Thanks Stuart,

I have requested a quote from them now.
Was only using skinners as they also offered a boot trim kit, however alarm bells started ringing when seeing Richards original post.

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4 hours ago, Nigel A said:


Hi 

Afew more details:

In standard form the handles are pushed towards the centre of the car to lock the hood down. In my case this would foul the forward frame bars so to lock the hood down they are pushed to the outside.

Of course I hadn’t thought everything through at the beginning ( I took the trial and error approach ) and had to remove the screen capping again  to reverse the cam locks in the windscreen frame. The handles also required a slight bend.

My windscreen frame had two additional holes close to the locking cams that look standard from the factory so I decided to use these for the forward frame bars and suitable holes were drilled in the capping. Looking at the Moss catalogue there appears to be a capping with 4 holes so will investigate further when things back to normal as my capping is very tatty.

Holes were drilled in the header rail to take the forward frame rails so the pegs go through the header rail. Screen capping and frame. More cutting of the header rail was require to accommodate the handles and front poppers.

A new rubber seal was used and after using a garden hose appears to be extremely waterproof.

The method for erecting the top is to lock down the front of the cover, secure the rear of the cover, engage the poppers, insert the rear frame bars and then the front bars holding the frame angled to one side, centralise the frame which will tension the hood section and finally engage the poppers on central section of frame. Sounds complicated but very quick.

Thanks Nigel,

must check my soft top that came with the car. It already has the tr6 frame and header modifications. Though I cannot remember if I turn them in or outwards to lock the frame.

For the h frame, I note some others on here have attached the front mounts close to to outside edges/ corners.

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2 minutes ago, Upriis said:

For the h frame, I note some others on here have attached the front mounts close to to outside edges/ corners.

Thats the way I do mine, you actually need to trim the ends off the tubes at the front by an inch flatten out and weld a "Z" shaped piece of 3/16" bar that then engages into the holes at the ends of the header rail that are revealed when you grind out the rivets that originally attached it to the rest of the frame.

Stuart.

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I was going to do it that way and then when I removed the capping and found the extra holes already there that allowed the frame to fit without modification I changed my mind.

Out of curiosity does anyone know what these extra holes are for in the windscreen frame as they look like they were produced at the factory.

Nigel

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1 minute ago, Nigel A said:

I was going to do it that way and then when I removed the capping and found the extra holes already there that allowed the frame to fit without modification I changed my mind.

Out of curiosity does anyone know what these extra holes are for in the windscreen frame as they look like they were produced at the factory.

Nigel

Hardtop.

Stuart.

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In the middle of the same TR6 header conversion.  Found some M8 quick release ball joints which seem to fit nicely in the holes on the end of the TR6 header rail and can be detached easily.  The Surrey top frame just about allows an M10 thread to be cut in it once you've cut to length.  Its a bit marginal but enough to hold securely.  Ebay turned up a M10 to M8 threaded rod to connect it all together.

Neither of my surrey tops look like they have enough material to be unpicked to wrap around the header frame so thats going to have to wait a while.

 

 

surrey top frame mounting.jpg

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Neither of my surrey tops look like they have enough material to be unpicked to wrap around the header frame so thats going to have to wait a while.

I have recently fitted a Surrey top to my TR6 and ofcourse used a TR6 header rail, I unpacked the seam along the front edge and with help from the Memshalb and her sewing machine stiched  in an extra piece of vinyl to wrap under the rail. The joint is about an inch back from the leading edge of the rail but the extra material allows for a more positive fixing.

I have the frame hooking into the corner holes on the header rail but it's a bit of a fiddle hooking them in with the soft top in place, I would like to sort something out so that the frame can be put in place on the top of the screen frame prior to fitting the soft top, any suggestion?

George

Edited by harlequin
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13 hours ago, napatec said:

In the middle of the same TR6 header conversion.  Found some M8 quick release ball joints which seem to fit nicely in the holes on the end of the TR6 header rail and can be detached easily.  The Surrey top frame just about allows an M10 thread to be cut in it once you've cut to length.  Its a bit marginal but enough to hold securely.  Ebay turned up a M10 to M8 threaded rod to connect it all together.

Neither of my surrey tops look like they have enough material to be unpicked to wrap around the header frame so thats going to have to wait a while.

 

 

surrey top frame mounting.jpg

Nice idea but I suspect they will stickup too much into the material so you`ll have a couple of "Humps" in the front eitherside.

Stuart.

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11 hours ago, harlequin said:

 

 

I have recently fitted a Surrey top to my TR6 and ofcourse used a TR6 header rail, I unpacked the seam along the front edge and with help from the Memshalb and her sewing machine stiched  in an extra piece of vinyl to wrap under the rail. The joint is about an inch back from the leading edge of the rail but the extra material allows for a more positive fixing.

I have the frame hooking into the corner holes on the header rail but it's a bit of a fiddle hooking them in with the soft top in place, I would like to sort something out so that the frame can be put in place on the top of the screen frame prior to fitting the soft top, any suggestion?

George

Thats why I change to a "Z" shape 3/16" bar at the front ends of the sticks so you can just hook the header rail to the frame by holding at right angles sliding it back so the ends of the frame hook in and then turning it down to fit the catches. It does take careful adjustment of the "H" sticks so that as you turn the header rail down and the pins of the handles start to engage the capping holes the material just starts to go tight the same as when your locking the ordinary convertible soft top down.

Stuart.

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39 minutes ago, stuart said:

Thats why I change to a "Z" shape 3/16" bar at the front ends of the sticks so you can just hook the header rail to the frame by holding at right angles sliding it back so the ends of the frame hook in and then turning it down to fit the catches. It does take careful adjustment of the "H" sticks so that as you turn the header rail down and the pins of the handles start to engage the capping holes the material just starts to go tight the same as when your locking the ordinary convertible soft top down.

Stuart.

Stuart

I am a Surrey top newbie and still looking for the best/easiest way to put the soft top on especially in a panic during a downpour. I do find the one drawback with the TR6 header rail is they are a little heavy but I do like the positive way they fix.

I am assuming that when you erect the soft top you first lay the front rail onto the top of the screen with the material hanging over the screen onto the bonnet, then insert the front of the H into the header rail, next locate the back of the H, followed by laying the material over the H frame and locating it onto the backlight, and finally doing up the 2 handels on the screen to make it nice and snug.

George 

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