Fitting a works style hard top

[Stuart Adams]

Hi, I am a new MGB owner and member, only getting the car last week which is a restored 1962 MGB Roadster, reg no 313 XUD, I want to keep the car in period as much as possible but would like to investigate if I can fit a works style hard top, which I think in principal is OK but does anyone know if if fits with the soft top in the 'fold away' position?
Many thanks, Stuart Adams

[Peter Cresswell]

Hi Stuart
Welcome to MGB ownership - I'm sure you will find it to be a great car.
You can certainly fit the aftermarket (or Clubmans) style hard top which Moss and others sell without removing the hood although you have to undo the side brackets with 3 screws through a plate into the body sides behind the seats to fit some side brackets. I found the the brackets on this hard top didn't line up with any of the mounting points on my car and the one I bought didn't have any rear fixings. In both cases I fabricated some (the rears were from an old Britax childs seat and were perfect!)

I now have the proper Works hard top (identified by having square corners at the bottom of the rear window and having very slender aluminium window frames for the side windows) which has rear mountings that slot into the rear hood mountings and it also has over centre catches to clip it to the windscreen frame. The sides mount onto brackets which most suppliers sell (but they are more expensive than you think they might be!) by using the 3 screw holes the the side mountings for the hood plates. I did briefly try to keep the hood attached to the car, but found either the hood fitted and not the hard top or the other way round. Having read the owners handbook, I removed the hood completely and then eveything fits ok. This also gives you bags of space behind the seats.
The attached picture will help you to indentify a genuine Works hardtop, which is fitted to my car and shows the square bottom corners and the slender side window frames. There shoud be a chome locking strip around the rear screen rubber which is missing at present.

To my mind the only hardtop that looks right on an MGB (or Midget for that matter) is the Works one and they are well worth seeking out. They turn up on ebay quite often and that is where I purchased mine.

I think it is quite rare to have a foldaway hood on a 1962 car. Perhaps others can clarify if this is so, or has the foldaway hood been added later. They are more convenient, but you don't get the purity of the design like you do with the hood that has separate sticks and fabric and comes off the car completely when you put it down.

[Stuart Adams]

Hi Pete,

Many thanks for your very detailed response, it's much appreciated, it's all a bit a steep learning curve at the moment as I only got the car last Thursday, and it's been raining ever since, so a little frustrating as I am really keen to get out on the road!

Although I want to keep every aspect of the car in period, I really like the idea of the hard top.

I will no doubt be asking many further questions!

Thanks again
Stuart

[Peter Cresswell]

Hi Stuart
As a newcomer to MGBs I would suggest you buy (if you haven't already) 'Original MGB' by Anders Ditlev Clausager (ISBN 978-1-906133-18-4) as this is full of details about the B (inc. the V8 and the MGC). It also includes some details about the hardtops, which were available from 1963 so just after your own B and would have been a good upgrade to the car a year after it was introduced.

[Stuart Adams]

Hi Pete, that's great thank you, I'm off to Amazon now!
Best regards
Stuart

[George Wilder]

And here are the instructions from the 1965 handbook on fitting a works hardtop

Agree with Pete this the hardtop to have - I have one on my car right now

George

[Stuart Adams]

Hi George,
That's great thank you, very useful.
Is your hard top the same that Moss sell? They are quite expensive but come with all the fittings etc?
Many thanks for letting me know
Regards
Stuart

[George Wilder]

Stuart
My hardtop is a genuine works hard top made by Watsoninan Sidecars, the second firm that made them for BMC/MG Factory - see the Clausager book for fuller details on manufacture.

I believe the tooling is now in the USA with The Roadster Factory not that they have ever made any.

Mine looks just like Pete's hard top except it is body coloured.

It came with the car when I brought back it in 1984 already painted BRG as the per the car.

None of the "works style" hardtops as per Moss and MGOC etc in my opinion look as good as the original.

As mentioned they come up on eBay from time to time or you could put a wanted ad in Safety Fast! or you could try people like Brown and Gammons or Andy Jennings etc.
George

[Peter Cresswell]

There are 2 Works hardtops for sale on ebay at the moment, one looks as though it has been covered with vinyl, the other is black and has a Buy it now price. There is also a Clubmans Hardtop for much the same money, so you can compare the styles.
It is always worth checking with sellers to see if they have the fitting brackets, as a these cost around £50 to buy separately. Since your car is a early one, it might use a rail to support the tonneau cover, in which case you will just need the L shaped brackets to connect the hardtop to the car. If not you will the triangular slot brackets as well.
Go to ebay and do a serach for 'MGB Hardtop'.

Here is a picture of my car with Works hardtop leaving the start of our natters recent Autumn Tour. Old English white with red looks fantastic - I think!

[George Wilder]

Suppose I ought to add a photo of mine - the all green car- only can find a side view at present