Black Cat Posted April 19, 2019 Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 Hi, I'm the process of getting the spitfire ready for a complete respray. When I brought the car it came with a hardtop which I have never fitted. After removing the roof lining on the hardtop, I noticed the fixings to the windscreen frame were not as they should be. At some time in the past, there must have been an issue with one of the fixings, as the only bolt which engages into the fixing on one side is metric. On closer inspection it seems the receptacle for holding the old imperial nut has been moved to one side and some other form of fixing has been installed, possible a rivnut, but not sure. The second fixing has lost the securing nut and there is no sleeve, I should be able to replace the nut, hopefully. My questions are: - Should I remove the rivnut fixing and re-secure the receptacle and insert the correct four sided imperial nuts, which is quite a difficult task as the space is very restrictive. Or do you think I should leave the first one as it is and insert a metric rivnut in the second one as there is no sleeve fitted, and is a rivnut suitable as a sleeve, and would it be suitable to secure the roof. Lastly, If I was to get the correct sleeves , I take it they are inserted from the other-side of the bolt fixing as I can't see anyway they can be inserted from below and if that is the case, how are they secured in position Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted April 19, 2019 Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 cant help on that one but the rivnut has not been riveted i take it its just a loose fit not the best reclaim . the tubes are to stop a crush so careful tightening should be ok if dont do it up like a gorilla. pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Cat Posted April 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 Thanks Pete, Decided to bite the bullet and do the job properly. I've drilled out the welds to the bit that holds the nut, inserted new square nuts and closed receptacle which holds the nut in place but leaving a little slack so the nut can move around a little but not enough so it will spin round. The next job will be to plug weld the holes and hopefully that should do the job. Also think I may have got the position of the spacer wrong. I thought it went in the roof area where I had the problem with the nuts but as this is only a single skin that can't be right so I'm assuming They go in the top of the window frame. Would appreciate someone confirming this. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted April 19, 2019 Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 As I say not really played with these but if its a top hat bush/spacer I recall it drops in the screen frame This may be all wrong !!!! Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Cat Posted April 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 That sound if it could be right. Thanks Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted April 20, 2019 Report Share Posted April 20, 2019 As Pete says, the crush tube is in the windscreen frame. The captive nut is on the flat part of the hardtop that sits on the top of the frame, so there's nothing there to crush, but the bolt goes through the (hollow) top rail of the frame, so there's where you need a tube to protect it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Cat Posted April 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2019 Thanks for confirming that, just need to acquire the two crush tubes now which are not cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted April 21, 2019 Report Share Posted April 21, 2019 just cut some steel tube the hat just helps not overly important , just has to stop you crushing the skins Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitFire6 Posted April 24, 2019 Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 Hi, Was going to create a new thread, but I will hijack this, please. I have all the correct fasteners, tubes & washers etc. I have the short tubular mountings as the hood has to stay in the car. I am not going to be able to sneak it into the house as I have no more space. An additional reason for keeping hood in the car is the cost & availability of the long tubular brackets. I will remove the rear soft top plate/canvas, so the soft top is only connected to frame. When I mount the hardtop with the 8 screws, Is something going to stop the rear bottom of the hard top scratching the rear car body surface? Thanks & cheers, Iain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted April 24, 2019 Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 50 minutes ago, Spitfire6 said: When I mount the hardtop with the 8 screws, Is something going to stop the rear bottom of the hard top scratching the rear car body surface? The rear bottom of the hardtop should have a rubber seal all around it. That will reduce the scratching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitFire6 Posted April 24, 2019 Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 2 minutes ago, NonMember said: The rear bottom of the hardtop should have a rubber seal all around it. That will reduce the scratching. Hi, Mine does not & could find no part # for such a thing. I have several metres of the bulkhead to bonnet seal. I guess I could use this with a little silicon grease? Cheers, Iain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted April 24, 2019 Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 Part number 624831 according to Canleys (assuming yours is a squaretail) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitFire6 Posted April 24, 2019 Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 6 minutes ago, NonMember said: Part number 624831 according to Canleys (assuming yours is a squaretail) Hi, Many thanks. I never saw that. Cheers, Iain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Cat Posted April 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 Doesn't that trim go inside the roof and not along the rear edge. I don't think there is a trim for the back edge as this would catch any water running off the roof. Without the trim any water would just drop off onto the body and disperse and the inner seal would prevent any ingress of water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinR Posted April 24, 2019 Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 https://www.canleyclassics.com/triumph-spitfire-mkiv/1500-hardtop-sealing-rubbers/ From the Canley Classics diagram, the rubber blocks (2 off 624746 and 2 off 624876) keep the hardtop off the rear deck. The other bits of rubber you need are 624748 and 624747, which go in the B post corners to separate the HT from the body. The 624831 seal (which is a furflex type seal) then goes around the inner lip of the roof to form the weather tight seal. If the 624746, 624747, 624748 and 624876 parts are missing then the roof will damage the body tub deck at the interface. There isn't an outer seal - the outer edges of the MKIV/1500 hard top "float" just above the body tub rear deck. Always protect the paintwork on the deck with a towel or a blanket when fitting or removing the hard top. Also, if the car has sagged in the middle, the hard top may not fit between the windscreen top and the lip of the rear deck - If the windscreen surround is badly corroded then forcing the hard top in could cause structural failure where the windscreen surround and the scuttle meet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted April 24, 2019 Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 OK, so the later hardtop is a lot more complex than the early one that I'm used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badwolf Posted April 25, 2019 Report Share Posted April 25, 2019 Assuming that Canleys and other suppliers no longer stock the full range of rubbers/seals/furflex/rear window seals etc, for hardtops, can generic subtitutes be found at trim specialists like Woolies or do the club stock things like this by the metre? Not started research on replacing mine yet, but I know that all my rubbers etc are well past it and thought that as the subject has come up, I would enquire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinR Posted April 25, 2019 Report Share Posted April 25, 2019 The 624746 and 624876 rubber blocks would be very easy to reproduce. They are very solid rubber, about 5cm by 3cm by 1cm thick. Don’t rely on the above measurements being precise - just a guess from a grope in dark. The 624747 and 624748 seals are much more complex and are foamed rubber, moulded to specific handed shapes. The seal could probably be swapped for a door seal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted April 26, 2019 Report Share Posted April 26, 2019 good place for seal for all designs is ,............... if you cant find a similar on here there's ....no hope https://coh-baines.co.uk/ Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitFire6 Posted April 26, 2019 Report Share Posted April 26, 2019 Hi, seals & pads are a problem to buy. Suppliers quoting OEM numbers & not supplying OEM parts. Parts 716184/3 seals cut from a roll with zero furflex. Rear pads that cost pennies to manufacture. All at OEM prices. So, the 624747 and 624748 seals appear to be most important. Thanks. Has anybody got any pictures of these handed parts? Silicone rubber sheet is cheap enough to buy. Thanks all for the information. Iain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitFire6 Posted April 26, 2019 Report Share Posted April 26, 2019 4 hours ago, Pete Lewis said: good place for seal for all designs is ,............... if you cant find a similar on here there's ....no hope https://coh-baines.co.uk/ Pete Cheers, I have discovered a new word "Moquette", Some nice seals & loads of info. Thanks, Iain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyman Posted April 26, 2019 Report Share Posted April 26, 2019 2 hours ago, Spitfire6 said: Cheers, I have discovered a new word "Moquette", Some nice seals & loads of info. Thanks, Iain. Never had a "Moquette" three piece suite Iain? Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitFire6 Posted April 26, 2019 Report Share Posted April 26, 2019 Whats that slang for matey? Iain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyman Posted April 27, 2019 Report Share Posted April 27, 2019 10 hours ago, Spitfire6 said: Whats that slang for matey? Iain. You mean you dont have furniture like this Iain????? Tony. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitFire6 Posted April 27, 2019 Report Share Posted April 27, 2019 choo choo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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