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Last weekend before I went to the car show, I was putting down the top, as I didn’t want to drive with it up.
As I said in my “First Carshow” post, it was COLD (about 39 deg. F).
I was not thinking and before I knew, I heard a LOUD cracking.
I knew immediately what it was.
Yes, I had CRACKED THE VINYL WINDOW!
I could have kicked myself!:x
The crack is about 6″ long, from the middle to the top.
Other than purchasing a new top, does anyone have any ideas about how to repair it, or if it even CAN be repaired?
Every time I look at it I could CRY!
Any suggestions will be appreciated.Amor Conquista Todo
If you can find a good boat top shop locally, they can sew in a new rear window. I’d suggest you have them add a zipper, like most old American convertibles had. Being able to unzip the rear window to allow air to escape allows you to drive the car with the top up, no side curtains, without the top bellowing as badly. It also allows you to unzip the window and fold the top when cold, without the damage you experienced…
Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes...Ouch! Hadn’t thought of them being that brittle, maybe partly from age…?
I have relatives in the upholstery biz that do stuff for boats and autos and I think it should be an easy repair, as was said.I like the zipper idea, but could be trouble in rain if not done right. Mine does some leaking through the stitching anyhow, not enough to worry me.Yeah, I second that question abou the brittleness.
I built my car in 1982. She got a new roof in 1988. Long story that involved a bullet hole through the zippers.Since then, I’ve rolled and unrolled the roof with no problems. Includgn sub-32 degree days.Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
Something happened to me this summer while I was at a car show .My pop up tent blew over and put a 1,000 dollar scratch in a hot rod . My home owners ins paid for it . A friend of mine skis were stolen while at a ski resort again home owners . No deductible no increase in ins cost. Maybe they cover something like this .You never know
Just saying (as Paul suggested): That was some really old clear plastic and that is why it failed. You did nothing wrong.
THANKS ALL!:-)
I’m feeling better and blaming myself less since earlier.
Like you guys point out, it was the original top and the vinyl tends to dry out over the years and gets brittle.
I guess I just forget that everything ages.
I called an auto upholstery shop and explained the situation to him. He suggested I might seriously consider a new top. He pointed out the brittleness of the window might not be the only issue, just the most obvious. Don’t know if I want to spend another $800 right now though.
I haven’t found anyone close by who is able to do a repair, though.
I have located a company online that sells heavy gauge clear vinyl. A suggested use is for boat top windows.
Does anyone know about thickness gauge? The website offers gauges from 12-40.
Is it like wire and steel, the higher the number the THINNER the plastic?
I noticed the price is opposite what I would think, i.e higher gauge higher price. Will probably need to call the.Amor Conquista Todo
Going to be thousandths of inch, or mil, so 40 gauge is 0.040″.
I think you could use down to 20 gauge, but looking now at what other cars have it might be more like 40. Maybe someone knows what’s usually used.BTW, although I don’t know anything about these convertible tops and their windows, I wouldn’t expect the removal of old vinyl and reinstall of new to be much trouble. Except I’ve just found out there’s probably glue or something used as well to act as a seal.Again, someone else might know this stuff.LRH2015-10-24 08:37:27
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