need help for an Austin Healey 100 BN4 top

working with our third repro top, this one from Moss.
cannot get it to fit right at all. tight on one side, bunched up on the other, cant latch it.
just a pos. we thought the first and second ones were just off, but now a third one giving us the same trouble.
i should be asking this question on a Healey forum, but i dont know of one.

does anybody here know where to get a better fitting top for this car ????

 

I can't answer your question, but if all three tops had similar issues I would take a good look at the top bows to see if they are bent or otherwise distorted.

Cheers Jim

 

yea we did that.
the bows seem fine - they are original and came with the original top that got singed in the fire.
but, the three tops had only one thing in common - they did not fit, but their lack of fit was not the same in each instance, it was a different problem each time - too short, too long, too tight on one side and loose on the other etc.

paul tzikouris is the one doing the work, and i would bet that he knows these cars better than most people on the planet.

 

The best way I know of to get a perfect fitting top is to go to a high end automotive interior shop and have one custom made. Unfortunately that is expensive.

Cheers Jim

 

My Austin Healey 100 has a new top and fits well , I purchased the car already restored so let me try and figure out who supplied the top.

 

thanks craig.
paul has fettled with the top some more, and the last one now fits to a satisfactory standard - it may not shine like the rest of the car (100 pointer easy !), but its up.
however, i would like to know who supplied yours.

btw, just a question...how do you fit in it?? i am smaller than you and i find that car oppressively small and the seat is so close to the wheel.....

 

Ross

I can only fit in with the roof down but once I’m in I’m good

Craig

 

well thats good !
got any pics of yours?

 

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

ooh rally lights too !
dad and i are taking the 61 flat floor, and his austin healey 100 to cars on 5th next month, so i will have pics from that - it is just coming off the 100pt restoration in time !

btw, my mother will be taking her 456mgta to the same show ! she is thrilled.

 

I work on British cars for a living, (eurotechgreensboro) and install many tops. None of them fit right out of the box. I really bemoan the quality of the product we buy today. I have spent as much as two days to install a Robbins top an an MGB. The tops shrink, they are often cut poorly, oftentimes the master pattern is not correct. The cars will twist and bend making the tops hard to fit properly. In the case of an MGB there are three differant styles of top frame. The top frames will get bent and twisted requiring much repair and finness. It hs become a custom job to install any top or tonnau cover. You just have to be creative and keep at it. If you do so a good result can be had

 

You might try Geoff Chrysler he and his father Rich were well know in the Healey community. His dad passed away a few yeas ago Geoff is now suppling interiors. BTW I own a '53 BN1 in coronet cream, a factory 100M and a BJ8. If Geoff doesn't work out you can try Heritage Trim in Vancouver I believe. Here's Geoff -https://www.rightwayheritagetrim.com
Heritage Trim -https://www.heritagetrim.com/shop/

If can be of additional help feel free to e mail me. I've been involved with Healey for over 30 years.

 

Can you elaborate on the 3 different styles?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J727A using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

thanks.
paul struggled some more and finally got it to fit reasonably well.
but i concur with wizzard that most of the pre made tops are of poor quality.

but it is done now.
thanks for your help.

we will show the car for the first time at cars on 5th.