Gordy,
You mention you have acquired a top for a Longbridge BN4. As mentioned
by others, the Longbridge BN4 is different from later Healeys and the
top is one particularly important difference.
If your car is really a Longbridge model then the frame for the top will
be permanently attached to the car and after folding it slides back
about 4 inches in rails which are bolted in the area above the rear
wheel arch and which allow it to be pushed deeper into the recess area
behind the rear seats. The webbing of the top itself is fastened to the
rear two bows of the frame but not the front bow.
When stowing the hood, the front is unclipped from the windscreen and
all other fastenings released, the trick then is to pass the front edge
of the top (where the wood is) back underneath the bows, which should
have been collapsed together. The top is then effectively upside down
and the front edge is pushed as far back as possible into the stowage
area. The top itself is then folded into the space taking care to keep
the plastic window flat. You kind of fold it like a shirt, tucking in
the side flaps as a last step. Then when the fabric top itself is neatly
folded in the allowed space the final step is to slide the collapsed
frame back towards the stowage area as far as it will go.
The handbook helps a little in showing this but you really need to see
it done on another car as it is much trickier in practice than theory
!!!
Cheers
Derek
www.healeysix.net
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