In article <"05D6C3ACC2FE2019*/c=us/admd= /prmd=Cat/o=NOTES/s=Gosling/g
=Richard/i=B/"@MHS>, Richard B Gosling <Gosling_Richard_B@perkins.com>
writes
>
>Mike,
>
>Thanks for your concern over Daffy - she is all well now and up and running
> again.
Pleased to hear it.
> Good thing, as I've got a track afternoon at Cadwell Park booked for
> next Thursday!
Enjoy!
>
>I am surprised anyone would use a factory hard-top for racing - when weight is
> all-important, I would have thought one of the after-market fibre-glass tops
> would be preferable.
So would I. Actually, I would have thought a roll-bar would have been
the ultimate solution. Clearly, this top has been stripped - no sign
that there was ever any headlining; no sign that there were ever any
door seals fitted; no sign that there were ever any opening
quarterlights...
One good deal I have managed to achieve today is getting a pair of
"racing quarterlights" made (i.e. sheets of Perspex, cut to match a
paper template I made) - took them a couple of hours and cost me #25 the
pair. Much better than #250+ for new opening quarterlights. I can't
quite understand the desire for *more* ventilation in the cockpit of a
Spit, anyway!
> Sure, the steel hard-top adds some stiffness to the car,
> but I can't imagine that is of significant benefit, particularly on a
> separate-chassis car like a Spit.
Quite.
>
>The headliner on Daffy's hard-top is white - or at least it looks like it was
> many years ago, now it's more faded-greyish-yellowing white! I have no idea
> what the difference between White Longhorn and White Plain is - never heard of
> these! Daffy is '78 with black houndstooth interior, so exactly the same
> spec. as Carly.
Having just spoken to those nice people at Rimmer Bros, I think that you
probably have a Longhorn White headlining. Apparently Plain White is
plain white, but Longhorn White is a creamy white. Your faded greyish-
yellow was probably a nice clean cream colour, way back when!
>
>I'm not sure what the moulding is - looking at the Rimmers catalogue I guess it
> may be some sort of shiny trim bit, I'll take a look at Daffy at lunchtime and
> report back! Strangely, the picture says you need 2 (which doesn't seem to
> make sense), but both the text list and the Moss catalogue say you need 1,
> which makes more sense. The Moss catalogue uses exactly the same picture as
> the Rimmers catalogue (no doubt both lifted straight from the Triumph parts
> list)
I am informed by another lister that this bit is purely cosmetic - and
Rimmers still don't have any, so I will cope without it for the time
being.
>
>The prices for the nuts and bolts are because the proper ones are vaguely
> decorative specials, since the heads are exposed in the cabin. The two to the
> windscreen are dome-headed and coloured black, so they don't show up obviously
> against the black top edge of the windscreen. The two at the back are
> dome-headed and chromed, so they look all pretty and shiny. All can be easily
> replaced with perfectly ordinary 1/2" AF bolts (that's the head size, not the
> thread size, I can never remember how they relate)
It all depends whether you are using Whitworth or BSF or BSP or Unified
bolts (and some companies also had their own unique specifications).
Life's too short - I'll order the official ones. I'll work on
convincing myself that prettiness matters...
>, if you are not concerned
> with such detailed prettiness. The windscreen top bolts need to be a specific
> length - too short and they won't reach all the way, too long and they will
> not screw all the way down before the end presses against the inside of the
> metal top. If you want, I'll unscrew one for you and measure it.
Not to worry, I'll buy the proper ones. Thanks for the offer though.
> The tie-bar
> bolt is a 7/16" head bolt - I don't think these are special, but I've used the
> ones that were already on the car to hold the soft-top frame on, which look
> like they were picked up from a hardware store.
>
>I hope you've been making the most of the great weather we had over the
> weekend!
That'll be Sunday, between the hours of two and four, then? <g>
Actually, yes, I did - I took Carly for a drive in the country with the
top down, and great fun it was too. I wish it would stop raining a bit
more often!
ATB
Mike
--
Michael Hargreave Mawson, author of "Eyewitness in the Crimea,"
published by Greenhill Books on 28th March, 2001:
http://www.greenhillbooks.com/booksheets/eyewitness_in_the_crimea.html
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