British-Cars.org

Welcome to the DMR Site for British Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite General - Clips

What are these clips for... they look line they could be something to do with a tonneau... or something... but they are behind the seats?

1500 79

C

C L Carter

Looks like they are the ones that the full tonneau (when fold in half over the tonneau rails) clips to to conceal whatever you have behind the seats and stops it all flapping when traveling.

HTH

A
Andrew McGee

obviously there'd be four clips, those look close to the transmission tunnel but I can't remember

more info about full tonneau and fitting and sticks and brackets in ther middle part of the thread titled 'Hood / Tonneau advice' on the Techinical page
Nigel Atkins

Not obviously, Nigel.
Mine just has the two clips as in the photo. The tonneau doesn't have the 12" long flap with two fasteners, it just has two small tabs near to the centre line zip. They fasten down to the two clips and hold the forward face of the semi-stowed tonneau pretty well like that.The outer corners just tuck down neatly behind the seat but don't actually fasten there. I would imagine it would be quite awkward reaching down to two outer tabs, close to the B posts, certainly without tilting the seat forwards to give some extra space. (on mine, with MGF seats it would be well nigh impossible!)
Guy

What Guy said!
Matt1275Bucks

My '65 has four studs, two where the ones in C's picture are and two more on the same panel close to the B post. Not so bad to secure with standard seats, but as Guy points out, with MGF seats, impossible without pushing the seats forward to do it. I like my F seats, but that's one of the down sides of having them, another being they put me a bit closer to the wheel than I'd like, but they are much better for any distance driving.

Bernie.
b higginson

if Bernie hadn't posted I'd have thought it was my poor memory again, thanks Bernie

but thinking about it - Matt and Guy could it be perhaps that you don't use the tonneau sticks

with my previous Spridget I was given an original tonneau that I used for a short while and I thought it had two clips each side

and not as close to the tunnel as shown but I could be wrong about that
Nigel Atkins

Nigel,
I think we are both right. Just possibly on the later cars they simplified the design and reduced to just the 2 fastening points. Perhaps coinciding with the later style seats which don't flip forward as easily?

Guy
Guy

possibly other way round perhaps

later cars had seats with tilt mechanisms so it was easy to tilt them

if you had headrests fitted then you might need to adjust the seat positions and lower the headrests to fit the full tonneau

on this eBay item dispite the usual poor photo you can see the four fixings - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MG-MIDGET-TUNEAU-FULL-1275-1500-/230666290959?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35b4c8470f
Nigel Atkins

My '69 has tilt seats, no headrests and 4 clips, but having said that I did fit the clips myself!!

The tonneau does have four clips.
I Ball

I think Dave may have it - it may relate to whether the tonneau was supplied as an aftermarket item. This could explain the lack of sticks and fitting brackets, although somehow I would expect the studs to be fitted in the factory on all cars.
I do know that I have had 3 tonneau covers - 1 for my 1500 and 2 for my 1971 Austin Sprite that each only had the small tabs near to the centre zip. (i.e. not the long flap type in that e-bay link), so only 2 clips for fixing. Maybe they were all aftermarket ones, or maybe some models were supplied like that. I don't know. What I cannot recall is if the 1500 had the two outermost studs on the heelboard. On the 1971 car it had no remaining heelboard in that area anyway, with or without studs!
Guy

Thanks chaps.

I should have said their were 4 clips on my 79 1500

C

C L Carter

Guy,
I think that may be the answer, a factory full tonneau had four clips

that's what's shown in the reprint of the factory Parts Catalogue –
(Ref: 0016) - http://www.mgocshop.co.uk/catalog/Online_Catalogue_Parts_Lists_3.html

it might also explain why some tonneau work without the sticks

this tonneau has just two clips, look at the length of the seat belts/stowage(?) zips - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USED-TONNEAU-COVER-ORIGINAL-MG-MIDGET-1275-1500-HEADREST-POCKETS-RHD-/230730812940?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35b8a0ce0c
Nigel Atkins

Nigel,
You might be right. My full tonneau just has the two small tabs either side of the central zip. Its definitely after-market as its (extremely faded and a bit frayed) duck rather than vinyl. The seatbelt zips on the other hand are nowhere near as long as the ones on the ebya link you just posted.
Anyway it does the job and I like it!
I keep on meaning to buy a set of tonneau rails to try but all the ones I see at autojumbles look a bit pricey! (£20 for two bits of rusty grey tubing usually!)
Matt1275Bucks

Matt,
the sticks might mark up your dd cover

you can recolour or refresh your cover if you want to then it'll need (water) proofing

I've never been a fan of dd or mohair fine, I think because they tend to be on some show(off) Bs and Midgets I prefer vynil for actual use

I think I saw those sticks are £45 new (Mk3)

the zips on that link are so long they look like they'd might leave the rear section open
Nigel Atkins

I like faded! It's gone a sort of greeny gray colour which matches the paint (sort of)
Matt1275Bucks

perhaps akighter shade of green than on my neighbour's son's previous every day car (a classic Rover P5b)

he used that car daily for longer than I can remember and replaced it with another daily use Rover P5b but a bit smarter (well so far) - but he does use them all the time not hidden in a garage until the annual show or MoT

Nigel Atkins

Lichen Green!
Beautiful cars P5Bs.
Matt1275Bucks

lovely cars I drove my mate's P5B at this years NEC Sporting Bears Dream Rides it has an ex-TVR 3.9 engine

how about its smaller, poorer brother the P6

here as the 3500S - 3.5 manual as the Police favoured but how you got four burly coppers in is a surprise as the car is quite narrow especially by modern standards

Nigel Atkins

Coppers didn't wear padded kevlar anti-knife jackets in those days!

Beautiful cars those P6, made when Rover easily outclassed BMW! Come to think of it, I think one of those still does!
Guy

I had a P6 2200TC for about a year or so. White with beige interior. A bit juicy, and not too bad on power for it's weight.

Me and a girl were caught in it by a police patrol, late one night in a quite alley near her home, in a certain state of undress. Very comfortable those cars. I enjoyed it immensely. :)
Lawrence Slater

if my wife was driving I'd favour to sit in the back as it was so comfortable sitting in the back

even without the kevlar jackets there's not that much room considering and a four seater car

I went out in a 2200TC when I was a lad and was impressed then but when I can to look at P6s and saw the petrol consumption of the range I decided I might as well have the V8

plus when I was in my late teens and the cars were not long finished production I saw and heard a V8 P6 go by and I said to my girlfriend at the time that if she ever won the pools she could buy me one of those

later we're married and we got the car but she didn't win the pools and the car certainly wasn't just finished production

if I could ever afford a top quality P6 in the future I'd get one again
Nigel Atkins

Apropos of absolutely nothing...

Back in the late 70's I was in the Army Cadets when a bloke from the Royal Engineers EOD (bomb disposal) came to give us a talk about his work. One of us (actually me) was dressed up in the incredibly heavy/cumbersome bomb disposal suit they wore back then (the effect of wearing it was apparently not to prevent your death in the event of an explosion, but to enable your mates to find something worthwhile to bury). He regaled us with various stories of defusing bombs on the streets of Belfast (it was then during the height of the troubles).

One of the things he told us about was controlled explosions - using a small charge to destroy a larger bomb without it going off - they used to use remote controlled vehicles (called 'Wheelbarrows') to post small explosive devices into suspect cars.

I recall him saying that the car which stood up best to an internal controlled explosion was the BL/BMC Mini, the car which disintegrated the absolute best was the P6 Rover...
James Bilsland

yes I could see that with the P6 as the panels cleverly unbolt from the skeleton chassis, even the roof

when the P6 first came out in 1963 I think it won plaudits for it safety aspects

I always imagine just how fresh, new and modern it must have looked at its release only the Citroen DS would compare at the time and both have stood the test of time with classic looks that still can appear in films set in the future
Nigel Atkins

Update:

just seen in Terry Horler's book,

that the tonneau support rail was deleted in

- well let's say for the sake of inaccuracies, variations, arguements in 1977
Nigel Atkins

This thread was discussed between 14/01/2012 and 20/01/2012

MG Midget and Sprite General index

This thread is from the archives. Join this live forum now