Topic

Got the tonneau to fit for the first time and went from Poole to Cardiff with the top down. Think I shall need a hoover!

Took my TF out for a top down ' Drive it ' day in Nidderdale Yorkshire with a few of the Leeds MG & CCC members . Nice to be out and about in the MG but not sure I'll need an industrial vac to clean it !
John

And then there are those wonderful occasions like this morning. A very good breakfast at the hotel and then the walk to the car nine furlongs away. Fourteen minutes. I'm not decrepit yet! (Neither was Debbie Harry whose concert last night was the excuse for the journey.) Top down at a set of lights and no traffic on the Severn Bridge to speak of. Sun came out just as I went onto the bridge at an indicated 5,200RPM, the car howling away and clearly enjoying the morning as much as I was. Which gear? Mind yer own business The tight bends of the A350 exercised the rebuilt suspension with all four tyres squealing at about the same volume so the balance is about right now. Just the laser tracking to be checked and I'll treat us both to a set of Proxes. It's finished and it is enormously enjoyable.

minimax wrote:

Got the tonneau to fit for the first time and went from Poole to Cardiff with the top down. Think I shall need a hoover!

HAHA! Mine did exactly that! I have been using the tonneau cover regularly since I bought the car 7 years ago with never a sign of the dreaded foam dust. Then one day I removed it to put the hood up and my car looked exactly like this.

As recommended by many, I put the tonneau in the washing machine (twice!) but it still shed orange dust. I have tried painting the underneath with some diluted PVA. I'm still evaluating it.

if anyone has found a permanent cure for the gold dust effect please post a remedy
thanks
Mike

Brushed the easiest of it off, then used a cheap sticky lint roller (75p, IKEA - strongly recommended), to rub over the hood and finished the edges and difficult bits with a microfibre cloth soaked in thinners, as it is plastic so I reasoned that it would melt it and stick it to the cloth. Well, it worked for me.
One thing I have noticed is that following two decent runs in a fortnight, the engine is much quieter and happier at idle. Perhaps I have burnt any deposits off the plugs and washed the injectors through with a lot of fresh fuel. I am of the opinion that regular energetic use is the key to the emissions being satisfactory come MOT time and there is no doubt that it keeps the brakes supple and well balanced.

Well I don't know what happened but it went Pete Tong.
I gave up and carefully cut all the lining out then relined it using anthracite camper van lining off ebay, which it turns out seems to be an exact match for the hood well lining but is flexible, this maybe useful later for something I have in mind.
I have not done the lip under the boot lid yet as I need to check that the added thickness wont stress the lid or hinges, the only drawback I've found is the velcro strips on the hood irons, the material sticks like the proverbial to the velcro hooks. I solved this by using offcuts of the material to "blind" any velcro hooks that might cause a problem.

I'm going to scrub the inside of the tonneau cover with a stiff brush and vaccum up the residue until there is nothing left.