Soft top won't go back...

Had the car nearly 6 years now :omg: lots of fun and not much bother, really.

But... for some time now, the hood won't go back more than about half way, then it just stops.

If I pull it back and forward for a while, it releases eventually and drops back, but today it took forever, so I'd like to sort it out if poss,

There's a video of a guy on YT pulling at one of the metal bars, but I can't quite see what he's doing. I pulled and pushed anything I could see, but no joy.

Any ideas please?

I think you need the anti jamming straps that are available. They fit on the bars on the inside of the hood and pull the bars together to stop the bars binding when you drop the hood .

These are on The Bay.

New 2024 produced Anti Locking Hood Straps for MGF & MG TF 1995 -2005 no Jamming

There is a video showing use. Clearly they work better on certain types of soft tops than others..... 😉

I've had theis problem, found that the second bar back wasn't folding in sequence, so making sure the cloth was loosening between the bars , as you folded it worked, the top folded as it should. As a secondary assist for it, bought some 2" wide elastic strap, my wife sewed some velcro to a length of it, (short enough to put some pull between the bars) and made a loop between the second and third bars, which worked well.

Just put a small amount of upwards pressure on the centre bar whilst folding and it won't jam.
+1 for anti jam straps as it does away with the need for the manual workaround

+1 for the anti-jam straps. My hood used to do this and it was a pain until I discovered the trick. When I fitted a new hood onto the car it came with the anti-jam straps and I've never had a problem since.

You could easily make your own if you saw some and could measure them. But they aren't expensive.

Thanks chaps - don't know why my exhaustive searching didn't find any mention of the straps... will look for some.

I also need to try a different technique for manipulating the bar, now that you've explained what I'm actually supposed to be doing :doh:

I'm one of those irritating people who isn't just satisfied when a problem goes away - I need to know why...

Will report back...

Hhmmm... methinks she has them already

Maybe they just need tightened, or something, if I can get my fingernails into them...

PS it occurs to me that this hood is a bewildering mass of joints and things, probably none of which have ever been lubricated. Has anybody ever figured out a way of doing this without coating the inside with silicone spray??

Here’s another affirmation & the making of one is straight forward, providing knicker elastic is readily available where you are.
Obviously your wife’s underwear drawer could be raided but I could envisage problems down the line if you were to adopt this strategy.
I went to the local haberdashery & purchased a yard of 2” wide elastic & press stuffs (I had the tool) & in the space of half an hour two straps were made, fitted & found to be good.
Not a problem since, although a dob of 3in1 on the pivots will help.
M

I had the elastic straps on mine but they lost their elasticity so I ditched them. I just release the clips and push up and over the second bar.

Light machine oil in a can is an alternative to spraying lube everywhere.

talkingcars wrote:

I had the elastic straps on mine but they lost their elasticity so I ditched them. I just release the clips and push up and over the second bar.

Yes think that's what's happened to mine. But since it's been explained to me exactly what I'm supposed to be doing, you're right - it's very easy to do it, so I probably won't bother raiding the GF's knicker drawer as mentioned above :lol:

Hasn't been much of a problem since I posted, due to the constant rain here in NI :rant: