Surrey Roof improvements
Discussion
My Surrey Roof never fitted properly and Roger Morris did not accept responsibility for this, blaming my car rather than his design.
Bad gaps at the rear and a large twist in the side flaps
The problem is that the rear hard section twists upwards even with slight tensioning. To overcome this I replaced the rear rose joints with swing eye bolts and a sliver of shim to protect the contact surfaces. This forces the rotation to occur only in the required axis.
And to finish off, the threaded posts were unfinished (hacksaw marks) so I fitted some M8 nylock dome nuts
Nice fit now
Parts from ebay
Bad gaps at the rear and a large twist in the side flaps
The problem is that the rear hard section twists upwards even with slight tensioning. To overcome this I replaced the rear rose joints with swing eye bolts and a sliver of shim to protect the contact surfaces. This forces the rotation to occur only in the required axis.
And to finish off, the threaded posts were unfinished (hacksaw marks) so I fitted some M8 nylock dome nuts
Nice fit now
Parts from ebay
How did I miss this one?
Great post, mine fits fine but who knows Bobfather's fix may prove helpful in the future
Overall I've been very happy with my Surrey top, so much so I haven't bothered with the original rigid panel since investing in it, even though I designed my LPG conversion so it would still easily fit in the boot and leave plenty of luggage space too.
My Surrey top has proved so convenient I wouldn't be without it now, saying that the fit in the very corners where the header rail meets the screen could have been a little better, there's no leaks you understand it's just the profile of the Surrey top header rail could be sightly better.
I'm also not sure how the header and back rails are formed but they look to me like they may be a foam filled fiberglass shells, if you run your hand over mine or view them in the right light it's quite uneven in its shape, it almost looks like the fiberglass shells have cracked slightly in places?
Its a shame but more of a fussy aesthetic gripe than something that detracts from the operational functionality of the product, but for the money I would have liked to see a better fit and finish from the maker as it certainly wasn't a cheap accessory. Saying that the fact it's become my sole go-to roof of choice during all seasons speaks a thousand words in its favor to the extent I now consider it a good value purchase.
Overall I'm very glad I invested in the Surrey top idea and when it needs recovering I'll ask Steve Edwards to see if he'd like to have a go at refining the fit and finish, until then (which is probably years off) I'll just continue happily using it and if I suffer similar issues to Bobfather in future I'll use his excellent solution presented above.
Great post
Great post, mine fits fine but who knows Bobfather's fix may prove helpful in the future
Overall I've been very happy with my Surrey top, so much so I haven't bothered with the original rigid panel since investing in it, even though I designed my LPG conversion so it would still easily fit in the boot and leave plenty of luggage space too.
My Surrey top has proved so convenient I wouldn't be without it now, saying that the fit in the very corners where the header rail meets the screen could have been a little better, there's no leaks you understand it's just the profile of the Surrey top header rail could be sightly better.
I'm also not sure how the header and back rails are formed but they look to me like they may be a foam filled fiberglass shells, if you run your hand over mine or view them in the right light it's quite uneven in its shape, it almost looks like the fiberglass shells have cracked slightly in places?
Its a shame but more of a fussy aesthetic gripe than something that detracts from the operational functionality of the product, but for the money I would have liked to see a better fit and finish from the maker as it certainly wasn't a cheap accessory. Saying that the fact it's become my sole go-to roof of choice during all seasons speaks a thousand words in its favor to the extent I now consider it a good value purchase.
Overall I'm very glad I invested in the Surrey top idea and when it needs recovering I'll ask Steve Edwards to see if he'd like to have a go at refining the fit and finish, until then (which is probably years off) I'll just continue happily using it and if I suffer similar issues to Bobfather in future I'll use his excellent solution presented above.
Great post
pb450 said:
OP, I'm considering one of these, just doing all the research.
Do you have a linky for the ebay bits please, in case I follow the same route.
These are the swing eyes ( Swing Eyes) the price is artificially high because he is currently out of stock, normal price is a couple of quid. You'll need to buy some M8 threaded bar too. The nylock domeheads are here Domeheads)Do you have a linky for the ebay bits please, in case I follow the same route.
We have just had a week over in Belgium and Holland. As we were 'on holiday', it rained every day. When I say rain, I mean it was really torrential. Heavy rain and it was unable to run off the roads quick enough, so plenty of spray.
The good news - Our Surrey roof, ( now a number of years old) was 100% waterproof and did NOT leak at all. Its a good fit and has been well tested over the years. One of our best buys.
The good news - Our Surrey roof, ( now a number of years old) was 100% waterproof and did NOT leak at all. Its a good fit and has been well tested over the years. One of our best buys.
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