Any tonneau covers installed with a rollbar?

[XTIGERX]

Since this topic got started in another thread I'll continue it here.

An old musty tonneau came with the Tiger when I bought it but I soon installed a roll bar so it wasn't used. Lately I notice that my new wool fiber carpet is fading especially in the area behind the seats. I was thinking of trying to install a new tonneau fitting it somehow with 2 short zippers and necessary reinforcement around where the roll bar uprights occur. Anyone have luck trying this?

Also when the dash was recovered and since the tonneau wasn't being used the front fasteners weren't reinstalled. As I recall they were positioned about 2" back from the windshield and about 2" or so each side of center. I've found pics of the tonneau fasteners being installed in the windshield vent screw holes. Any pros or cons on this location?

TIA, Justin

 

[michael-king]

Justin,

What you describe is the way to install a cover with a roll bar.. its also worth putting a flap over the zipper with velcro to help the seal.

As for the stud loction.. i have mine on the vents... you need to be quite nible with your fingers to get at them.. easier with the tennex fasteners thn the flat ones..

 

[XTIGERX]

Warren, if you've found the thread over here I guess I was mistaken about Robbins selling tonneau covers. I must have been looking at Sunbeam Specialties (NA).

Michael, I was wondering how someone could get their fingers in there to "lift the dot". Tennex are those the twist-top fasteners? The velcro flap is a good idea. Thanks

Justin

 

[Cal44]

Too lift the dot? there should be tabs sown on the tonneau to lift. About the size of a bandaid. If you need pix let me know.
I have what I believe to be the original too the car.
Mike

 

[XTIGERX]

Tennex fasteners interesting. Kind of a larger version of a lapel pin fastener?

When I said twist-top I meant a small rectangular post with the 4 corners rounded off and the top half rotates 90* to secure cover to car.

The tonneaus I looked at had no fasteners installed so they could be positioned where needed as located on car body.

Justin

 

[michael-king]

Michael, I was wondering how someone could get their fingers in there to "lift the dot". Tennex are those the twist-top fasteners? The velcro flap is a good idea. Thanks

Justin

Justin,

The fasteners are more like a little domed hat that you need to lift from bellow anf they release the peg. The reason i say those over the flat ones which give you more finger room is the flat ones are easy to put on, but to get off you really have to pull at the peg and will twist ofr break it. The factory covers had little tabs to help.. but they mounted the pegs mis way on the dash.. so the tabs help you pull up.. if they were used so far forward you would be pulling back on the peg at more of an angle.

With the tennex ones you slide your hand upside down to the screen and use 2 fingers to lift the fasterner from bellow.. quite easy...The worst time is if the car has been in the sun for a while.. the fasteners get hot and you hand touches the screen. OUCH!

 

[A-Snake]

http://www.vicarinternational.com/fasteners13.html

 

[XTIGERX]

I dug out the Robbins tonneau cover I got several years ago. I made a 2 piece cardboard template of the tonneau laid out flat on it which I can use as support for the cover on the car while I install. I've spent much time walking from one side of the car to the other to determine where to start.

2 observations I've made are:

1) the notch in the tonneau at the wind wing vertical post is different by half an inch smaller on the drivers side. If I position my first lift-the-dot fastener there just inside the hem the post will be jambed right into the notch on the tonneau and the other side will have room to spare.

2) I'm a good inch and a half from the nearest screw in the dash/screen vent. Possibly if I install a Tenax fastener just inside the hem and when in use I attach there first it might work out but will be as taught as a drum. Tight is fine but I don't want to be digging my nails into it every time I put it on and not sure how much the cover will shrink over time. Otherwise some kind of maybe 2" extension will be required with a screw to the vent on one end and the Tenax stud on the other.

I'm kind of leery of putting studs in the correct locations in the top of the dash for fear of them just popping thru the dash material since I don't think there was any backer material installed prior to the dash being re-finished. Maybe a t-nut could be install from the underside up thru and finish just below the dash cover material. I know the posts were dimpled well down into the original finish dash material. IIRC the vent screws are fairly easy to get to but installing t-nuts may require a little more work if the heater blower is in the way. I haven't looked yet. Just thinking it out.

Justin

 

[cadreamn67]

I got a new tonneau cover last summer (2010). I seem to recall it was made by Robbins, but could well be wrong. Initially I laid it over my factory original one thinking that would be a good way to locate the new holes for the lift the dot fasteners. I was rather disappointed that the shape of the new one did not match the old one all that well. For one thing, the cutouts for the trunk hinges were significantly closer together than on the old one. I seem to recall that, like you, the cutouts for the front quarter windows were also a bit off. Maybe you are supposed to leave the covers in the sun for a while or something and they will expand from the heat. But overall it is a bit smaller front to back, leaving a bit of a gap up by the windshield.

What I ended up doing is locating the rear holes as close to the rear seams as I could and still get the reinforcing plates attached. Then I worked on finding new holes for the front, pulling it as far farward as tightly as I could. I had replaced my vinyl dash a couple of years earlier and like a dummy had not taken care to mark where the all the original posts were screwed into the underlying sheetmetal. Found a couple on the sides by putting the old cover on and probing with a heavy needle. Anyway I then made the sides as tight as I could.

When I put the cover on these days I attach the fronts first and then pull the back tight and attach it there. Get more grip that way. To remove, I detach the back first, sides second and then work one hand under the fronts. Pushing up from the bottom is kind of like lifting up from the top and with a hand on each side of the cover at the post, I can usually get it off. BTW, one day while putting the cover on, I pulled one of the posts in an original dash hole right out of the dash while trying the attach the cover at the back. I really think these new covers are undersized!

I prefer to have the two posts on the front center close together (as it came from the factory) so that when driving without a passenger, the passenger side is well secured at all corners. I see in one of your pictures that someone has put them a bit further apart on the screen vents, but do not know how well that holds things when you have just the passenger side up.

Hopefully there is something in my experience that is a little helpful.

Cheers, Gene

 

[XTIGERX]

How many fastener studs on the dash are there? I recall only the center 2 but 1 more in each corner makes more sense. Enough fasteners were included to do the corners. I see in one of my pics that a stud was installed on both ends of the vent but my vent screw holes are in the diagonal corners.

I also seem to recall using a couple twist-top stud fasteners. I talked to the supplier of the cover about the twist-tops and got the curt reply of "the fasteners you need came with the cover" which didn't really answer my question as what was supplied included were the 2 grommet pieces for 1 twist top but no twist-top stud itself. All the other studs were included. I know OSH hardware has most of these fasteners so not a big deal.

Gene, I think you're approach is better starting at the rear and working forward. If the cover is short better to be in the dash where I can position studs as necessary in the depth of the dash rather than being short at the rear and having no means of attachment.

The obstacle is the roll bar. I can only work so far from either end and then the roll bar gets in the way. Until the cover is cut for the roll bar I really can't pull the cover taught to see what there is.

Initially, when I got the cover I went straight to an installer, Robbins approved. The 2 closest to me I didn't like the looks of, one working out of a prior drive-thru car wash installing car alarms and stereos. I did find a true auto upholstery shop where they took a look and then said they were too busy. I think I may know why. I expect a shop install may cost at least the price of the cover to maybe twice that.

Justin

 

[cadreamn67]

Hi Justin, I dug out my original cover. The two center post holes, with zipper closed, are 2 3/8 apart center to center. The other dash post holes are each 14 1/8 inches from the center section post hole nearest to it. The measurements were taken with the material reasonably taut.

I can see why you would want to work with a cardboard template when trying to fit around a roll bar!

I also looked at my vent covers and see two screw holes on each end. My guess is that the rear most ones were used for tonneau cover posts since holes are already drilled. The vent screw can be removed with a little ratcheting 90 degree tool and the post can just be screwed in with a box end wrench. I do not see how new holes could be drilled without removing the windshield.

Cheers, Gene

 

[steven]

I had sunbeam meeting at my place today and checked out 2 origional cars, the series 2 alpine has the studs through the vent attaching holes near the screen. The Mark 2 Tiger had studs halfway between the vents and the rear of the dash role. My Tiger undergoing restore shows origional holes for studs at the vents as well as later studs inserted halfway back in the dash roll. It seems that reaching the studs at the vent position may be difficult (very close to the screen) so later installations positioned the studs rearwards.

 

[XTIGERX]

Thanks Gene, the post dimensions help. I won't be using the vents to locate the studs but rather the middle of the dash position and will be using your spacing, or there abouts, as it doesn't have to be in the exact manufactured location. Now that you mention it, looking at my cover the cut-outs for the hinges are also closer. An inch or at least a full hinge width closer.

I recall in the past reaching in to unfasten the center fasteners, located in the manufactures position, on the tonneau only to crack my knuckles into the windshield. It would truly be a PITA trying to use the vent bolt locations.

Also if the new cover really is too short then the wind screen vents will be exposed to leaves and such when the cover is in place.

 

[XTIGERX]

I worked a bit on this over the turkey holiday and got the rear fasteners installed in the tonneau. Made up a little plastic guide for the Lift-The-Dot center hole and prongs which worked fine with an exacto knife and a fabricated punch. My snap installation tool didn't work so hot but they can easily be redone.

Made a 2 piece cardboard template of the tonneau and located the roll bar posts. The cutouts for the hinges were too close but the cover stretched enough to fit and was able to work from the rear up to the roll bar.

Guesstimated some stretch and marked the locations of the posts giving a 1/4" clearance all around thinking I would have a shop cut and finish the holes and modify the 2 small zippers. Was told at a local shop that the short zippers required would be almost impossible to find so should go with the velcro like fastener material.

I had the, I would guess, original tonneau when I bought the car. It was rolled up in the trunk and mildewy smelling but used it a short time prior to roll bar install and later resto. Then stuck it somewhere and forgot about it until I came across it when tearing down an old shed in the back several years ago. Now it had a little mold on it. Didn't want it anywhere near the new interior. I hunted thru everything Thanksgiving and couldn't find it so I guess it got tossed at the time.

I saw online a cover installed and now recall there was a rubber seal/dam attached to the cover across the dash which is not included in the Robbins cover. Not too sure how well it worked anyway. Also it appears that the LTD fasteners along the windshield the dot is positioned away from the glass but a moot point if I go with the Tenax fasteners there.

The local shops don't have a machine with a big enough throat so will head to the beach area and check out some of the boat top shops where I'm sure I'll find someone.