I've come upon a tonneau cover with a damn in it to prevent water from rolling up over the top of the dashboard. I was wondering if this was an original thing or aftermarket.
Warren,
As I recall, the tonneau I got with my car back in 1970 had a similar "dam". I assumed that the tonneau was original to the car, since the car was only about 3 years old at the time.
Warren the LHD factory tonneau had the dam along the leading edge. Strangely the lhd didnt have a pocket for the steering wheel, just a stretched zone that went over the top. The majority of rhd had a pocketed area for the wheel.
Does the cover you have there have a grey inside, and a strap from the base of the zipper that hangs down? What style zips are on the side zippers?
I think it has steel zippers. I have had good luck with a straight silicone to revitalize vinyl. The threads look to be cotton or some other natural fiber.
The fabric is a coated non vinyl product.
Yes has a strap possibly to prevent flogging .
I think it has steel zippers. I have had good luck with a straight silicone to revitalize vinyl. The threads look to be cotton or some other natural fiber.
The fabric is a coated non vinyl product.
Yes has a strap possibly to prevent flogging .
Warren the closeup confirms original factory tonneau.
The stud in the centre console secures the cover when driving 1/2 open and prevents the flapping. The stud is on the vertical face.
The cover in the photos on the green MKI was a NOS rootes one i found in 2010. A few days in the australian summer sun and it softened enough to fit the car, it had shrunk a little after 50 years of storage.
I can have a couple exact replicas made , with exceptions of the material probably and the zippers, we'll see. My 77 year old retired upholstery guy came up to me at a local show Ruby's and reintroduced himself after 20 years. He told mehe will do small jobs everyone needs beer money Yay!
Mine is the same , I have the strap inside also.
Except The car has lengthened by at least 1 inches, the tonneau does not fit anymore !!!! Any solution I don't want to cut my car by inches +!!!!
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If the cover has shrunk by an inch you may be in a bit of a hard spot. I have stretched an old cover by sitting it in the sun on a 40°c day and letting it get very hot and supple .. Then placed on the car and carefully fitted it ..holding it towards the front by hand aa you dont want the tension to bend the studs in the daah pad. After about 15mins it was able to reach. Then left it fitted in the sun for an hour.
That technique may not be useful in a lot of climates
I've been around so long I used brake fluid as tire dressing . Silicone based dressing is pretty good too but likely the cotton or natural thread will give way if pulled too much. I've actually hung one from a clothes line in sun with weighted clips on bottom.
There's discussion on using oil of Wintergreen and warm water to revitalize old rubber maybe that would be a good thing to try.
My suggestion would be to test first whatever method uses chemicals on something similar that is beyond help, to make sure it does no harm, before using it on that priceless, original item. Or at least, if there is one, try it first on an inconspicuous spot.
This style of tonneau was also available in white. We bought this one from Tiger Tom Erhart a number of years ago. Tom had several of these NOS covers in the original packages. Probably part of the stock when he bought everything in the east coast warehouse. The wife bought the white one because of the white top that was installed after Doug Jennings restored the body.
On the inconspicuous spots.
The old time before Armor All was when the only alternative was tire black. I have used Silicone spray before
But it's a last resort on a dried out item
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