To hard top or not to hard top

To hard top or not to hard top?
When I got my TF I assumed that it ought ideally to have a hard top so long as I had somewhere to store it so I bought a matching heritage top for £107 on eBay and paid £25 for a switch. Initially I was well pleased but now I’m not so sure.
There are 4 obvious options for a F/TF top:- standard soft top, soft top with a heated glass rear window, a hard top put on for the winter or kept on all year round. The fourth may appeal to some but the wind & sun between my hair is a big part of the pleasure of ownership so that I will leave the case for #4 to be argued by someone else.
Pros for the standard soft top are that it is cheap, usually lets in more light than a glass window and is quick to raise and lower. The window seals are generally good and it doesn’t rattle. Cons are that the rear window steams up, yellows with age, the top can be cold tho the heater is quite good, and the acoustics are poor for one’s music especially at speed when it gets noisy.
A soft top with a glass window differs from the above only in that it has a heated element and does not discolour. The interior is gloomier and it costs about £200 plus the installation which is not a high skill job and also of a heater switch for about £20.
A hard top demists, keeps in the warmth and the music, and increases security. It is quieter at speed and makes motorway distances less tiresome. It looks smart. However, mine rattles despite adjustment and the door window seals drip in heavy rain. Ideally the windows should be realigned on putting it on which entails taking the door cards off - I don’t bother. You also need summer storage space and the corners of the top are easily knocked or the surface scratched. Taking it on and off is not difficult but best done by 2 people or risk damaging it and the car. You can’t really remove it whenever the sun comes out. So next week I’m installing a heated rear window and next winter the hard top can hang on the wall until I find out if I really need it.

I think it really depends on how you use the car.

My TF came with a matching hardtop, and I put it on for all last winter - on the odd occasion I used the car it does make it more comfortable .....but, the car isn't my daily driver so for most of that time it is in my garage.

The bonus in winter is the hard top has the heated screen, but in the summer I replaced the plastic window in the soft top with the glass one -not a difficult job to do - and that solves any misting up issues.

So this winter - I have left the hard top off (stored in a padded bag, in the garage). I only use the TF on good weather days anyway and there is something quite fun about driving with the top down on a cold but sunny winter's day !

Not sure if the hard top will get used again - maybe if I was going to do a long motorway journey in the TF, with a poor weather forecast I'd put it on.

Yes

All depends on how you sue your car.

I use mine entirely for pleasure. I always want the option of driving topless. If I am out on a drive, and the rain/snow stops, then the roof comes off. If i had a hard top on, then this is not possible.

No issue with glass or plastic screen. I can replace my plastic screen four times for the cost of a glass one, and I would be a bit grumpy if I smashed the glass screen when folding the roof in a hurry!

If i used my TF daily as a commute car then comfort might be more important, so a winter hardtop might get a look in. However I would be well P**ed if the sun came out at lunchtime and i had to drive home with the hard top though :rant:

Anyone who drives with a hardtop on permanently has bought the wrong car

The hardtop came free with my red mgf but is seldom used. Two years ago with the help of my brother and an old friend we painted it black. Our theory was we could then use it on the red mgf the silver mgf or the silver mgtf. However as already stated hardtops are a pain in the arse to store are always in the way and need two people to put them on and off. They are not worth the hassle but unfortunately like many people before me I felt sure the hardtop was worth the effort. Don't know that it will ever see the light of day again

I used my hard top the first winter I had the car and then when I replaced the fabric on the soft top one cold and slightly snowy February a few years ago, I got feed up with moving it around the garden so sold it for a very low price to someone who'd lost theirs in a fire.

I run by the simple rule - wipers off, roof off - any time of the day or night, any time of the year, any type of journey (except when we went to a cousins wedding and my wife had done her hair).

Like many convertibles the F looks better with the hard top up then with the soft top up but is best with the roof down.

4 TF In the family all with hard tops simply because they're out in all weathers and not garaged.
But
Only two fit!!
If your buying a hardtop you'll probably need to use your MG to collect -it will not fit in most estates simply because of the size.
Check when fitted that the seals above the screen are good then check that the rear of the door clears and that the door line follows the hard top line.
On two of the tops I have there is a 20mm difference in the door fit!
One is a heritage the other is probably a Rover. I suspect they were removed from the mould before being fully cured.
If it don't fit then walk away!
The other two are a good fit only let down by the internal trim

We bought one secondhand early in our ownership for winter: as stated in the previous post, it soon became apparent that it didn't fit very well, plus the seals were tired and are pretty much unobtainable. Both these facts not immediately obvious.

Some adjustment for fit is possible but limited. If buying S/H I'd recommend taking time to fit and a hose pipe test before parting with cash. When refurbing the headlining I found the manufacture date: turns out it was an older teenager! The shell was/is in excellent nick.

Haven't fitted it the last two years as the poxy thing leaks so much from the seals. Ours lives and works outdoors all year round also.

Hard tops: as with most things MG: an emotive issue. I hate it, Sue likes it!

Photos of duaghters TF115 with heritage hardtop.
Follow the door line and compare photos

When not using the hardtop I just put it in the garage and forget about it....yes my mg leaked in when the hardtop was fitted...I've bought another rubber seal for across the windscreen frame has mine was slightly crushed on the passenger side leaving a slight gap....the hardtop is a good edition to the car...I can easily remove and fit mine on my own....
Nice to have the choice...innit.

I think you should stick to your soft top as there are so many problems you can encounter with a hard top, not just removing it on your own but the seals are a bugger to change and they don't come cheap, why buy a convertible car to add the headache of buying more parts, in the sun enjoy in the rain put the soft top up, that is the real joy of owning one, save and enjoy.:broon:

Mine came free with it.

in that case, you know what I mean when I say they are a pain in the ass, :woowoo: