How to Safely Put Down Your MGB Hood 

Priceless hints and tips for someone like me thinking of buying an MGB

Thank you so much for this. Have struggled for an hour with an old manual without success. You are clear and reassuring!

Looks rather complicated at first,especially because I’ve only owned gt’s. But after watching this video it makes perfect sense. I bet if you weren’t making a video you could do this in under a minute. Great job!

🗝exellant video. I just bought a MGB and wanted a simple set of instructions and here it it.

Great tutorial thanks very much👍

Excellent instructions thanks. I have got myself in a right pickle in the past and done some damage to the roof. This has sorted me out 👍

Many thanks for showing how to lower the hood couple of nice tips. The exercise most challenging for me is putting the hood dam back up.

THANK GOD - ALL TOO EASY WHEN YOU DO IT RIGHT!

Omg I've been doing it all the wrong way thank you so so much for this video I hope no damage has been done to my hood! My hard top is on now so in future when hood back on I'll be more diigent, I've been pulling and tugging the half cover on pulling stretching it oh my! Thanks again

Excellent instruction Mate!!

I've heard and read from so many MG owners that this top ("hood") was superior to the remove and stow-away top and frame that came on the earlier models, and I couldn't disagree more. I had the earlier top on my MG Midget Mk I that was a breeze to remove and install. I got so good at it, that I could do either in less than five minutes. To remove the top, I merely had to push down on the top and turn the lock on the frame on either side, to keep slack in the top. Then I unsnapped the top, folded it up like a shirt and stowed it in the trunk ("boot"). Then I lifted the frame out of its sockets, folded it and pulled it in half before stowing it in the trunk on top of the top. Done. It took up a few inches of height in the trunk and left the cabin of the car open for viewing or adding the snap-on tonneau cover with a zipper in the middle for covering (or not) the passenger side while driving, or just covering both seats to protect from the suns rays. It wouldn't keep the rain out but it did protect from the morning mist. Even the side curtains were a breeze to remove, just unscrew the large screw heads with your fingers and stow on top of the top in the truck (translated: on top of the hood in the boot). I loved the simplicity and still prefer it over my much later Mazda MX5 Miata for the simple reason that I don't need a professional upholsterer to replace it when it gets old and tattered. This origami top on the later models of MG looks like something designed by sadist.

Good stuff! Having never seen any advice on this even on the mgoc sites (the manual instructions have great drawings but I still don't understand) I've been pulling the hood windows backwards and folding the mechanism into the car then laying the windows forward over the top What is required is an upgrade to the hood and I hope to have some good news soon

My Top stayed down all summer except for rain. In the winter I would stuff my scarf in a hole by my neck to keep the draft off. One winter I found my car (drivers side) encased in ice from passing cars splashing slush all day long. Kept paint fresh with a rattle can. Almost indestructable 😉

thanks for the heads up 👍

A simple method to save time and money if done wrong. I’m Canadian so I was momentarily confused as you kept talking about the “hood”⁉️🥴 lol. Makes sense. If I put on a heavy coat I might want to pull the hood up if it’s raining 🌧. On this side of the ditch, it’s a style of car(motor) called a convertible and the roof is called “the top” or “soft top” or less often the “rag top”. After ww2 Canada was encouraged to buy British products and especially cars like Austins. Our 57 was named Nellie Belle. Later in life in the late 60s early 70s it was MGBs(my choice), Triumphs and Austin Healys. They’re almost all gone now. Bought up my Americans and other fans. In 1972 when I graduated Gr. 12 a guy could afford any of those at reasonable prices. I had one mgb and one tr6 and a 88 Land Rover. Not all at once. I can’t afford any of them now. Seems absurd that I can’t afford a car I had as a kid. 😩🤑

Good video thank you

Enjoyed your video! Brought back memories of my 1972 roadster. I used to love peeling back the roof, just as you instructed here! I currently drive a 67 GT. On the subject of roofs...my GT needs a new sunroof. I understand it was a factory option, back then, made by Webasto. In particular I'm struggling to find a handle in good working condition. Mine has broken. Do you know where I might find a handle for this GT sunroof? Appreciated any tips from fellow MG owners.

Beautiful car.

Well, I still do the method at 4:15 that you're not supposed to do, despite seeing this great video a while back. But that's only because my hood was in bad shape when I bought her a few years ago, so I guess I was more focused on the mechanical aspects of the vehicle first. I always knew I'd need a new one. And when I get a new one, it will be taken care of and I'll use the proper procedure, especially the folding of the window sections, with the crease being on the black areas and not the clear areas. That's important. I'm glad my convertible mechanism is in great operating condition. I lubed all metal to metal areas too. Thanks for the helpful video.

GREAT VIDEO. I HAVE OWNED 2 MGB'S (76+77) IT WOULD OF BEN NICE TO KNOW THE CORRECT WAY OF LOWERING THE TOP.

Thanks 👍

Hm, the only thing I can remember not doing when I had an MGB, was extending the corner window fold so far forward. I do miss my MGB (along with other cars I've owned). ;-) My MGB had a damaged tonneau cover, but it allowed me to fold down the drivers side (still zipped) in between the tunnel and passengers seat so it wouldn't flap up and down. ;-)

Interesting since the rear light going down first is not the way my owners manual describes the process. However, it does seem better to not have the light pressed against the latches when the tonneau is fitted .

I assume everybody has seen the MX5 hood procedure - takes about 5 seconds ;-)

Silly me was wondering why there was a almost six minute video of how to close the hood..... should have known the hood is the top and what I call the hood is the bonnet...

世界を魅了した英国製🇬🇧トラディショナルスポーツの代表

Much better option is to get the hood without the quarter lights but with an unzipping rear window. That way you can undo the rear window on very hot days and have airflow plus shade, and you can Chuck the hood down easily without all this flap. The quarter light windows are a pain and rather unnecessary. I can even put my hood up and down from within the car at traffic lights. 😂

I've seen vids where the owners simply fold the side windows over the roof and then gently pull down.

Big question - what about the older grey (scissor-style) folding frame, as opposed to the black frame shown in the video? I have a grey frame on my '66 MGB and have NEVER seen full instructions or demonstration of how to lower it. I do have the correct driver's handbook, but the instructions included are not very clear. Any further suggestions? Or even better, another video? Thanks.

What year is this car? I had a 1970 MGB and the top was quite less complicated to put down.

Ha! I stopped at How to put down Your MGB. They must have seen mine. It's in need of care, or a bury in a ditch, whichever is easier.

Come è bella

Lovely job. Now let's see you put it up in a thunderstorm!

I was expecting a video about the hood not the convertible top lmao

In a srapyard

MG only ever offered a choice of one third-rate and two second-rate tops on the MGB. If you really need a first-rate top, buy an Alfa.

My 1968 MGB had a completely different type of hood. It didn’t fold into that well area. The hood had to be lifted off the frames and folded up. The frames were joined down the centre line of the car. They had to be lifted off and separated. Then the whole lot had to be stored in the boot. A truly awful design.

So how many of you North Americans were wondering why he's messing with the top and going nowhere near the hood?

Car is fun to drive but the hood is poorly designed. To cover it or to open takes too much of a time

buy a fiat 124!

Not the proper way!