new boot for soft top

Wayne · Post by **Wayne** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 9:14 pm

Greetings
I presume you mean the tonneau cover that covers the hood when it is folded
down, also do you have the web address of Moss Motors.
Cheers
Wayne

ABChainey · Post by **ABChainey** » Tue Feb 03, 2004 8:47 pm

Hi,
for anyone who is interested,
we just purchased a new boot for our NA Roadster directly from Moss Motors in
California. The total cost including freight was US$206.75 which at the time
of purchase translated into NZ$300.00. We placed our order on the 23/01/04 it
was confirmed by Moss Motors on the 27/01/03 and we received it today
03/02/04. Ten days turnaround is pretty good really.
(Our local Mazda dealer quoted us NZ$619.00 so it was a good saving)

Allister and Belinda

Colin Francis · Post by **Colin Francis** » Tue Feb 03, 2004 9:36 pm

On Sat, 31 Jan 2004 21:14:03 +1300, you wrote:

[...]

Post by **zorruno** » Tue Feb 03, 2004 9:42 pm

ABChainey said:

for anyone who is interested,
we just purchased a new boot for our NA Roadster directly from
Moss Motors

"Wayne" <sinclan@> replied:

Greetings
I presume you mean the tonneau cover that covers the hood when it is folded
down, also do you have the web address of Moss Motors.

it is http://www.miatamania.com/

ABChainey · Post by **ABChainey** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:55 pm

According to Robbins Autotop company literature the top boot cover is for the
soft top when it is down and the tonneau cover actually covers the whole
interior of the car when the top is down (and you are not in it we presume).
Moss Motors sent a catalogue of MX5 accessories with the top boot, which is
very cool, you can request a catalogue at no cost on the website if anyone is
interested, (it includes supercharges and performance upgrades etc)
http://www.miatamania.com/

Allister and Belinda

Simon Lord · Post by **Simon Lord** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 9:13 pm

That sounds right to me - historically (thinking of various MG's and Austin
Healeys I lusted over in the 60's) the tonneau cover covered the whole
compartment with a zip-out area to enable the driver to drive with the rest
covered. I hasten to add that in the 60's I was a very young schoolboy!

Simon
97 SR Ltd

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 9:40 pm

In the 70's (1974 actually) I bought a new Jensen Healey. I was single then.
It's taken me almost 30 years to afford another soft top! I had a tonneau
cover made here in Blenheim for it. This covered the car and, with the zip
up the middle, you could drive with the passenger area still covered. There
was a row of round pop on connectors (technical desription) along the front
top of the dash to clip the cover to, and some along the doors to clip it
to. The cover for the soft top when down was officially described as a
cover.

Grant in Blenheim.

Chic & Morven · Post by **Chic & Morven** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 10:03 pm

As zorruno said the cover for the soft top is usually referred to as the
tonneau cover, a cover for the whole interior would be a full tonneau
cover.

SecNet · Post by **SecNet** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 8:29 am

According to the web site they will charge you $(US)10 for postage.
ZOOM1N

From Chris.Tankard@solution6.com Fri Apr 27 18:09:50 2007
content-class: urn:content-classes:message
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Subject: MX5Mania intake
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2004 15:56:06 +1300
Thread-Topic: MX5Mania intake
Thread-Index: AcPrk5COD71MKluxSMipG8IlBVxT4Q==
From: "Chris Tankard" <Chris.Tankard@solution6.com>
To: <mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>
Precedence: list
Message-ID: <nRDOr.A.jQG.FZZMGB@L733>

Has anyone installed the mania cold air take from this crowd? If so
could you let me know what you thought of the product?

It looks interesting, and would seem to be a very good idea.

Many Thanks

Chris

######################################################################
Attention:
This email message and any files transmitted with it may contain information
that is confidential to Solution 6.
If you are not the intended recipent you cannot peruse, use, distribute or
copy the message or attachments.
If you recieved this in error, please notify the sender by return email
immediately and erase all copies of the message and attachments.
Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message and attachments
that do not relate to the official business of Solution 6 are neither given
nor endorsed by it.

This email was scanned and cleared by NetIQ MailMarshal.
######################################################################

Post by **zorruno** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 6:10 pm

"Chic & Morven" <us@> said:

As zorruno said the cover for the soft top is usually referred
to as the tonneau cover, a cover for the whole interior would
be a full tonneau cover.

Please note, I said this telepathically.

(Actually Wayne said it...)

It is referred called different things in different countries, hence the
confusion. A lot of people call it a Top Boot in NZ. I tend to refer to it
as a soft top boot or soft top tonneau.

Add this to the other confusing car terms that mean different things in
different places...
Mark1 = NA? 1.6L? 89-97?
Bonnet = hood? hat?
Boot = trunk? cover? shoe?
Windshield = windscreen? windblocker?
Hood = bonnet? hat? holden driver?

etc...

Stevo · Post by **Stevo** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 8:49 pm

I recieved my NB Top Boot Cover today from a Mazda dealer in NZ today.
Cost delivered to my home was $220.00 incl GST. I understand the NA
series boot cover is quite a bit dearer than the NB. Just put it on and
it looks great.
Cheers Stevo

EricW · Post by **EricW** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 8:34 pm

My turn to get pedantic again I think.

A "Tonneau" was originally an open, horse drawn, carriage for four horses,
similar to the open carriages in which one seen Her Majesty and members of the
"Royal Household Hangers-On" being driven down the Mall, on nice days, to
hatch, match or despatch one of their number.

However, these vehicles also had a perambulator type hood, which was self
supporting but which did not extend as far as the front of the vehicle, there
was no windscreen. It was this hood that was known as the "Tonneau" and gave
the vehicle it's name. It is also sometimes , but rarely, referred to as a
"Barrique".

So I think that zorruno is strictly correct when he says that the "Tonneau
Cover" is the cover for the folded hood and the "Tonneau" the cover for the
interior, (although this would originally have been the hood).

However, that is not the way that our trans-atlantic cousins see it, to them a
tonneau is a flat cover which protects the inside of an open car, sometimes
allowing a portion to be opened around the driver. That is today's common
usage. The cover for the hood storage is a "boot cover"

The origin of the expression "Boot", as somewhere to put something, goes back
a way, to the days when saddles were designed to hold various items of
weaponry and had "boots" (because that is what they looked like, and they were
made of leather ) attached, to house pistols, swords and the odd little
blunderbuses known as "horse pistols" which fired a nasty miscellany of any
old rubbish, to devastating effect at close range. The soft leather case for a
rifle is today, still, correctly called a "Rifle Boot"

The word carried over to mean an depository forming part of a vehicle.That can
be extended to the depository for the folded hood on an MX5 or any other car,
and "boot cover" seems appropriate for it's cover in that context. That is the
American usage, but it seems to be a unique usage in American idiom, except as
it also relates to storage for firearms

But, just to confuse things, the English called their storage area "the boot"
because on early English cars it was an open part behind the seats, (like on a
TC model MG and now on an MX 5) before being fully enclosed as a luggage
carrier.

The hood on these cars, (A 1946 brochure for the Morris 8 Series E Open
Tourer, which I have in my collection, refers to it as a "Tonneau") which did
not have the compact folding mechanisms of an MX 5, flopped back into this
area and were covered by a "Tonneau Cover" (so there!) and in fact, no less a
bastion of Englishness than Aston Martin still offers a "Tonneau cover" as a
standard accessory for the GTA Volante, to cover the folded hood. ( I'll bet
it costs more than $210.00, and yes, I do know Aston Martin is owned by the
Americans!)

The Americans however refer to the storage part of an automobile as "the
trunk" because the American fashion was to carry a removeable "trunk" on a
"trunk carrier" fitted to the back of the car and to have no internal
storage.

So I guess that you have to make up your own mind what to call the cover, a
good basis to start is probably to consider which side your ancestors were on
during the American War of Independence.

So now you know all about it, for what it's worth, which, frankly, ain't
much!

However, if you want to buy one, the people who sell them have their own ideas
on what they are called, and putting forward the above arguments is only
likely to bore them as much as it has you, so call it a "boot cover" and make
their day!

Pistols at Dawn, anyone? (from the boot of course)

Eric

Susan Edmunds · Post by **Susan Edmunds** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 8:40 pm

Is there anywhere in Auckland that I can get a new soft top roof for my car?
or perhaps get some leaks fixed, although I suspect it may be past that.

EricW · Post by **EricW** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 9:48 pm

Hi Susan,

Le Mans Original Fabrics in Wellington can supply them ex stock, for I think
about $800, and can point you at someone in Newmarket who will fit them (Just
do a search in Google to find Le Mans Original Fabrics)

Alternatively, Ross at www.mx5mart.co.nz in Hamilton usually has good second
hand hoods.

Hope that helps

Eric

MX5PWR · Post by **MX5PWR** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 9:53 pm

Try Al's Upholstory Ltd, 20A Leiden Pl, Glenfield Ph 4431581. They are
sponsors of the club ans specialise in the MX5.

Simon Lord · Post by **Simon Lord** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 9:03 am

I think that it is only appropriate that we all bow to Eric's superior
knowledge which is obviously born of considerable research. Not pedantic,
Eric, just detailed and authoritative. Thanks.

Now perhaps we should get back to driving while the summer lasts - and before
the local authorities start their random resurfacing campaigns designed to
generate new business for the windscreen repair companies...

Cheers
Simon
97 SR Ltd

Lyndon Pope · Post by **Lyndon Pope** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 9:15 am

Yes, I too have an interest in matters historic. However, the world has moved
on and today we call them 'Softtops', 'Hardtops' and 'Tonneau Covers' as
previously described. That's why I didn't ask for a 'Barrique' or 'Barrique
cover' when I was looking for a softtop recently.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 1:19 pm

Speaking of the stone problem, has anyone installed a grille in their MX5? I
have thought about this often as the radiator is not protected from
projectiles, and my sister just had three stones through her radiator (Honda
Logo) when they came off a truck carrying gravel. The trucking company is
paying for the damage fortunately. I searched for something on the Internet
but couldn't find anything locally. I have ordered a black powder coated one
from England at a landed cost of about $130.00 including freight so will let
you know how it fits when it gets here.
Where did you get your grille from and how much did it cost? If it's a lot
cheaper than mine, then I don't want to know!! I could have made my own but
don't have a lot of spare time and figured it wasn't worth it at the price.

Grant.

Edney · Post by **Edney** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 3:21 pm

The grill idea seems a good one to me if you want to completely avoid stone
damage. Alternatively, to reduce the likelihood of stone damage I put my
number plate on brackets where the "smile" is rather than higher up on the
front on the bumper.

And no, in case anyone is wondering, it doesn't affect cooling at all. Like
most cars, apparently the bulk of the cooling is achieved by the fan(s).

R