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Jan & I have owned our BJ8 for over 35 years, and like us, it is getting mellow in its years. We have enjoyed the car for many tours both home and abroad and in 2005 whilst completing a full mechanical restoration, we discussed the benefits of having a hardtop for the car.
Having retired, the time was right to use the cars more regularly, and that could include the chilly months when the countryside is either coming into bloom or the leaves are falling, both seasons  are not to be missed when the roads are crisp and dry.
Our investigations were made far and wide to source a good quality hardtop, and especially one that would fit our car correctly. The outcome was to purchase a tailor made unit from Pete Farmer at “Performance Racing”, Wilton. The overall job was successfully completed during March 2005. As you can see, I included a vent in the roof in a venturer style. This is a first in production and works very well. We put the hardtop into storage until the car was ready for the road.
By May 2005 the new MOT was completed, so we were ready to put the new hardtop into test mode and see if we had done the right thing!!  We decided a good way to do this was a 10 day trip to the Loire Valley in France. It rained very heavily, and then was 32 deg for 4 days, so a real test for the top. It worked very well so we were both happy with our decision and the hardtop.

As we had the benefit of another open car, we became lazy and left the hardtop on the BJ8 as standard transport. It did a 24 day holiday in Italy in 2006 whilst we drove the 1955 Mille Miglia 1000 mile route, and other more local trips. In extreme temperatures, the hardtop does offer protection from direct heat exhaustion that we find uncomfortable when driving open topped, whilst still giving good ventilation via the quarter lights and windows.
 The downside of extreme heat on a hardtop is that the glue of the headlining cannot take the heat, and starts to break down. The first you know about it is that something touches your head as you are driving. This failure, together with the wish to have the soft top back on the BJ8 for the summer months, led me into more investigations.

The BJ8 was built as a sports convertible, with the factory option of a hardtop. This does mean however that to get the hardtop onto the car, the convertible hood has to be totally removed from the car.
The fixings around the rear cockpit rail are pop rivets, and the material is clamped by a metal rail to the inside of the rear gutter. Therefore to remove the hood it is likely to require a trimmer rather than a DIY approach.
After a great deal of thought and deliberation, I considered the hood being made as a MK1 3000 with “Tenex” clips to the outside of the rear shroud. This would enable the hood to be unclipped from the shroud and screen, unbolted from its mounts, and lifted clear of the car. The hood would still have the zip out rear window and it would avoid the water being guided inside the car and out again via the gutter system, so engineering wise it works.
The next obstacle was the cosmetic appearance of the modification. Would the “Tenex” clips around the rear shroud be unsightly? They would be visible when the hardtop was on, but would be hidden under the hood cover or tonneau cover for open driving, so it is only the hardtop that exposes them.
Going back to the fact that we have had the car so long and we wanted to use it, what should we do!

In March 2007 we took the car to Kevin Law at “Orchard Restorations”, East Sussex and planned with his trimmer the new design of the hood and the fittings to be used. The outcome was great, and the fit superb. We have done away with the tension springs to the hood frame, so the removal of the hood only takes 20 mins, and then another 20mins to fit the hardtop.

I have subsequently retrimmed the hardtop to get rid of the drooping headlining, and if you try this job, use contact adhesive not spray glue. Use only a single layer material for the lining unless you are having a suspended liner. The internal trim to the vent I made from MDF board and painted it.

Hope this may be of interest to you, and answer a few questions along the way if you have been thinking about having a hardtop on your BJ8.

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