Hello my name is Paul Apostolou and I reside in Pittsbrugh.
I have an XK150 DHC that is pretty much a survivor. The original top and headliner have resided under the boot cover for the last 40 years.
It still appears to fit but the latches that secure the front to the windscreen top won’t stay attached. They keep popping open. Is this a common problem and if so
is there a solution. I would purchase new latches if I felt that was the solution but the latch hardware on the windscreen frame and the latches them selves
appear to be fine. I’ve reconditioned the top to alleviate any shrinkage. Comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

My thought was that there must be a compressible rubber seal where the front of the top (UK=hood),sits on the windscreen frame. If this seal has "sacked-out", or is missing, there won't be any tension on the securing clips, so they wil not stay latched. The latches are of the "over-centre" type that rely on something, (which can only be a seal, the latch has no spring), to provide upward pressure on the latch where it's secured to the hook on the windscreen frame.

 

Thanks Fraser your theory sounds entirely plausible. The seal is almost non-existent. I’m going to simulate the seal with some compressible rubber
that I have available and see if that works. In the meantime I’ll order a new seal.Paul