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Old February 2nd, 2008, 10:51 AM   #2 (permalink)
Starfire61
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 76
These top mechanisms are buried deep within the car. It's a big job to service them even when you have brand new parts that you know are going to work. You're probably looking at killing at least a whole day & maybe a whole weekend trying to jerry-rig the top mechanism from a 20 year old Ford into a 40 year old Oldsmobile.

If you get really, really lucky it MIGHT work (sort of.) If it does, go buy a lottery ticket, because you're on a roll. If it doesn't, now you have a big mess on your hands & you'll never get that weekend back.

Hydro-electric makes brand new cylinders & hoses for these cars. http://www.hydroe.com/ For a few hundred dollars you're getting the parts that fit your car. You can also buy a new pump from them, but in my experience the existing pump on the car is easily repaired. If you think about it, how many hours are on a top pump? One? Two?

There are some little ball check valves & passages in there that can get clogged with crud, & there are several O-rings that you can replace with stock from a hardware store. Take it apart, clean it out, & you'll be good for another 40 years.

Just make sure you also replace the hoses & cylinders- that way you won't be flushing old crud back into your newly-repaired pump.

Chuck
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