Good afternoon guys, I'm in the process of restoring my 72 convertible. I figure before removing the interior, it would be good to remove the top to make it easier (and I have to replace the top any cause it's ripped/torn/trashed anyway though the back glass is fine).

Does anyone have any suggestions or guidelines how to do this? Can I fold the top back and then take the whole thing out as one 'roof' piece/unit? Or will I need to disassemble each rib/bow and take it out one component piece at a time? I'd prefer to remove it as a whole unit but if it has to come out piece by piece, I'll do it. Any pics of the process would be cool if available too.

Thanks.

Steve

 

Put the top down to make interior removal easier. After the interior is out you can remove the top assembles complete. The rear seat and panels have to be removed to access the top mounting bolts.

 

As 4speed455 said, remove the entire top as one assembly. I would suggest you remove the lift cylinders from the top assembly and keep the hoses connected to them and the pump. If the pump is in good condition and there are no leaks, then no need to open up the hydraulic system. This will save you the time and trouble of bleeding the system when the car goes together.

Before you remove the top assembly, you will want to remove the plastic rain gutter that is located around the rear/side opening of the body. It's there to catch the water than runs off the back of the top and it channels that water where it can run into the rockers and drain out of the car. Be careful with that piece because the reproductions on the market are total junk and originals are not the easiest to find.

The top frame assembly is held in place by 3 bolts on each side of the body. I would suggest before removing any bolts, see if you can reference the way that bracket sits in the body. If necessary, drill 2 small 1/8" holes through the bracket and the body for use as alignment holes when you assemble the car in the future. Also, there may be shims between the brackets and the body so take note of where they are so you put them back in the same location. Before a new top material is installed, you'll want to be sure the top is adjusted to the side windows correctly as well as up by the front windshield header. That can be done at a later date. Look over the bushings in the top assembly so if they need attention, now would be the time to take care of it. Just make sure you mark very carefully where things are especially if you remove something with an adjustment. The adjustment in the photo I have attached is a critical one so be very careful to put it back where it was if you have to take this apart for any reason.
Brian

 

Hey 4speed455, thanks for the suggestion. I hadn't thought of it, tho part of the reason why is cause I'm pretty far along on the disassembly process... I have the whole front of the car (sheet metal/engine/trans) removed already and no battery. So while it is a great idea, not sure if it's feasible. I guess I could always try to trace down the circuit for the top and alligator clip a battery feed just to lower it but not wanting it to backfeed anywhere and cause any issues.

 

69442C, thanks for the pic and info, I would not have known about the plastic rain gutter and being careful. I am glad to hear I can take the whole assembly out as one piece but not sure at this point how to lower the top. Aside from no battery, the top hasn't been down since 1987 so I'm not sure how it would work even if I did an alligator clip/12volts to the 'down' circuit... Any easy way to manually lower it? If I unlatch the handles at the roof and then over a couple days sort of manually apply some force to try to lower it, will the hydraulic fluid displace (assuming there's some in the system even)? Or am I risking bending the frame and causing more issues? Any thoughts/comments/suggestions appreciated. Thanks.

 

In addition to all the good advice you've gotten on the old top mark the location of the header bow, middle bows, and tack strip before you remove it so you can use it as a template for the new top. It will get the location pretty close

 

Just remove the lift cylinders and then you can manually lower the top. I'm trying to remember if that rain gutter will be in your way or not. The rear tack bar that the rear and side sections of the top fabric attach to will sit above the rain gutter. I think once you unbolt the main brackets, you will need to slide the main brackets upward and forward before you try to lift any of the rear upwards. But you may need to unbolt that rear tack bar which is just one bolt on each side. Sorry I am not 100% certain on this.

 

A question about the plastic rain gutter... Is it below the chrome trim molding that runs parallel with the rear window (and also fore/aft in parallel with the quarter panels)? Is there an easy way to remove the chrome trim molding without damaging it? Is it better to wait till the top is down to attempt the molding removal?

Also, when you say to remove the lift cylinders, do you mean unbolt from the top? Or unbolt from where it attaches to the body?

Thanks again, I'm learning as I go along.

 

Here's a pic of the rain gutter. My well liner was long gone so you can easily see the gutter. The chrome is a PIA to get off. If I remember right there are a couple of screws holding it on as well as clips (definitely one screw at each end). 70-72 was a little different than 68-69 (which is what I have), 70-72 may not have as many clips. The tack strip in 70-72 is bolted to the top assembly, whereas 68-69 has three tack strips (or trim sticks as the body manual calls them).

 

As far as the no battery I used battery jump starter with some jumper wires directly to the motor. On the connector for the motor there are two leads. Top up and top down. Wire the positive from the battery to the one side of the connector and the negative terminal of the battery to chassis/body ground. If the top tries to go up or doesn't move switch the positive jumper to the other terminal of the connector.

 

To remove the cylinders, you will remove the bolt/nut that goes through the very end of the rod coming out of the cylinder. There will be special washers (wave washers....look like bent up washers) likely between the rod and the top bracket. There are also plastic bushings that are inside the round end of the rod. Look it over well before pulling out the rod because parts may just fall out of place when you remove that bolt. Now down lower there is another larger bolt which is visible in Mike's picture. This bolt threads into the bracket and has a pin that fits into the side of the cylinder body and there is a plastic bushing in the body hole. The cylinder just pivots on this bolt/pin and one on the opposite side. When you remove this one bolt, the cylinder can be removed by sliding it off the other pin. Take pictures and notes to keep track of everything.

To remove the SS trim, there is one screw on each end in the side window area and will go through the back part of the side window fuzzy. Remove these first. Fold the top down about 1/3 down or enough so you can push the top fabric down around that molding. Use a mirror to look at the bottom of the molding and locate the attaching screws and remove them. There will be 5-7 of them. With all the hardware removed, use a piece of 2x4 placed against the side of the SS trim and carefully tap on that wood with a hammer to push the molding inward and off the body. Be careful as you don't want to bend the trim. You'll need to move the sides in a little first and then push the back part forward.

Mike, one correction in your post. 68 is the only year that uses the tack strip affixed to the body. 69-72 used the bolt on trim stick.

Brian

 

Thanks Brian, I sometimes assume too much is the same between 68-69 because the body is so similar. My top frame assembly is actually a 69-72 type that I ended up using the 68 style tack strip for when I replaced the rear window. It appeared that the 69-72 type tops were assembled out of the car and then the whole thing was dropped in. Have you ever tried just removing the 2 or 3 mounting bolts that attach it to the body on each side and lifting the entire assembly out rather than disconnecting the cylinders?

 

Mike, I haven't tried that in the past and to be honest, I just have experience with 1 69 442 conv that I am restoring. One problem with leaving the cylinders in place is the hydraulic lines would need to be disconnected which could make for oil leaking out of the cylinders and lines. I think it would be cleaner to keep the cylinders and hoses connected to the pump and just remove the hydraulic system as an assembly and work on it away from the car.

I tend to think you are correct about the tops being done off the car and then slid into place after the car was painted. But I think the top will still need to be folded partially since that rear tack bar gets pressed up against the bottom of the body when the top is fully up.

Brian

 

Thanks guys, you rock!

Tonight I crawled under the driver side dash and traced the wires from the convertible switch (one gray, one purple both large gauge wires).

I disconnected the switch wiring from the wiring going towards the firewall, used a small flat screwdriver to make contact with one of the terminals, then clipped the positive of my battery charger to the screwdriver (grounding the negative of the charger to the instrument panel chassis). I had my buddy plug it in and the motor actually turned on! After spraying some PB Blaster into the various joints and pivot points and using my right foot (head still under dash) to push up on the frame on the driver side (my buddy helped lift up on the passenger side frame) we were able to get the top retracted most of the way. So after not having opened since 1987, boom it actually worked. Very pleasant.

Once that was done, I was able to remove both the driver and passenger front seats. I found a nickel from 1965 and two pennies (1973 and 1978) so hopefully that is a good sign (lucky 7).

From what I can see, the passenger compartment floor looks pretty solid (bummer that the trunk floor is in horrible condition and will need complete replacement). I plan to remove the center console and the carpeting to verify it but I think I'm good.

Any tricks/suggestions to removing the center console without damaging anything? Where are the mounting screws/fastners located and how many are holding it down?

Also any tricks to removing the seat belts?

Have a good night guys.