I tried to replace my convertible hydraulic hoses today. I found out that on one of my hydraulic cylinders, the threads are stripped out, and the hose will not tighten. The bottom of the cylinder where the hose attaches is metal, and looks great, but the top part is plastic, and had been stripped out from before i bought the car.

(BTW, why in the world would they make the top part out of plastic?)

Anyway, now I am trying to figure out how to repair it.

Any ideas?

I really don't want to buy a whole new cylinder, because they are very pricey. The guy at Checker said that he thought I might be able to just replace the plastic top part of the cylinder, because it just screws into the metal cylinder case. He suggested that I check with Year One.
I looked on Year One, OPG, and every other parts place I could think of. They all have new cylinders, but not just the plastic part.
I am pretty sure that all of the 68-72 A-body cars used the same hydraulic cylinders on their convertibles.
I tried to go to the auto parts, and get a different bushing, and just rig it enough to make it work, but apparently, the GM guys, in all their wisdom, decided not to use SAE, or Metric sizes on the fittings.

SO, now I am trying to decide if I should try to tap it out to a different size, and find a fitting for it....
Or, does anyone know where I can find a new piece to repair it?

By the way, this is a 1972 Cutlass Convertible.....

Thanks for your help.

 

The same thing happened to me when I replaced hoses. They are so easy to over tighten and strip. The problem is that they need to seat on the fitting much like brake lines. I tried a few thing with mine but in the end just ended up buying a used one for 50.00. That will probably be the easiest and cheapest way out unless somebody knows how to replace and rebuild parts on these things.Good luck.