I recently removed my convertible top assembly due to all the surface rust it had on it, and to change the bushings out. I sanded off all the rust and painted it a nice black color, however, now I forget how it all goes back together If someone could please post pictures of the accuator assembly and areas around it would be a great help! Thank-you in advance

 

There is a top book that tell ajustments and stuff have one for my 71 same top should beable to see it on line

 

Do you have a link or any info on this book?

 

let me dig it out

 

Anyone else?!? Just called a bunch of shops and no one even wants to touch it ;(

 

Did you get what you needed? I have a service manual that has a diagram of the top hardware components. I could copy the pertinent pages and mail them to you. I would guess the same info is on the web (somewhere), but don't know where. Just let me know. The manual is available from hydro e lectric www.hydroe.com for about $40.00. The body manual has the same info (i'm pretty sure) and can be bought on ebay for a lot less.

As a side note, I highly recommend buying both a service manual for the chassis and one for the body, both available used on ebay. If you plan to keep the car, you will never regret the purchase!
.
I can't scan the diagram, but I could take a good pic of it and email it to you. again, just let me know.

Best of luck to you and hopefully you've learned a lesson about dis-assembly of difficult to re-assemble components! I learned my lesson long ago.

 

First attempt at attaching photos. Recently finished replacing top on my '73 and I took a bunch of photos to assist when I put it back together.

 

Sorry I didn't see this earlier.

I can post some photos I took of my top (assembled) if you'd like.

The manual you are looking for is the Fisher Body Manual, which has a chapter on convertible tops with all alignment and adjustment information in it.
This chapter is the SAME as what is sold as the "Convertibel Top Manual" at various places on line, but you ought to be able to get a FBM much cheaper, especially a '73 to '75 manual, as those are not in demand by the A-body crowd.

- Eric

 

Addendum:

On eBay right now:

• 1971 Fisher Body Manual $9.99, $5.50 Shipping
• 1973 Fisher Body Manual $9.95, $4.00 Shipping
• 1974 Fisher Body Manual $9.99, $4.00 Shipping
• 1974 Fisher Body Manual $8.99, $5.25 Shipping

 

I can not thank-you guys enough for the help! As of right now the top still is not working like it's supposed to, but I feel as if I'm getting closer!
Here's a video to show you my problem!

Please click the link and watch!

You can see in the video, all I have to do is give it a little touch to open the assembly and it comes right up. Also I noticed the drivers side comes up faster than the passenger, is that because that side has a new rail? IDK
As of today I have replaced the drivers side frame rail, header bow, main pivot bushings, motor, motor gears, and I bought a new bushing kit.
I pretty much have the assembly in back the way it should I believe, however I will look into those manuals and pics that were posted. Hydro-e did send me a fisher manual. I will find out which one it is and let you guys know. Tomorrow I will post a video so you guys can see how crooked the assembly is, when it comes down the alignment pins arent even close, I have to put them in their place by hand.
Check out the video and please give me your feedback

 

Nope. It's supposed to do that.

I would recommend reading the chapter in the Fisher Body Manual.


They never come down perfectly lined up. This isn't a BMW.

That being said, the top will behave very differently with cloth stretched over it and spring-loaded side cables than it does now.

It will also require an elaborate alignment process, which is painstakingly spelled out in the Fisher Body Manual.

I'm very interested to learn how the bushing installation goes, since I'll have to do it myself one day.

- Eric

 

So what your saying is, that it might just need adjusted and not any more new parts? that would be a relief...

 

 

Can you please elaborate on this?

I'm to my wits end with this thing, I've dumped so much more money into it than I originally planned I just need some help on figuring out what I need to do, I looked and I have the Fisher Auto Body Manual for 1971. I skimmed through it but it only seemed to have information on installing the fabric. I have no desire to do that, I just need the top to function correctly so I can take it somewhere and have it covered. Any help/tips would be greatly appreciated

 

Yeah. It looks like it's working perfectly to me.



The canvas has a certain amount of weight, and stabilizes the bows in all directions.
The spring loaded cables stabilize the entire unit front to back.
Once all that stuff is on, you may find that the overall alignment is a bit different than it is now.



The Curse of the Scissor Top.


There's more in there.
It tells you how to put a spring scale on the hinges, from left to right, and adjust the breakaway force for the side hinges, for one thing.

This will be a project, and these tops are not simple, and they're not nOrMAl.

- Eric

 

No. That's the way it's supposed to be. Eric is right. In that video, your mechanism looks like it's working just fine.

I once had a '75 Delta 88 convertible, and the two sides do NOT fold up symmetrically as the top goes down. Otherwise, they would bump into each other, and the top wouldn't fold up correctly when lowered. By the same token, then, they don't unfold symmetrically when the top is raised.

Your next step is to put a new top on. As Eric says, all that heavy cloth stretched over everything will hold things together and make the operation of the mechanism smoother and less rickety.


As I recall, I never actually wanted to watch my car's top go up and down. I found it was better, when raising the top, to remove the boot, close my eyes, and push the button. I would open them again when the top was fully up and ready to be latched. When putting it down, I would unlatch it, close my eyes, push the button, and then open them again when the top was down.

Watching the top mechanism when the top was going up and down was too much like watching sausage being made with all those bows folding this way and that. You just want to see the end product!

 

I watch the videos and agree that all seems to be working as it should. I watched my 75 Delta and the main difference is the rest of the hardware. With that installed it will be smoother.

 

Thank-you so much for posting these pictures! I saved these to my phone yesterday and realized I had a few things bolted back it wrong, but anyway it's all squared away now. Thanks again!

Really?? Wow I must be a total noob to this, well I am. But I can't see how adding more weight to this assembly will make it go up, if it can't even go up on it's own without fabric or anything! But you guys know way more than me, which I'm glad for
One last thing, look at these vids I found. This first vid is what makes me question as to why my top doesn't go up on it's own, yes it's rickety..but it still goes up!


And this one, I see what the cables do when they hold everything in place and make it all look and work steady, but again it seems like more weight holding that down


I've been thinking about just replacing the passenger side rail, just so they're both new and getting the top on, and if it still doesn't work I'll just operate it by hand if I have too, any thoughts or opinions welcome!

 

I had a thread about my top when I first brought the car home. The relay failed and I had to disconnect the cables to get the top back up correctly. Manual operation is possible but it is heavy and awkward to do. Make sure the drive cables are lubed good and the motors too. The system is designed to work with the weight and I think that the lack of it and other bows is why it seems rickety.

 

I see what you mean. I'm guessing it's very difficult to replace the side accuators once the fabric is on? Just thinking ahead in case it doesn't work and I feel like replacing a few more things..

 

You just posted two videos of the top going up fine (and unusually quickly).

What are you talking about?



- Eric

 

Sorry for not clarifying, that wasn't my car. Those videos were ones I found on Youtube...

 

Wait a minute.

You said:You're saying that your top doesn't go up, but you posted these two videos, which you appear to say are videos of your top going up:


I am totally confused.

Are those videos of your top or are they not?

And is it going up, or is it not?

- Eric

 

Let me try this again:

This is my car

As you can see at the 0:08 mark I have to physically lift up on the assembly to make it come up the whole way, otherwise it would just stay in that position. I believe should not be that way, it should be able to expand on it's own.

This is also my car

This video just shows the top retracting and the passenger side rail hitting the back seat which makes me believe it needs replaced (the rail not the back seat)

NOW this is not my car but a video of another Oldsmobile I found on Youtube. I repeat, this is not my car in the below video:


My reasoning for posting this video is to show that this top fully expands without cloth or cables on it. Which again makes me think my top should expand and without cloth or cables, which also makes me think my assembly is malfunctioning somewhere.

I hope everything's cleared up

 

Ahhhhh. I did not understand that that movement was essential to keep the top going up.

So you're saying that it snags on its way up, right here:



That looks to me like something that will be improved with some of the other parts holding it together, but I can't guarantee it.

Can you tell exactly what is hitting what?

You said that you had gotten a bushing set (if I recall) - have you replaced all of the bushings?
Loose bushings could cause enough misalignment to do this.


I'm sorry to say, but I just watched it again, and I can't see it hitting the seat.
Maybe a closer shot would make that clearer.

- Eric

 

Yes that is correct!

I hope so, I just ordered the passenger side frame rail from convertibletopspecialist. So we shall see.

Not quite, it seems to me that the mechanism just doesn't have enough power to open the scissor up. As you can see in the vid. the top comes up until it has to open the rails, then it stops. As soon as I help it just a tad, but opening up them rails, it goes the rest of the way no problem..

Yes, and actually, now that I think about it, before I replaced the bushings, the rail never even touched the rear seat. hhmmm



I can take a better video tomorrow, however, if you watch the video of it retracting again, right around the 0:31-0:33 second mark you can see it hang up slightly then fall in place as it bounces around.

- Eric[/QUOTE]