WTHIRTY1

Looking for help on convertible top fitment and adjustment. The top is not covering the front black vinyl nor is the guide pin going in the hole on the LH side. For background, the top has been stuck down for several years but was new prior to that.

Any suggestions on what to do? Does the vinyl just need time to stretch?

In one of the pictures below, it appears the top did fit right at one point in time. Hard to tell, though.

The passenger side is closer to being covered by the top.



The pin is off.



It appears the top fit better prior to getting stuck down thanks to bad cylinders.

cherokeepeople

my 4 starfire if i had the top down for more then a couple days i had a heck of a time trying to get the pins in.so i would just run it up as far as i could and park it in the sun.

cfair

There are levels of effort here. Part of this is deciding how deep you want to get into it.

Level 1 is the quick & easy stuff. Leave it in the sun for an hour or 2 & see how much everything loosens up. If you want, you might shoot some lubrication in the top frame joints to help loosen things up, but when you shoot, back the aerosol shot with some paper towels to keep the interior clean.

Level 2 is to work on the front top adjustment hinges. If your Cutlass is like my 98 convertible, the top hinges are set in slots which allow you to move the hinges forward and backward by about an inch to match the top leading edge to the leading edge of the windshield. It looks to me like your driver’s side hinge is too far backward. You may be able to fix this by loosening the hinges and sliding them forward a bit. This may also require that you loosen and re-glue the fabric here & there. Remember your frame may flex during use. When in doubt go 1/16” or so further forward with the hinges than perfect to allow for frame flex. Hope that makes sense.

Level 3 is to remove the top cylinder covers (aka the rear quarter interior panels) which would allow you to adjust the entire top frame from the rear. Be aware that this can invoke a lengthy readjustment of all 4 windows, after what may be a lengthy adjustment of the top frame. You might need a couple of days.

Read up on the top installation & adjustment procedures in your Fisher Body Manual, then figure out what would work best for you.

I’ve spent days fiddling with this stuff. It takes patience & an open mind about solutions. In my case, I’ve shimmed my roof rail rubber with 1/2” hard rubber just to force them down onto the window tops. I’ve added Trimlok “P” seals to the fabric leading edge to fill the gap between the windshield top & the convertible top. These are non-factory solutions, so they may not work for you, but I wanted to offer up some ideas.

To be clear, I dislike using my modifications, but I dislike water ingress & wind noise even more. So I’m problem solving, but not sure I’m correct with my aftermarket solutions.

Hope this helps
Chris

chip-powell

I just replaced my top and ran into the same exact fitment issue. Leave the top up and if possible, leave it in the sun. After a few days everything stretched out and I was able to close and latch the top again.