1970 Cutlass Convertible

As you can see in the photos the top will not fully retract, remaining above the deck lid. If I push down on one side it will go down a few inches only, while the other side goes up.

The top raises perfectly and the alignment is good.

When up, the top is perfect. I leave it up 90% of the time, and it is up over the winter. The top was replaced during the restoration four years ago and has always behaved this way.











Does anyone have any idea of what may be causing this?

Thanks.

 

Peter...you are missing the piston panel cover plates and seals in that area...but that's not it. It seems like the pistons aren't retracting all the way, or they are too long for the ap. Any air in the lines?

 

Thanks for your reply.
I always thought there was something missing there, but not sure what the cover plates look like or where they go. The Fisher Body Manual (FBM) is a bit sparse on this topic.
If you could post a photo at some point of those, that would be appreciated.

There is no air in the lines, and the assembly is original so I believe the pistons are correct.

In reading the FBM I get the impression that it is a simple operation to disconnect the pistons, thereby allowing me to check if there is any binding in the frame mechanism.
Is this something a novice can do without causing havoc?

I would take it back to the top shop which performed the work, but that is 2200 miles away

 

The next to the last pic you can see the plates. http://www.ebay.com/itm/68-72-GM-A-B...VWu86h&vxp=mtr There are 3 screws that hold that to tabs on the panel. I might have the plates kicking around here. They repro them too. The seals go in the area where the red primer is in your pic. I would not mess with the frame, definitely not alone. I suppose you could disconnect the pistons to see what happens. I'll give this a thinking. Maybe others have an idea.

 

Could it be to much fluid in system and it will not go lower because no where for fluid to go out of cylinders. System is suppose to be filled with top down.

 

AH - those - I have those plates but removed them when I took the photos. I thought you meant something on the pistons themselves.

Thanks for taking the time to post that ebay link.

 

I think the fluid gets moved from one side of the piston to the other as the top is raised and lowered. However I will defer to the more knowledgeable.

 

Is it possible that the top fabric is not folding properly so the material is thicker than supposed to be at one of the joints and preventing the frame from fully folding? I remember reading in the manual about stopping the top when it's vertical and ensuring the material is folded properly prior to completely lowering the top. I do this all the time to ensure the top folds properly.

 

Hi Kennith: I try to fold the fabric as you suggest but it doesn't seem to make much difference.
It is very hard to diagnose this without having hands on I know. I thought that perhaps someone else has experienced the same and would have a silver bullet.

I may have to wait till I get to the Nationals and ask some of the old timers there.

 

The only other thing I can think of is disconnect the cylinders from the top frame and see if you can manually get the top to lower more. That might isolate it to an issue with the cylinders not retracting sufficiently or the top frame/material not lowering into the well for some reason.

I know sometimes the top on mine doesn't lower fully (I think due to the way the fabric is bunched up) and I have to press it down a bit in order to get the cover on, but it is nowhere near as high as your looks in the pictures.

Sorry for not being much more helpful than that.

 

Thanks Kenneth.