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Basic Guidelines for
Convertible Top Installation for Domestic Cars.
These instructions are basic to
American convertibles and are designed to be a guide
only. They should allow you to generally find your way
around an installation, but are not specific to any one
make/model. Your car will, no doubt differ a little or a
lot from these instructions. They are not meant to
substitute for the knowledge and experience of a
professional installer. We recommend that you use a
professional installer.
For the do it yourselfer, the very best detailed
instructions are found in am OEM shop manual.
- Before
removing your old top, check the frame. Run it up
and down several times, checking for binding or
areas that pinch the fabric. Make sure both sides
go up and down evenly. Repair any problems.
Drape your new top over your old top to compare
the fit. It will appear slightly small because
your old top is under it.
- Raise
the top halfway and remove the bow header strip.
This is the bead that runs across the front of
the top. It is stapled in, and should pull off
easily. There may be a metal strap screwed over
the edge of the material. Remove the screws and
the strap and set aside. Remove front
weather-strip. Remove all the staples across the
header bow. Take care to not damage the fiber or
plastic tacking strip. This should free the front
of the top.
- Remove
the forward most side rail weather strips on both
sides, along with the quarter side rail
weather-strips. These both bolt on from the
backside of the roof rail. There may be a
Phillips screw in the ends on the weather strip
side. You will have to look for these, as they
are often embedded in the weather strip. Pull the
fabric strips off of the quarters. They are glued
to the metal.
- Side
tension cables are installed in a sleeve in the
top. The front end connects to the right and left
end of the header bow and the rear end exits the
top behind the door window and connects to the
frame.
Look for the ends of the side cables and
determine which end will be removed the easiest,
and remove the end of the cables at one end,
leaving the other end attached to the car. Pull
the cables out through the pockets in the edge of
the top, and drape inside. Inspect the cables. If
they are frayed or corroded, now is the time to
replace them as you must partialy remove the top
to replace them later.
- Check
the second and third bows to see if there are any
screws attaching the top. If there are, remove
the screws and slide the metal bars out of the
listings (pockets) and set aside.
- Put
the top in the up position and latch the front.
Remove the wire-on from the top of the rear bow.
It is stapled on. Remove the rest of the staples
across the rear bow. Some of these may be
difficult to see, so some probing may be
necessary to locate them all.
Rusted or broken stalpes are sharp. Be sure to
remove staples completely. Tiny pieces that
cannot be removed should be hammered flat.
- Behind
the rear seat there usually hangs a piece of
vinyl that separates the interior of the car from
the trunk. It is called the well liner.
Loosen or remove the well liner to provide access
to attachment points beneath. You should be able
to see a metal strip about one and a half inches
high with a series of bolts through it. This is
the rear tack rail. Using the correct size
socket, remove the bolts. There should be 11 to
15 of them, and they should go the entire length
of the tack rail, all the way around to the side
of the car where the top pistons are. When all of
the bolts are removed, the back of the top should
be loose. Some GM cars use a "floating
bar" that just has a couple of bolts in the
ends. For these you will need a flat ratchet, as
they are facing the outside of the car.
- After
the rear tack rail is loose, go to the outside of
the car and place a heavy blanket or fender
covers over the rear of the car around the
convertible top opening. Drape the blanket into
the opening and lift the rear tack rail out of
the hole and place it on the blanket. Remove just
the staples that go through the convertible top
on both sides. This should be the last thing
holding the convertible top onto the car. Remove
the top and set aside for later use checking and
marking the pattern.
- Most
domestic convertibles have two bow pads. They are
installed above the top bows and run from front
to rear . One is installed over the drivers seat
and one over the passengers seat.Their job is to
prevent the metal folding frame from abrading a
hole in the top. The also keep the bows aligned.
We recommend replacing your bow pads with every
top. If you are not installing a new window or
pads, skip down to # 12. If you are not
installing pads skip to #11.
- Replace
bow pads one at a time. These staple on the ends
and sometimes to the ends of the middle bows as
well. On some cars there are screws holding them
onto the center bows. Some cars require that you
open the pads up to remove the pads.
After one pad is off, lay a yardstick vertically
down the center of the rear window to the edge of
the finish molding surrounding the top opening.
The yardstick should be leaning across the rear
bow, and you should be able to read the
measurement at the center of the rear bow. This
is the rear bow height. This should correspond to
the measurement designed for your car. It must be
correct as the rest of the top depends on it for
position. If you do not have this number, we will
be happy to provide that measurement. Attach the
pad in the same manner as it was attached
originally, making sure that they are snug.
- To
remove the rear curtain, take out the staples
along the rear tack strip and from across the
rear bow and the rear window should lift right
out. If your pads are on top of the rear curtain
and you are not replacing the pads, just cut the
rear curtain around the pads, and install the new
rear curtain over them.
When installing the new rear window, first find
the center of the rear bow, the center of the
tack strip and the center of the window assembly
at the top and bottom and mark them. There is
often a small notch in the rear bow and tack
strip signifying the center.
Staple the center of the rear window top strip to
the center of the rear bow, aligning the edge of
the rear curtain top strip to the front edge of
the rear bow. Staple the remainder of the rear
curtain top strip to the rear bow, pulling to the
outside of the car slightly to smooth out the
wrinkles as you go along.Lay your convertible top
over the window assembly to ascertain that the
window is high enough for the top to cover the
upper edge of the glass.
There should be 1/2 to 3/4" of overlap. Too
much overlap means the window is too high, no
overlap means the window is too low. Next, align
the center of the lower part of the rear window
with the corresponding center of the rear tack
strip. Staple the center of the rear curtain to
the center of the rear tack strip. Then work your
way out to the edge of the rear curtain in the
same manner as before.
Unlatch the front of the top frame and have
someone hold it up about a foot to give you
working slack. Bolt in the rear tack strip with
every other bolt, being certain to have one at
the end of each tack strip. Close and latch the
top.
If there are any wrinkles, you can either pull
them out along the top of the rear curtain
assembly or along the rear tack strip. You can
mark the locations with chalk or another
removable medium. Make the adjustments on the
rear bow first, then to the rear tack strip. If
necessary. When you are finished installing the
rear curtain, measure the bow height again to
ensure a proper fit.
- Before
installing the convertible top, lay it out on a
table or clean floor, with the old top over it.
Line up the edges along both sides and then mark
on the new top where the bolt holes went through
the old top. Some people prefer to mark where the
top edge of the rear tack strip hit the old top
on the new top. Either way will work. This is an
important guide to where the top is supposed to
fit on the rear tack strip, and will save you a
lot of time. Because vinyl and fabric is a
flexible medium, these marks are guides only. You
may need to adjust your top to compensate.
- Now
that the back of your new top is marked, lay the
new top over the frame in a position that is
fairly correct. If you removed any metal strips
from the listings in the old top, slide them into
the appropriate listings now. For your
convenience, we have installed a string in the
side tension cable sleeve. Hook the end of the
cable to the string and pull it through the
sleeve. Do the same on the other side. Raise the
top frame about halfway and connect the side
cables to their appropriate places. Move the top
frame to the up position and latch the front. The
cables should be tight, and align the top from
side to side. Now, you need to slide the top
either forward or backward to place the quarter
flaps in the correct place. Quarter flaps are
sewn to the top at the side edge, behind the side
windows. They hold the top to the folding
mechanism. The seam that holds the quarter flaps
to the top should line up with the edge of the
convertible top frame.
- Begin
stapling the rear quarters of the top to the rear
tack strip, beginning at the front end of the
tack strip near the quarter flaps With a few
staples in place, pull the rear of the top,
toward the rear window, around the bend in the
tack strip, stretching it slightly, and
staple the other end. Then pull down on the top
at the curve until your alignment marks are in
the right place, and staple the top to the tack
strip. Continue stapling until there are
sufficient staples to hold the top in place. Do
the same for both sides. Then bolt in the rear
tack strip with just a few bolts, like before.
- At
the front of the car, with the frame still
locked, pull the side of the top forward until
most of the wrinkles disappear. While holding the
top forward, Mark the top at the front edge of
the frame on both sides. Now raise the top
halfway again. Pull the front of the top around
the front bow so as to fold it around the bow.
Pull the top ½" past the front edge of the
bow, fold under and staple between the outer edge
and the seam on both sides. Close the top and
latch it. The sides and quarters should now be
smooth and the rear bow should line up at the
darts in the top above the rear window. If you
have wrinkles, mark them with chalk and go back
and make the adjustments using the instructions
in step 14. Add the front rheader strip that you
removed earlier by stapling under the flap.
- Following
directions on the container, apply spray contact
cement to the quarter flaps and the front side
flaps. With the top latched, pull the flaps into
position and glue down. Raise the top halfway and
install the weather strips.
- With
the top closed and latched, staple the wire-on
across the rear bow with the flap of the wire-on
toward the front of the car, taking care to apply
it straight. Bend over the top and hammer flat.
Install the end caps.
- Now
go inside the car and install the rest of the
bolts. Replace the well, and you’re done.
- Leave
the top up for at two days to a week to allow it
to stretch into position.
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