jusplainwacky

Thanks Mike and Rich for all your contribution to my POST and helping me with my problem. I knew converting this car to a soft top probably wasn't going to be easy, but I wanted to do it so that I can gain the experience and perhaps help others should they have the same problem.

For the sake of anyone reading this down the line...

In trying to figure out what was the problem here, I kept going back to that 90 degree bracket as the issue, but was afraid to bend it and making things worse. I also mentioned that the front horizontal piece seemed to me to be wanting to go down as it moved away from the windshield, and the second horizontal piece seemed to wanting to go up as it moved to the front. Now that I have bent that front bracket, and arched the front horizontal frame "up", the frame actually as a VERY SLIGHT arch upward in the center, which also contours more to the window arch. I couldn't understand why the frame would be "straight", while the window is "arched".
I didn't have to bend it much to make a big difference, and I might even bend it more now that I can see the affect it had.
Thanks again!!

MOXIE62

Now that you have it right, you can look forward to adjusting it again when you put the top material on.

rich5962

Glad you got it. Looks much better.

I think you had to bend them due to some oddity related to your car. Body mis-shimmed or ? I dunno, maybe you might wanna check some of the foundation bits. All 4 tires equal air pressure etc?

I've had some strange cars with strange problems before. Like a box-o-chocolates sometimes.

For reference, a few pics of the '61 brackets I have here.

Now, what are you going to do about the soft top? Paint first, or are you going to install it now?

jusplainwacky

Anybody else having problems going to page #3 on this POST?

jusplainwacky

Hmm...I replied to my POST on page #2, and now I see Page 3...weird.

Anyway....

I'm going to put the rag on first, then paint the car. I solicited advice on this forum regarding this and also checked with Al at (Al Knoch interiors) and he said put it on first then paint it.

I'm actually thinking of leaving the bracket that attaches to the pie-plates and attenuation arm, on the frame when I remove it, so that I don't have mess with it.

In "tweaking" it a little today, I also VERY SLIGHTLY bent the horizontal side top frame pieces up along the outside. This raises the weather stripping on the outside and dips it on the inside. Mind you...when I say "SLIGHTLY", I mean just that.

It really fits good. I can open and close the door and don't have to lift up in the center. A couple of times in folding up the top into the decklid and latching it back up, I had to slightly press on the door window so the rubber would flip over the outside of the window...but it was just barely touching. I'd actually rather have it a little tight for water.

After the rag gets on, then it's off for to the paint shop...pretty excited!

Thanks again for all your help...it was invaluable.

jusplainwacky

Well...I'm glad to report that I finished my soft top (just a few touch-ups to go), and I'm very pleased with the results! What a job. Never having done one, it was quite the experience. I learned a lot along the way and I'd like to share it with those people thinking of doing one themselves.

For those that may not know, my car was originally a hardtop only model. It never had a soft top, so I started from ground zero.

A while back ago I restored my hardtop and in the process I created a POST called "Brain Bump on restoring my 1958 hardtop". I'm planning to do the same thing for my soft top. It is my hope that people will get as much out of it as they did my hardtop post.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the finished product. I put it out in the sun to "bake".

rich5962

Congrats on a nice first time project. Looks really good.

We all had a "first time" on these. Mine was 22 years ago when I did my '59......Which I kept doing over 2 or 3 times until I was happy with it. Fortunately with the same rag, just pulling hundreds of staples and re-stapling to get it right. We had no CD or major reference guides then. It was trial and error for me, and lots of errors.

I spent hours on the phone with guys all over, and in particular Joe Calgano in California. He was so helpful. We spent almost every other night on the phone. When I got home from work I'd eat dinner and run down to the garage and work on it. I think it took a few weeks part time that winter.

So since you're going to take it off for paint, you may want to make up a fixture/frame out of 2x's and lag screw the brackets to it to keep it stretched out. Typically I like to keep a new top facing the sky for several weeks to get comfortable with itself. And I never keep a top in the storage well unless I'm using it on rides. It's always up in the garage. My '59 top is now 22 years old and still looks nice.

Rich

5869vette

Looks great, Thanks for posting the pics .

Tony

cool60vet

Thanks for the post and all he pictures. The end result looks good and I enjoyed following you thu all the weeks of trial and errors
Stan

jusplainwacky

Thanks everyone! It's nice to have friends on here that help you along the way and recognize your accomplishments. It's greatly appreciated!!

I'm very proud of the way it came out. I wanted to do it myself so that I gained the experience and be able to share it with others. I took many pictures and created a "diary" that I'd like to share.

Doing one top doesn't make me a pro...but it does put me in a unique position in looking at it from a beginners perspective. There are many things I encountered that are not on the DVD or on the Forum. You just discover them by doing it yourself.

I'm still "tweaking it". As you can see, the vinyl doesn't touch the decklid anymore...which it really shouldn't. As Rich pointed out, if it touches, it will wear your paint off. I could easily see this, cause as I had it sitting in the sun and slapping it with the palm of my hand to release some of the tension, I saw the vinyl going back and forth on the decklid....just like sandpaper.

Bomba_MC

I have the same problem. But I have 2 questions if you could please help me.

1) which way did you have to bend those 90 degree brackets?

2) what do you use or how did you bend them???

I thank you kindly

MOXIE62

The sad part about these vinyl tops is you can have it looking great, as yours does, but once you have it down and tucked away for any length of time there will be creases and wrinkles that never go away.

ejboyd5

All these fitting posts make me realize how very fortunate I was in this area. When I got my '61 about 30 years ago it had a '58-'60 soft top frame installed. Almost immediately I stumbled across a DRIVELINE ad from a fellow in Danvers, MA who had a '61-'62 frame that he wanted to trade for an earlier model. Took my frame off the car, hopped on the Orient Point to New London, CT ferry and met the fellow who had driven down from MA. We made a trade in the ferry parking lot and I was back on the same boat for the trip home. The new frame fit my car perfectly, I hope mine worked as well on his earlier car.

seeone

bomba, I used c-clamps, with wood pieces, and some steel pieces between the C-clamps and the top parts, to reshape those parts. I reshaped them to fit the top of the door windows. I would never have known this needed to be done but I typed "soft top" into search on the forum and someone had very good pictures and information on the process. It needs to be done while the frame is bare. Those pieces are soft and bend easily. Before you do the repair those two pieces will fit poorly, low in the center forming a V. When the repair is done they will fit the upward curve of the top of the door window and will seal correctly. My soft top install came out very nice thanks to the kind members who posted the information on this forum. The top I installed is the same one on my avatar.

MOXIE62

I may be telling you something you already know but these tops when lowered into the compartment can pinch the material. I do not know if your car has them but the 62 do. That's the strap that snaps onto the top bow. wraps around the top when it is folded and snaps again. In doing this you can pull the material out from the pinch points and see how to fold top safety.