82XFire

Alright,

I've beat up the Search button and the archives, but the results are very, very scarce.

The T-Tops on the 82 CE started leaking air. Upon inspection, the glass is pulling away from the internal frame. About half of the seal is still intact and the frame is in its original location on the glass. Beyond the adhesive issue, the Glass, WS, trim and all other components are in excellent condition.

Yes, the Tops got pulled so they don't fly off and buzzsaw some mini-van in half.

I need to?

A: Get new tops.
B: Fix the tops myself
c: Have someone else perform the repair.

None of the local glass shops, vette dealers, or resto shops will even consider taking on the task. I have found a few places with ship to/fix/ship back options for 500-600 bucks. New is around 1100.

Anyone try this repair themselves?
Anyone had a good experience with shopping it out?

Thanks for any input!

SIXFOOTER

Epoxy? Inject with some sort of needle fitting and clamp it on

jlelec

I have a set that is coming unlaminated also. If anyone has repaired these before, please speak up.. Melrose tops wants $150 each plus shipping, which will be another $100

VETTEVIC

When you say "GLASS" do you mean fiberglass or see through glass? If its fiberglass, just bond it like any other part on the body. I used Fusor 127ez from Lord corporation for all my bonding, doors,t-tops, front clip etc. If its GLASS, its probably going to need a urethane adhesive but I am not sure.

82XFire

Oh yeah they are definitely glass.

3M Window Weld is the product getting recommended so far.

150 beats the 600 from Marcel's.

From what I can tell by looking at the AIM diagrams it should be easy enough to keep things aligned. But will it hold?

It can't be rocket surgery...

I'm Batman

3M window weld is some pretty strong stuff...

82XFire

Somebody has to have .02 or .03 to throw in on this.
Nobody on the forum has ever tried to repair their own glass tops?
I don't believe it.

Anybody have a friend/relative that works in the auto-glass industry?

Pulled the inner trim weatherstrip and the front inner quadrant is where the adhesive has let go.
Clamping concerns me, what type, how many, placement. I've only got one shot to make sure glass/frame is a flush fit...

82XFire

Has anyone used Melrose before?

To get correct alignment and consistent bond myself could be a pita.

Still looking for advice or more ideas.

jimvette999

my 2 cents
I would use the black Urathane windshield adhesive.
I would use several of these to hold it.http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...cStoreNum=8125

tak82

3M window weld is my vote. My are doing the same thing on my 82. I have set a few windshields with this stuff and it won't let go, actually all you need to do is wiggle it in place and let it set up, if you clamp it you risk pushing to much or all the urethane out. The only question for you and myself, just put some urethane in the area letting go or remove the frame and reurethane the whole thing risking misallignment ?

82XFire

Yep, that's the big question.

The "Right" way is to peel it off and reattach the entire thing.
The "Wrong" way gaurantees alignment. If the other half lets go and the whole things wiggles, the new adhesive will eventually let go and we're back to a giant pinwheel of death on the freeway.

If I go for the entire thing there will have to be some type of alignment marks involved. Sharpie and a prayer.
I'm noticing torsional pressure on the part of the frame not currently attached. Clamps will probably be a must due to the curved surface of the glass.

Glassbowtie77

The one good thing about separating the whole thing is that you can get all the loose rust flakes and broken nylon tabs from the old weatherstrip out of it so that it doesn't roll around in there when you take the tops off and on. My passenger side came completely apart and I cleaned everything before putting back together and now there is no more noise. Just mark everything up with a Sharpie before bonding it back together.

82XFire

3M Window Weld rocks!
Clamps and a syringe from an ink jet refilling kit.

Very strong. Until the Nissan hit from behind.
That's another story.

SULLY_PA

Damn that hurts just looking at it....sorry for your pain!

VegasJen

man that just figures! i claim that's why i don't fix mine. as soon as i do, some a-hole in an import will smack it.

melrose

82xfire- I assume you have the original M94A collector edition tops that came with the car. If so you will probably want to keep them and have them repaired as they are quite rare these days, and with rarity comes inflated prices. I heard The last set of M94A's went for about $1800. We have crates of the original RH M94A's from GM but no lefts. Same goes wit the M1131 Blue laminated's, rights but no lefts.
M94A's are tricky. To do the fix properly the lens should be pulled from the frame, be careful not to pull the vinyl from the inside of the glass while doing so, if you do you will see the open spot through from the outside. Once apart you need to trim the excess dried urethane. Be careful while trimming because the mirrored element on these tops are on the inside and if you scratch this finish it will also be apparent from the outside when done. Once trimmed you will need to rebond it. We use a series of preps, primers, and urethane. To align it just plop the frame down back over the alignment studs located under the hdw. and clamp it with med. pressure just enough so you see some urethane squeeze out. If the alignment is a little off don't worry about it, the hdw. has plenty of play in it to adjust properly on the car. This is very time involved which is why you are receiving tall quotes.
Call me if you have further q's
Chris at Melrose

Big2Bird

I did this once. NEVER again. You insist on trying, this is the right stuff.
http://www.sikaindustry.com/ind/ipd-...oglass-agr.htm

Send it to someone else to do. It's a PITA. $500 is fair.

rfhall50

I had exactly the same problem. Took it to my local auto glass place. As you say, most won't touch it. One said they would try. They cleared away the black film from the metal frame out to the edge, then marked around the metal with a bright colored grease stick. Used a black adhesive (secret auto glass potion ?), then clamped it for 24 hours. After removing clamps, they advised me to let it cure for another 24 hours.

When I put it back in the car life was good again, with a quieter ride !

Bob

melrose

Another word of caution. If you use some type of epoxy and it does not hold it will cost you more in the end for the repair. Very hard to remove epoxies and other hard drying glues from w/s, frame, and glass in order to get a clean area to reglue to.