Quick early C3 conv't hardtop question
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 297
Likes: 0
From: Eden Prairie MN
Quick early C3 conv't hardtop question
Who can explain to me the hardtop bolt down mounting position? I believe that this is on the convert lid. If a car was ordered with the hardtop, did Chev install the bolts/nuts, but if no top was ordered, the lid was just left untouched?
Thanks
Rand
Thanks
Rand
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 2,140
Likes: 7
From: Ohio
Their was a center hole in the lid that covers the soft top and on each side of the lid their was threaded hole on the inside front corner on cars with a factory hardtop installed at the factory. If only a soft top was ordered the three holes were not in the lid. With the convertible top up the center hole is on the inside of the car.
Race Director
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 10,045
Likes: 675
From: FL
Their was a center hole in the lid that covers the soft top and on each side of the lid their was threaded hole on the inside front corner on cars with a factory hardtop installed at the factory. If only a soft top was ordered the three holes were not in the lid. With the convertible top up the center hole is on the inside of the car.
Mine was an original hardtop car. Here is a pic that shows two of the three holes. You can see the center hole and one of the threaded holes (just in front of the passenger seat).
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 297
Likes: 0
From: Eden Prairie MN
Great info- To be clear, if both the hard and soft top came from the factory, I would expect to see both the threaded holes on the front inside of the lid AND the one in the center? Did the center one have any function, or was it just for alignment?
Thanks
Rand
Thanks
Rand
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 2,140
Likes: 7
From: Ohio
I think their was a threaded stud in the hardtop that went through the center hole and a washer and nut on the bottom. I took the stud out and just used the other two holes on the side. The hardtop also used the holes where the softtop pins went to bolt down the hardtop with studs so i left the center bolt out.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,100
Likes: 12
From: Frederick Maryland
The center hole wasn't installed until the late '69 model year or maybe the start of the '70 model year. My early '69 doesn't have the center hole. If you have an earlier model and a later removeable hardtop, you have to remove the center bolt.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 114
Likes: 0
From: Memphis TN
You really dont need any of the extra factory holes to use a hardtop. The hardtop uses the same holes as the soft top to hold the back, and of course the same clamp arrangement that the soft top uses in the front. Unless you are just wanting to duplicate factory correctness, you dont need any of the extra holes. If you are concerned about the rear letting go for some reason, use studs with nuts as someone else suggested instead of the prong-style pins that the soft top uses. I have put these on without securing the back at all...it is so heavy, and with the 3 clamps in the front it wont go anywhere. Everyone thinks that they want a hardtop, but it usually comes off the car the day its bought, placed in the corner of the garage in the way of everything, and then goes back on the car the day it is sold. Do you other guys regularly use the hard top?
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 114
Likes: 0
From: Memphis TN
Meant to say that I read that the center hole was added later, as someone else stated, because of customer complaints that it did not seal good in the center of the decklid and leaked. The softtop rear bow is aluminum and can be easily bent to conform to the shape of the decklid to improve sealing, but the hardtop of course cant be bent to improve the seal.
Racer
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 488
Likes: 0
From: Fremont,CA
My 69 Vert with the factory hard top is the same as SteveG75 with the exception I don't have the center pin. Don't know when that started.
CF Community Team
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 9,328
Likes: 359
From: Delaware
St. Jude Donor '25
You really dont need any of the extra factory holes to use a hardtop. The hardtop uses the same holes as the soft top to hold the back, and of course the same clamp arrangement that the soft top uses in the front. Unless you are just wanting to duplicate factory correctness, you dont need any of the extra holes. If you are concerned about the rear letting go for some reason, use studs with nuts as someone else suggested instead of the prong-style pins that the soft top uses. I have put these on without securing the back at all...it is so heavy, and with the 3 clamps in the front it wont go anywhere. Everyone thinks that they want a hardtop, but it usually comes off the car the day its bought, placed in the corner of the garage in the way of everything, and then goes back on the car the day it is sold. Do you other guys regularly use the hard top?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,100
Likes: 12
From: Frederick Maryland
The only reason I have a removeable hardtop is because the original documentation with my numbers matching '69 427/435 says it came with one, which became seperated from the car sometime in the past.
I found a really nice hardtop for my car that only needs to be painted a matching color. Even then, I doubt it I'll ever put it on the car.
I found a really nice hardtop for my car that only needs to be painted a matching color. Even then, I doubt it I'll ever put it on the car.
