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Friends of mine have a 72 convertible, with a hardtop. The car is used for cruising and some car shows, and for the most part the top will be off. But there are some occasions, where they would like to put the top of for short periods of time. Currently, there are threaded studs on the two outside holes, and a stud on the middle one. Currently, wing nuts are being used, but the only way to tighten them is to lift the lid to tighten them, then shut it to attach to the windshield.
Should they just by the same attachment studs that are used by the soft top, and just 'snap' it on? What about the side bolts and the center stud? I think that using the two attachment studs, and connecting to the windshield is good enough for the short time use it will get. Is this correct thinking?
I think the softop pins are fine. 68s use them as the receiver will not accept the stud. With that said, I would be very careful if not using those side bolts. My top jettison about 35 years ago as a teenager driving my 68. I was unaware of the side bolts at the time. Took some repairing years later ( I was gearing up onto the interstate). I was lucky nobody was behind me.
Beautiful car by the way. Love the color combo. My 68 (still have it) has the ( repaired and properly mounted) hardtop on it. I think it is a clean look.
My hard.top is set up with the soft top studs as you describe. To install the top, set the soft top “arrows” in their respective holes, put in the bolts o the sides and then do up the front clamps.
I believe the cars that were built with removable hard tops had bolts or the rear for C2; and according to the AIM for my 73 there are the special chrome 1/2 bolts that go into receiver nuts on each side above the shoulder belt reel (if your car has them). I can see how you could put a nut on a threaded bar going through the rear hatch, because my soft top is in the way. There is a metal bracket on each side of the top that the chrome bolt passes through, and a rubber cover that goes over the bolt. All the vendors sell the bolts, but not the brackets.
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I have been using the soft top pins for a couple of years on different tops. The first couple of tops had the side bolts and I always used them. My current top had the side brackets removed and I had to run the top with out the side mounts and it was loose and rattled a bit unlike the others. I have since repaired it and always run the side bolts now. As for the center stud, its there to pull the center of the roof down to the deck to get a good seal. The 68s didnt have that and there has always been a gap there on mu 68
How much do they care about the paint on the deck lid? If they don’t tighten the three along the rear (two studs and center bolt) the faster the weatherstripping wears its contour into the paint of the deck lid.
72 Hardtop Question
