1958 Hard top only question

[Tom B.]

Kevin,

I think you're making this more difficult that it is. I am more than convinced already that you are capable of doing this. If the exhaust stud bolts are going to break then they will with your mechanic as well as with you. The only reason I can see for you to pay $180 labor to your mechanic is if you can't afford the down time of the car or if you just don't have time to do it yourself. Other than those two reasons, my polite suggestion is for you to get in there and do it yourself. Tom #24014

[Richard T.]

1958 Hard top only question

on a 1958 ordered with only the hard top will the gas tank cover have the felt window protector installed or was this omitted if no soft top was specified ?

[Dale Pearman]

Supposed To Have Been

omitted BUT that didn't always happen! Here's a quintessential case of why we shouldn't try to establish absolutes. I would imagine that the soft top installation guys would have had that responsibility to trim out the top storage area before installing the top and adjusting the side screws that position the front header bow. (Access would have been greater without the top frame).

I can imagine an in-depth discussion about the St. Louis Cardinals while one of the workers installed the valour and the other one read the broadcast sheet and said, "OOPS. No top on this one".

The Rev.

[John M.]

Re: Supposed To Have Been

Dale, that brings up another question. Were nut plates installed only on soft top cars to attach the outer top brackets out to the area behind the door jambs? I have a car which does not have them, but all the reinforcements are there and the latches are there in the decklid. I think someone decided to make a two top car out of a hardtop only years ago and just ran out of ambition before he finished the job. Can the nutplates be installed in a manner that will look correct? By looking at the AIM it appeared that they were probably installed before the outer quarters were bonded on and it looks like a tough job to do from the inside. Has anyone done this task and how did you do it and make it look right? Somewhere in the future I am either going to complete the job or return the car to a hardtop only car, but would prefer to have a soft top for those days that I am driving and may get caught in the rain. Thanks John

[Loren L.]

Re: 1958 Hard top only question

If the muslin/felt is there on a hardtop only car, you are OUTSIDE of the normally accepted parameters; remember that the installer could look at the brackets to determine if this was a softop car - if the correct configuration is not there, no felt/muslin - if it's not a car that can be considered "Bowtie", you are swimming upstream without enough air in your tanks for success

[Dale Pearman]

I'm Confused

By "nut plates" are you refering to the brackets (one on each outboard side) that accept the convertible top frame. The rather large "plates" that are held in a semi-vertical position with cap screws?

Dale.

[John M.]

Re: I'm Confused

Dale, I am talking about the bracket on which attaches the top to the large pie - plate brackets on the outboard side and then go on to attach to the inside of the quarter panel. If you have access to a 60 AIM I am talking about bracket 3716354 in sect C on sheet 1. look in view B. I suppose I could use a rivnut and it probably not be seen but was curious how the factory did it and what others have had success with. John

[Dale Pearman]

OK. I Think

we're on the same page. Are you worried about "T nut section J"? Do you think you had a HT only Car? A 2 top Car? A soft top car? What is it that needs an answer? What are you trying to do?

Dale.

[John M.]

Re: OK. I Think

Dale, since the T-nut is not installed on either side of my car I think that it is a pretty safe bet that my car was a hardtop only car, but someone went to a lot of trouble to convert it to a two top car only stopping when they got to where the T nuts were supposed to be and realized that they weren't there. I would like to continue the proccess if there is a good way to install some nuts without making it look obvious that they had been added. When I looked in section J it looks like they were riveted on from the back side and I don't see any way to do the same job the factory did with the quarter skins on the car. comments? John

[Bill W.]

Re: 1958 Hard top only question

my very late 62 was a hard top only car it did not have the top pad or any of the brkts.

[Dale Pearman]

There's A Way

to do this. Give me a while to think about it and I'll get my hands on a car today to see. If nothing else a dry-wall type blind nut deal could be used. Dale.

[John M.]

Re: There's A Way

Thanks Dale, That is kind of what I was thinking, my only concern is when the bracket is installed do the rivets show arround the bracket or does it cover the rivet heads? If they show I suppose I could put in some dummy rivet heads. John