All the back archives show frustration with taking the H/T apart. I now know why. It's a real pain but can be done. The ST-12 gives the most information on how to remove the stainless retainers and windows. That's all pretty straight forward. Drilling out the stainless rivets was the hardest part and if anyone can drill them out straight, good luck. What worked for me and is not in the books is as follows:
1. Use a dremmel with a small round diamond burr to remove the SS rivets.
Once the round head is off, you can press the shaft through without much
damage, if any. The shaft goes thru a triangle piece of iron attached to
the lower chrome forward channel. This looks like the double rivet.
2. With the back W/S out, there are 15 rivets that hold the frame to top.
Easy to drill out.
3. The front W/S retainer clips on mine were held on by aluminum round head
screw nails. Wonder if Bubba was here before, but the dremmel cut the
retainers easily.
4. The front header SS has to be removed carefully. I started from the
inside part with a 1 inch putty knife and mallet. Then back it off of the
front header trim retainer on the top.
5. Remove the trim retainer with 9 screws and the Header will finally come
off.
6. The frame and Header are held on with a lot of sticky putty, still very
pliable. Now it's in a whole lot of pieces.
Now to get the parts. some of the worst, ie. rusted parts were the SS
retainers. The Hardtop Shop lists most of what i need. Wonder where
to get the back W/S with the hump in it? Anyone makeing these for a 61?
If I can be anal for the rest of the car, The HardTop really isn't hard
to take apart.
Godd Luck, Rick
1. Use a dremmel with a small round diamond burr to remove the SS rivets.
Once the round head is off, you can press the shaft through without much
damage, if any. The shaft goes thru a triangle piece of iron attached to
the lower chrome forward channel. This looks like the double rivet.
2. With the back W/S out, there are 15 rivets that hold the frame to top.
Easy to drill out.
3. The front W/S retainer clips on mine were held on by aluminum round head
screw nails. Wonder if Bubba was here before, but the dremmel cut the
retainers easily.
4. The front header SS has to be removed carefully. I started from the
inside part with a 1 inch putty knife and mallet. Then back it off of the
front header trim retainer on the top.
5. Remove the trim retainer with 9 screws and the Header will finally come
off.
6. The frame and Header are held on with a lot of sticky putty, still very
pliable. Now it's in a whole lot of pieces.
Now to get the parts. some of the worst, ie. rusted parts were the SS
retainers. The Hardtop Shop lists most of what i need. Wonder where
to get the back W/S with the hump in it? Anyone makeing these for a 61?
If I can be anal for the rest of the car, The HardTop really isn't hard
to take apart.
Godd Luck, Rick
Comment