'59 Soft Top. A different problem

[Dave F.]

Recently there was a discussion on the board about how to fix a soft top on a '59 and I posted the Restorer article on the subject. While the article talked about straightening a bar that was bent upward, mine seems to be the opposite, with maybe something else going on. I am taking the car back to the shop that installed my top and they are going to have another try at it, but if any of you have suggestions on how to fix this it would be much appreciated.

My top, which appears to have the original frame, sags in the middle on both the drivers side and passenger side. The bars do appear to be bent a little (downward), but also the top of the frame just seems to want to fall down a bit where the bars meet in the middle of the window. I can't shut the doors properly if the windows are rolled up all the way. I can push this area up by hand to make it sit better, but then it returns to it's lower position very quickly. The fabric seems to fit real nice. No too tight, not too loose.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

-Dave

[Dave F.]

Re: '59 Soft Top. A different problem *NM*

[Dave F.]

Re: '59 Soft Top. A different problem *NM*

[Roy B.]

Re: '59 Soft Top. A different problem

The Articulate arm - That's what I call the second arm that mounts to the body bracket. Follow the arm mechanical action that ends above the area your having trouble with and you should see how it PULLS UP vertical to flatten the two plates horizontal . That's what your missing to understand is how it relates to lift the two plate even. Things that affect this condition besides not having the Articulate arm adjusted correct are!
Soft top latches are wrong (using hard top latches)
Soft top weatherstripping not original ( isn't repro'ed)
Windshield header pivot point to fare back ( missing side post shims)
Top material to tight ( usually the biggest problem)
Many others will chime in with their fix (hopefully)
Not understanding these things cause the plates to bend that many people talk about.
There are people smarter then me to explain this better or argue it!

[Don S.]

Re: 'a buble top will fix it *NM*

[Terry D.]

Re: '59 Soft Top. A different problem

Dave

How about a picture from the inside? Also resize your pictures down to about 400x300 so they fit better on the page. How easy are the front latches to engage?
Terry

[Jim K.]

Re: '59 Soft Top. A different problem

Hi Dave:
I was once told that the front two pieces of the frame that is bolted to the front headder frequently bent due to putting the top up and the pivot joints beginning to bind. Assuming the binding has been repaired with the install of the new top, perhaps what was missing was to re-shape the bent pieces prior to new top install??? When I did mine on the 61 (3 years ago) I reshaped all four pieces of frame rail that contact the glass with a hammer and block of wood. To start, I installed the hard top and adjusted the windows to it, then adjusted the frame to the windows and made sure thoes four side rails were the same shape as the windows. it was tested with the new seals and then the top was installed. When I raise the top now, I am more careful not to pull too hard on the front rail... I don't know how right I was, but it worked!
You should be able to bend the rails after the fact, but I'm not looking at a top frame right now, and have a limited memory after only doing one top.
Good Luck!
Jim

[Dave F.]

Re: '59 Soft Top. A different problem

Terry,

The car is already at the shop, so I'll have to stop by there later and snap some pictures before I can post anything from inside of car. (I'll post smaller pictures, but these ones fit my screen just fine, and I am only using a 17" monitor. I turn off the "frames" for the forum though.)

My front latches have always been relatively easy to engage. Tight, but nothing that requires a lot of force. From Roy's post, I am now wondering if I have the right latches. And I definitely used new weatherstrip from Al Knoch.

-Dave

[Dave F.]

Re: '59 Soft Top. A different problem

Thanks Jim. I am going to collect all this info and pass it along to the soft top installer. I don't dare start hammering on it myself.

-Dave

[Dave F.]

Re: '59 Soft Top. A different problem

Terry,

Attached are the same three pics in a PDF document which you should be able to open to any size you want.

-Dave

http://home.comcast.net/~dfree68/Top.pdf

[Roy B.]

Re: '59 Soft Top. A different problem *NM*

[Dave F.]

Re: '59 Soft Top. A different problem

Terry,

Here are some pictures from inside the car. Again in a PDF file so we don't have to worry about screen size or posting too many pictures in the thread.

Sorry for the blurry ones. It was hard a dark area and the flash didn't help the pictures any so I just had to try to be steady.

-Dave

http://home.comcast.net/~dfree68/inside_top.pdf