68 GT convertible project
I've been putting off working on the convertible top mechanism because it was intimidating. Finally got to the point where I needed to work on it so...
I started out by taking a lot of pictures and measurements. There are two main adjustment links at the back that have a lot of adjustability. Before taking the bolts loose, I staked both sides of the links so I could line up the marks during assembly. With all the measurements and pictures taken I took the mechanism to the back yard and power washed it.
Here are all the pieces of the top mechanism laid out after disassembly.
I started with the bows since those looked simple. The tack strip material on the sides were in decent shape but there were signs of rust underneath them so they had to be removed. The factory installed the tack strips into bare metal bows...then they were painted. The tack strip material in the rear bow was in bad shape so that was removed as well. I'll talk to a convertible top installer and see what they recommend before I reinstall any new tack strip material.
Original paint underneath a side bracket. SEM Trim Black looks like a perfect match to me.
After the three bows were sanded down and painted, I turned my attention to the front header. It looked like it was in really good shape with no sections rusted through. After taking out the old latches though, a bunch of scaly rusty crap came out of the hollow inner cavity. I bought a cheap endoscope for my cell phone so I could see deeper inside to assess the rust. It looked pretty nasty.
I found a good deal on EvapoRust at Walmart.com believe it or not. A 3.5 gallon bucket was only like $46. I bought three. Then I picked up some scrap 2x4 / 2x6 and OSB from work and built two boxes. One to soak the header and one to soak the side mechanisms.
I lined the long box with plastic and soaked the header in the EvapoRust for close to 24 hours...checking it and hosing it out periodically. The results were impressive.
before
after
After the EvapoRust bath I sprayed the inside with Ospho(actually Concrete and Metal Prep which is the same thing) which turned the remaining rust in the tight seams black. Then I masked off the latch openings and poured black paint into the cavity. I poured a lot in and made sure I got everything inside coated. Then let the excess run out the other end.
Somewhere(probably at a garage sale) I picked up a paint stripping wheel for a drill but had never tried it so I was skeptical on how good it would actually strip paint and rust. I wasn't looking forward to stripping the paint since paint stripping SUCKS! So, I thought I'd give that wheel a try. Wow, it worked awesome. I got the entire header stripped in about 15 minutes.
Then I hung the header panel on the garage door track and sprayed it with self etch primer and SEM Trim Black. Then I repeated the steps with the side mechanisms.(EvapoRust bath/paint stripping wheel/hand sanding tight areas around all the links/painting with SEM)
Just got done assembling everything. Sanded and polished the 6 side weather stripping channels and installing the weather stripping. I installed a new set of latches which didn't fit near as nice as the original ones...big shock I know. One side fit ok but the other side wasn't even close to fitting. I had to sand down the back side of the latch so it would bolt up. Some weather stripping needs to be trimmed and I just realized that I didn't installed the side wires(which I don't have anyway...they come with the new top)but it's basically done.
It's hard to get a nice picture of it since everything is black but it turned out nice.
I've been putting off working on the convertible top mechanism because it was intimidating. Finally got to the point where I needed to work on it so...
I started out by taking a lot of pictures and measurements. There are two main adjustment links at the back that have a lot of adjustability. Before taking the bolts loose, I staked both sides of the links so I could line up the marks during assembly. With all the measurements and pictures taken I took the mechanism to the back yard and power washed it.
Here are all the pieces of the top mechanism laid out after disassembly.
I started with the bows since those looked simple. The tack strip material on the sides were in decent shape but there were signs of rust underneath them so they had to be removed. The factory installed the tack strips into bare metal bows...then they were painted. The tack strip material in the rear bow was in bad shape so that was removed as well. I'll talk to a convertible top installer and see what they recommend before I reinstall any new tack strip material.
Original paint underneath a side bracket. SEM Trim Black looks like a perfect match to me.
After the three bows were sanded down and painted, I turned my attention to the front header. It looked like it was in really good shape with no sections rusted through. After taking out the old latches though, a bunch of scaly rusty crap came out of the hollow inner cavity. I bought a cheap endoscope for my cell phone so I could see deeper inside to assess the rust. It looked pretty nasty.
I found a good deal on EvapoRust at Walmart.com believe it or not. A 3.5 gallon bucket was only like $46. I bought three. Then I picked up some scrap 2x4 / 2x6 and OSB from work and built two boxes. One to soak the header and one to soak the side mechanisms.
I lined the long box with plastic and soaked the header in the EvapoRust for close to 24 hours...checking it and hosing it out periodically. The results were impressive.
before
after
After the EvapoRust bath I sprayed the inside with Ospho(actually Concrete and Metal Prep which is the same thing) which turned the remaining rust in the tight seams black. Then I masked off the latch openings and poured black paint into the cavity. I poured a lot in and made sure I got everything inside coated. Then let the excess run out the other end.
Somewhere(probably at a garage sale) I picked up a paint stripping wheel for a drill but had never tried it so I was skeptical on how good it would actually strip paint and rust. I wasn't looking forward to stripping the paint since paint stripping SUCKS! So, I thought I'd give that wheel a try. Wow, it worked awesome. I got the entire header stripped in about 15 minutes.
Then I hung the header panel on the garage door track and sprayed it with self etch primer and SEM Trim Black. Then I repeated the steps with the side mechanisms.(EvapoRust bath/paint stripping wheel/hand sanding tight areas around all the links/painting with SEM)
Just got done assembling everything. Sanded and polished the 6 side weather stripping channels and installing the weather stripping. I installed a new set of latches which didn't fit near as nice as the original ones...big shock I know. One side fit ok but the other side wasn't even close to fitting. I had to sand down the back side of the latch so it would bolt up. Some weather stripping needs to be trimmed and I just realized that I didn't installed the side wires(which I don't have anyway...they come with the new top)but it's basically done.
It's hard to get a nice picture of it since everything is black but it turned out nice.