[PurelyGTO68]

Thank you for the reply. I will see how it looks in a week or two.
Sorry for the thread hijack.....just figured the three or four of us who are doing 68 convertibles are all following this thread so I was hopeful someone had seen those marks before.

This was my first time installing a convertible top. Took me four days...professionals do it in one day I think. I purchased a How To book inline for $20. It had step by step with photos and illustrations. I couldn't have done it without that book. Also need the Fisher Body Manual for the critical dimensions.

[68ragtop]

You guys are encouraging me to install my own top. I was going to give it a try as I have done everything else in my restoration & I have been less than impressed with many tops I have seen installed. Usually see big ol wrinkles in the sail panel area.

I have studied the fisher assembly manual & after taking my top mechanism apart I knew I was probably going to give it a try. That Kee Top & along with the detail of how it was installed looks simply fantastic.

I am jealous of how far you are getting ahead of me PurelyGTO68 I had my body painted almost 2 year ago already, but ran into some big issues with panel stress in the rear quarters from my rotisserie that caused me to re-paint the tub. It's corrected & resprayed now, but I am letting the paint shrink up nice & tight for a couple of months & finish more little detail parts while a wait. My basement is completely full of staged parts ready to go on. The top mechanism Is pretty much the last thing I have to do. Oh, & polishing the stainless parts. Been tempted to farm that out, but there are only 6 pieces? besides the rockers trims which I might buy re-pop. Haven't decided yet.

[kk68]

You definitely can do it, but it ain’t easy. In hindsight It would have been much easier farming it out to a professional, but it was satisfying to do it myself. And I agree, that you see a lot of tops done by professionals that aren’t anywhere near as nice as Purely’s looks.

I didn’t have the how-to-book that Purely used (maybe should have), but I found a few resources on line that were very helpful to me. Appreciative of these guys for documenting their top installations so well.

http://www.squidsfabshop.com/convtop1/convtop1.html
http://www.leftlanebrain.com/convert...-installation/
http://www.leftlanebrain.com/convert...nstallation/2/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN4TD8KJCDc

If you got the time and the patience, go for it.

[PurelyGTO68]

I agree with kk68. If we can do it then you can do it. Between the two of us, we could even offer a tip or two to help you along. If you order your Kee Top from M & T Manufacturing then they will sell you the How To book for half price. Either way, the book is worth having for sure. Only thing that wasn't covered is how to finish the ends of the round welting piece at the front of the header bow. I came up with something that I thought looked nice.

If doing it by yourself...you are going to need some clamps. I purchased these from Home Depot. Used them for two headliners and now one convertible top (as well as a dozen other uses...)

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[PurelyGTO68]

Originally Posted by kk68

You definitely can do it, but it ain’t easy. In hindsight It would have been much easier farming it out to a professional, but it was satisfying to do it myself. And I agree, that you see a lot of tops done by professionals that aren’t anywhere near as nice as Purely’s looks.

I didn’t have the how-to-book that Purely used (maybe should have), but I found a few resources on line that were very helpful to me. Appreciative of these guys for documenting their top installations so well.

http://www.squidsfabshop.com/convtop1/convtop1.html
http://www.leftlanebrain.com/convert...-installation/
http://www.leftlanebrain.com/convert...nstallation/2/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN4TD8KJCDc

If you got the time and the patience, go for it.

Your top looks spectacular! How did you finish the round welting at the header bow? I have seen it done a half dozen different ways on other cars but not sure what is correct. ??

I came up with my own idea....isn't glued down yet so I can still make changes if neccessary.

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[kk68]

Definitely a tricky area. This is how I did mine.

[kk68]

Here’s a pick of the underside of the front corners.

[PurelyGTO68]

Thanks for the pics. I think I like your way better. Looks more like what the factory would have done and have seen a few other cars done in a similar fashion.


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[68ragtop]

fantastic picts! I didn't think my original top had a seam like that at the very front edge. I still have it, I'll have to look at it again. Not much left to the fabric though, just hanging onto it for reference.

[webfoot]

I don't know if I am brave enough to install my own top.

I don't know if it is too late or not but there is a kit with O-rings and a check ball, I don't remember where I bought mine from but here is another link:

https://www.convertibletopguys.com/c...72-Pontiac-GTO ""O" Ring Motor Pump Service Kit For Any American Makes"

[Brewster]

Wow, great info on this thread. Not sure what Im going to do but have a year to think about it. Keep the pics and thoughts coming. Appreciate the read either way guys. Cheers

[68ragtop]

Originally Posted by webfoot

I don't know if I am brave enough to install my own top.

I don't know if it is too late or not but there is a kit with O-rings and a check ball, I don't remember where I bought mine from but here is another link:

https://www.convertibletopguys.com/c...72-Pontiac-GTO ""O" Ring Motor Pump Service Kit For Any American Makes"

The way I have been looking at it is, the labor is the most expensive part of the top, so looking at the prices of doing it all myself, The worst thing that could happen is I ruin the top & I bring it to somebody, but I think most of us guys on this forum, are willing to burn up a lot of hours to do it ourselves, not only for the satisfaction, but so we can see if its possible & control what it looks like the best we can. No question a good top guy can spend extra time to make sure it looks great, but what if it doesn't? I have seen way too many tops "professionally" installed that do not look good at all. There was a 69 Firebird at the MCACN show years back & the top looks like the skin of a snare drum. Wished later that I would have found out who did it. It was spectacular.

Now that I have removed all the original top from my frame & took a lot of pictures, I am really not that intimidated anymore.

[68ragtop]

So circling back to the pumps. I have two pumps rebuilt using o-rings I got from a local hydraulic supplier. One has been esthetically refinished & will go into my car. the other Is going to be a spare I guess? What still surprises me is the motors draw about 7amp free running without the drive gears installed, but after I install the Gerotors & run fluid though is, it draws 30A & the wires will get warm after about 10 seconds of running. Doesn't that seem excessive? I would believe that would blow the AUX fuse every time.

[PurelyGTO68]

I will wire up an amp meter and check my pump and report back. Will be a couple weeks though...

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[kk68]

Originally Posted by 68ragtop

So circling back to the pumps. I have two pumps rebuilt using o-rings I got from a local hydraulic supplier. One has been esthetically refinished & will go into my car. the other Is going to be a spare I guess? What still surprises me is the motors draw about 7amp free running without the drive gears installed, but after I install the Gerotors & run fluid though is, it draws 30A & the wires will get warm after about 10 seconds of running. Doesn't that seem excessive? I would believe that would blow the AUX fuse every time.

I didn’t test the draw on my top pump/motor before or after rebuild but I think that 30A is pretty normal. I’ve read the motor can draw 40+ amps particularly if there is any binding of the top or the motor is tired and needs service. The weak link in the whole system is the cvt top switch. My original was toast when I bought the car 30 yrs ago and someone had bypassed the original switch above the gauges and installed a generic toggle switch under the dash to operate the top.

After reading all the threads about burnt up top switches, I took the advice of others and installed a relay to protect my new repop switch. The repops aren’t cheap at $90 plus the pain of pulling the dash to install. So far so good with the relay.

Run some searches on convertible top switch and relay in the Electrical section. Also, search the Convertible section on the Chevelles.com forum. Lots of good info.

[68ragtop]

Still struggling with how much gloss to paint my top mechanism/frame.
Even the areas that were protected from the top fabric, or other brackets was much closer to a satin gloss level than a semi gloss.
I suppose it could just be the paint that was used where is lost gloss with age?
Interestingly I did learn that the latching handle mechanisms where dipped in paint & they were for sure a semi (60%) gloss.
Very noticeably glossier than any other part or section.

[68ragtop]

Also wondering if you guys reused any of the staple receiving strips?
The one main one on the rear bow is actually in nice shape.
Its only had an original top until I recently removed it, so it has not been
riddled with staples from multiple tops over the years.

Any thoughts on these couple things?

[68ragtop]

Here's picture of the rear tack strip.

[PurelyGTO68]

Originally Posted by 68ragtop

Here's picture of the rear tack strip.

Your call. If it looks good then reuse it. It is 5/8" thick if I remember correctly so there is a lot of meat to grab your staples. It is made of many layers of paper/fiber strips so it's like stapling into plywood. Should hold.

From what I see in the pics....I would re-use it. If you have trouble with the staples pulling out then you will discover that during the curtain install. Easy enough at that point to replace the tack strip material so not a lot of risk by trying to reuse it first.


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[kk68]

I replaced the tacking strips on the front header bow which were all crumbly and falling apart.

I left the thick material in the back bow just above the rear window as is. Removed as many of the old rusty staples and tacks from it as I could. It was still in pretty good shape. In hindsight I probably should have replaced the last few inches of this tacking strip on each side of the bow which needs to be solid to recieve the screws for the stainless end caps of the wire-on strip. In my case it would have preferred to have the wire-on to extend a couple more inches on the sides but had to make sure there was solid material for stainless cap end screws.

I reused the 3-piece original tacking strip along the top well, only replacing a few inches on the ends. The replacement plastic/vinyl material is much different than the original material enclosed by the metal strip pieces.....harder to staple into. Also, not sure that it holds as well, although if the original material is badly deteriated, you have no choice.

Finally, I initially used an electric stapler, which worked ok, but switched to a pneumatic air stapler. which worked much better. Also, be sure to use stainless steel staples.