Re: Disassembly of convertible top

Posted by ewrecks On 2016/4/29 0:34:23
From what I have heard, the driver side piece is the one that always breaks. Might be a good reason to follow the path of the trailer queens and never put the top down.LOL
My general rule with my old cars is that if you see it with the top up it has been sold or stolen.
I placed a call to Bob's Packard Parts as Owen suggested but have not heard back from him. I hoped to have him bring it to Frederick.
I located a unit at Merritt's that I was going to buy but it is hard to justify four figures for a top component.
I have purchased a unit that was professionally repaired for a fraction of that price as a backup but hope to repair mine, drop the lid and just let it stay under the boot. I have no plans to drive the car if there is a hint of rain. I am still considering pulling the hydraulic cylinders and operating the top manually.
As an aside I called Hagerty to see if the damage was possibly covered by comprehensive( seriously doubt it) but because they have a part locator service. If you subscribe to Hemmings they also offered that service in the past and may still be able to help.
My biggest regret is that I just had over a year of screwing around to secure a top with the color match to the interior and see no way to replace the broken piece without having to pull the top- at least in part- to do the repair.
Have you tried to have your professionally Tig welded? I can't see why a correctly welded part should be weaker than the original. Granted- there seems to be an inherent flaw in the top operating system or you would not see the same part( driver side) break consistently. I know that aluminum gets brittle,with age but everyone seems to have the passenger side.
I'll let everyone know how it goes Maybe an oil sheik will bail me out and let me get a 37 Roadster.

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