C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

[Greg L.]

Can anyone recommend a reputable person in the San Antonio area that would be able to replace the soft top on a 60?

It would be preferable to have the person come and change the top rather than take the car to him. The car is in the NE of San Antonio.

Thanks

[Joseph K.]

Re: C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

Al Knock is in Texas

[Greg L.]

Re: C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

Thanks Joe I'll contact them to see if they make house calls.

Typically what should it cost to have a new convertible canvas installed?

[Dennis A.]

Re: C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

Al Knoch will do an excellent job...Bet that you will have to take your car to them however. Call and talk to Dale Robertson.

[Edward M.]

Re: C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

Al Knock is just outside El Paso. How far is that from San Antonio?

[Jack H.]

Re: C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

That's the problem, Ed... Texas is BIG! It's a +550 mile drive from San Antonio to El Paso, and I don't think Al Knoch makes 'house calls'...

But, in my opinion, it's worth the exercise because they'll do a first class job of installing the soft top. Plus, other than those living in New Mexico, Greg's about as close as most get to Al Knoch...

[Greg L.]

Re: C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

This might be a stupid question but do you need the whole car to replace the top or just the frame?

I can't see GM back in the day hand fitting each top material on the assembly line. They probably had the tops all pre-assembled on a jig and then just installed them as needed. I wonder if anyone today does it like that?

[Edward M.]

Re: C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

This might be a stupid question but do you need the whole car to replace the top or just the frame?

I can't see GM back in the day hand fitting each top material on the assembly line. They probably had the tops all pre-assembled on a jig and then just installed them as needed. I wonder if anyone today does it like that?

The only stupid question is the one your don't ask, and should have.

It is a good question, and I am wondering about the answer myself. Sort of seems like they would need to car to get the top stretched properly (no two cars are really the same), but maybe not.

[John H.]

Re: C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

During the C1 era, the soft top was purchased as a complete assembly from the supplier, who built it up on a jig that duplicated the body and windshield frame and shipped it to St. Louis ready for installation. If you look closely at the photo below of the Final Line in 1958, you can see several folded top assemblies stacked adjacent to the install station on the line at the upper left (note the hardtop temporarily "parked" on the hood of the second car while its soft top was installed).

During the midyear era, the process was similar, except the front 8" of the top skin was left unattached by the top supplier, and that front flap, seals, windlace, and weatherstrip was pulled, fitted, stapled, trimmed, and glued as part of the top installation on the Final Line.

[Jack H.]

Re: C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

Adding on to what John said, there are a couple of problems with simply 're-skinning' an existing soft top frame...

First, with a car of this age, you can safely BET you're not working with the factory original soft top...it's probably been replaced before. Typically, the novice guys at various trim shops, rip off the existing fabric and 'blindly' install the replacement top.

Then, they roll up the windows and discover she don't fit! Soooo, they dive into the door panels and start 'tweaking' the various side glass adjustments + those on the soft top frame until they 'converge' on a fit that kinda/sorta works.

Bottom line, the first time Bubba installed a replacement soft top he 'lost' the factory original alignment dimensions... Add to that the fact that few original owners bothered to periodically lubricate the ST frame and it's pretty typical for C1 cars to have warpped/bent side rails. That makes things even worse!

At the factory, the critical dimensions were known and 'jigs' were used to align the window glass + do the final assy of the soft top. Remember, an option for these cars was the hard top, and the original owner was NOT expected to have to tweak the various adjustments when he/she moved between summer time soft top operation and winter time hard top use!

Guys who are 'savvy' in doing top work often 'cheat'. By that I mean, they have a hard top that's factory stock. They set the HT on the car and tweak the various door, glass, header adjustments until they regain the correct original factory dimensional 'recepie'.

Now, they work on the soft top frame and correct any warppage/wear issues and install the frame (without soft top fabric) so it properly aligns with the car! The last thing they do, is install the soft top fabric and weather stripping making ALL adjustments there without distrubing those in the door/window area.

So, the bottom line is if you want the best factory original fit, you really want to take the WHOLE CAR to a pro who's seen the myraid issues, understands them, and knows how to do the installation correctly...

[Steven B.]

Re: C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

Bottom line, the first time Bubba installed a replacement soft top he 'lost' the factory original alignment dimensions... Add to that the fact that few original owners bothered to periodically lubricate the ST frame and it's pretty typical for C1 cars to have warpped/bent side rails. That makes things even worse!

Jack, did the factory provide instructions on lubricating the frames-where, with what, etc?

If so, I need to do mine!

Thanks!

Steve

[Fenwick B.]

Re: C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

John Kennedy makes house calls. His phone number is in the Driveline.

[Steven B.]

Re: C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

During the C1 era, the soft top was purchased as a complete assembly from the supplier, who built it up on a jig that duplicated the body and windshield frame and shipped it to St. Louis ready for installation. If you look closely at the photo below of the Final Line in 1958, you can see several folded top assemblies stacked adjacent to the install station on the line at the upper left (note the hardtop temporarily "parked" on the hood of the second car while its soft top was installed).

During the midyear era, the process was similar, except the front 8" of the top skin was left unattached by the top supplier, and that front flap, seals, windlace, and weatherstrip was pulled, fitted, stapled, trimmed, and glued as part of the top installation on the Final Line.

John, great picture. Thanks! Were the tops set next to the line staged based upon specific car requirements coming along or just a number of different color tops put there without regard to upcoming immediate requirements?

Thanks!

Steve

[Jack H.]

Re: C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

This is a 'grey' area that you need to research. Because we're talking about a body component and every other Chevy car was Body by Fisher, some aspects of maintenance that would normally be part/parcel of the Fisher Body manual didn't get 'translated' to the Corvette literature.

Check your copy of the Corvette Shop Manual (I don't have a straight axle book in my library). But, BURIED in the 1963 Corvette Shop Manual under Body, Top Assy, and Frame & Linkage the following passage appears...

"The pivoting joints should be lubricated with light machine oil once a year. Apply oil sparingly so as not to stain top trim."

That's the maintenance item I mentioned that virtually nobody did unless they used a Chevy dealer to work on 'baby'...

[John H.]

Re: C1 soft top replacement in San Antonio

John, great picture. Thanks! Were the tops set next to the line staged based upon specific car requirements coming along or just a number of different color tops put there without regard to upcoming immediate requirements?

Thanks!

Steve

Steve -

The top assemblies were forecast and ordered from the supplier in advance based on rolling 500-unit schedules, and staged on the line side based on the required color of top ordered for each car (customer choice from the color & trim chart availability matrix).