59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

[Dan B.]

Inspired by the unusually good weather in the Northeast, I decided to give another try to installing the Hardtop on my 59 and see if I can finally figure out why it does not fit well around the door glass windows.

A little history, the car was a soft top only car, bought the top in the 80's and had it painted along with the car but never tried to install it. It has it's original windows and weatherstriping in place. It's been in storage (standing up on the header and rear window leaning evenly against the wall).

THE PROBLEM: As the photo's show, my biggest problem is the door window gap on the right side is uneven. Also, I can't get the left hold down bolt hole to line up (top is 1/4 inch too far back) which coincidentally is the gap (uniform) at the left rear window. I can drive with it the way it is with 2 bolts in the rear and the front latched down, but it does not look right.




NOTE GAPS AT TOP AND SIDE


LEFT HOLD DOWN OFF 1/4" REARWARD


LEFT WINDOW GAP SAME 1/4" TOO WIDE (AS MOUNTING HOLE ABOVE)


FIT AROUND THE DECKLID IS PRETTY GOOD

I re did the Windshield when I painted the car but did not specifically fit it to the Hard top. It has all the correct gaskets in place and ONE RUBBER SHIM on each side of the Windshield posts. The Windshield fits well as does the Soft Top and the door posts. I adjusted the windows as much as possible and the door gaps, and rear deck lid alignment are as good as possible also. I don't use the Top enough to justify sending it out for a complete restoration, but I would like to make it fit and function better if there are some things I could do myself. What do you think??? Dan

[Bruce B.]

Re: 59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

Dan,
I have the same problem with my 57.
The side windows can be adjusted by working with the window tracks to get the window in a better position with the hardtop. Now this will mess up the way the windows fit on your convertible top but then you can adjust your soft top frame to meet the side windows.
As far as the hold down bolts go the only way to get them in position is to move the decklid around if you have some wiggle room. Or possibly move the windshield which creates a whole new bunch of door fit to windshield problems. A friend had this problem and repositioned the hold down bolt receivers before he painted his car. One of my winter projects is to get the hardtop to fit.

In addition I have a 62 hardtop only car which has a nice hardtop on it which fits great.
But I bought another hardtop a while back which is excellent. When I went to put it on I could only line up 3 of the 4 hold down bolts.
Makes me crazy, so I just keep my original hardtop on the 62.

[Dan B.]

Re: 59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

Bruce, thanks for your reply. Some of the archived threads here suggest adding more shims to the windshield posts to change the alignment dimensions. I was wondering from my pics if anyone thinks that might be a benefit here. The top is definately sitting further back than can be adjusted by the windows alone in order to close the gaps. It appears that no 2 tops seem to fit exactly the same either from what I am reading.
I'd like to try and find someone locally with an early top and try it on the car to see if there is any difference before I start moving things around.

[Bruce B.]

Re: 59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

duplicate post

[Bruce B.]

Re: 59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

Dan,

I have tried 2 other tops ( a 56 and a 58) on my 57 and unfortunately still had the same problem.
The hardtops seem to be made pretty accurately as far as dimensions go.
I think body variations are the cause of most of the poor fit problems.

Keep us informed of your progress.

[Stephen B.]

Re: 59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

I'm in the process of restoring a 59. I've had these discussions with local friends and here is what we've decided to do to try and avoid the problems you're having. I plan on putting the hard top on first and make what ever adjustments are necessary to get proper fit. When I'm satisfied that I have the best fit possible I will remove the hardtop and fit the convertible frame to the windows. I will then install the convertible cover.
If your car has never had a hardtop or the top cover has been replaced and the bows were possible moved I really don't think you will ever get the windows to fit properly .I also suspect that these tops were built on a fixture and the mounting holes and contact surfaces with the side glass are very dimensionally consistent. By comparison the soft top frame could be allover the place dimensionally speaking.
Stephen Barrett (21558)
59,66,71,73

[Bruce B.]

Re: 59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

Steve,

That is the proper adjustment sequence when using both a soft and hard top.

I'm sure you will get it fit within a few tenths (0.0001")

Bruce

[Stephen B.]

Re: 59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

You over estimate my ability Bruce. Maybe a few thousands. You're a decimal point or so off.
Stephen Barrett (21558)
59,66,71,73

[Joe M.]

Re: 59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

i just completed the refurbishment of my 1960 hardtop and when I placed the hardtop on the car, the passenger side hold down bracket would not line up with the deck hole by about 1/4". I discovered that the side pin that inserts into the receiver was bumping up against the receiver and preventing the top from moving forward or backward. Since the receiver has a slotted hole, I moved the receiver from side to side until the hold down bracket and the deck hole lined up. I removed the pin receivers to polish them up and did not re-install the two side screws in case I needed to make an adjustment. Once the hardtop hold downs lined up and bolted down to deck, I installed the two pin receiver side screws.

[Dan B.]

Re: 59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

Bruce, that's interesting. Were the problems with the 56 and the 58 tops identical?

[Gerry P.]

Re: 59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

I too have had problems getting my bolt holes aligned with the hardtop on my '57. What I've done is get some threaded bolt stock from Lowe's or Home Depot and cut a couple of lengths approx 1 to 1 1/2 inches long (mine are in the car now so I can't measure exact length) and screw them (as mounting studs) into the two side deck mounting holes leaving approx 3/4" sticking up. I then work on getting the top mounting brackets aligned and slid down over the these two bolts. This is much easier than trying to get the correct bolts started in the deck holes. Once I have the top mounting brackets slid on to the bolts, I will then use nuts to tighten the top down. The "correct" rear center bolt always goes in ok so I don't have jury rig it's installation. If I'm ambitious (with the top now firmly attached), I will then remove my home made bolt studs one at a time and work on putting in the correct bolts although I usually just leave my home made bolts in. I also have problems with the window fitting but find that if I roll the window up before closing the door, it fits much better than trying to roll the window up with the door closed. That's a project down the road that I need to work on to get a better fit.
Gerry

[Bruce B.]

Re: 59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

Joel,
My 57 has the receivers with the single hole.
I just got some with the slot and hopefully they will line up better with the hardtop pins.
The only problem is that the slotted receivers have a locating boss on the bottom that is in a different position then the single hole receiver boss. So I will either fill and redrill the mounting area or remove the boss and add a new one.
Nothing is easy on these old cars, but still fun.

[Bruce B.]

Re: 59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

Gerry,
Can you post a few pictures of your fix?
Thanks,
Bruce B

I too have had problems getting my bolt holes aligned with the hardtop on my '57. What I've done is get some threaded bolt stock from Lowe's or Home Depot and cut a couple of lengths approx 1 to 1 1/2 inches long (mine are in the car now so I can't measure exact length) and screw them (as mounting studs) into the two side deck mounting holes leaving approx 3/4" sticking up. I then work on getting the top mounting brackets aligned and slid down over the these two bolts. This is much easier than trying to get the correct bolts started in the deck holes. Once I have the top mounting brackets slid on to the bolts, I will then use nuts to tighten the top down. The "correct" rear center bolt always goes in ok so I don't have jury rig it's installation. If I'm ambitious (with the top now firmly attached), I will then remove my home made bolt studs one at a time and work on putting in the correct bolts although I usually just leave my home made bolts in. I also have problems with the window fitting but find that if I roll the window up before closing the door, it fits much better than trying to roll the window up with the door closed. That's a project down the road that I need to work on to get a better fit.
Gerry

[Bruce B.]

Re: 59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

Dan,
Yes, the problem was with the same 1 mounting bolt.

[Gerry P.]

Re: 59 Hardtop fit to car problems (with pics) what's wrong??

Bruce - I'll try and take some pictures this afternoon and post.
Gerry