Coffman Corvette in Mansfield, Ohio

[Hugh S.]

Howdy,
I'm thinking about a Top for my 59 Corvette. Mine only came with a removable hard top and I want a Soft top. Have any of you had experience with Coffman Corvette and Top bow and top installed? Just wondering.

Thanks,
Hugh Smith
Virginia

[Mike T.]

Re: Coffman Corvette in Mansfield, Ohio

Hugh - here's a recent thread on Coffman Tops. https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...hlight=coffman

[Hugh S.]

Re: Coffman Corvette in Mansfield, Ohio

Oh Sorry Don,
I didn't realize that. Thanks again, I'm a Newbie! (60,000)

HUgh

[Don H.]

Re: Coffman Corvette in Mansfield, Ohio

No problem.
thanks for joining the club and great to have you on the tech board.
that is a great number you have. No trouble remembering that one....

[Hugh S.]

Re: Coffman Corvette in Mansfield, Ohio

Thank You to All that replied. Yes Clint and Coffman's Corvette sounds to me like a quality shop!

Have a Great Corvette Day ,
Hugh Smith (60000)

[Richard M.]

Re: Coffman Corvette in Mansfield, Ohio

Hugh,

My '59 was originally a HT only car. In 1970 the prior owner bought a soft top and installed it. As a FYI, there are a few things that need to be done to install a soft top, and you need to acquire some parts to add to the car to allow a ST to be installed.

1- You need the large "pie-plate" shaped brackets and 4 associated frame attach brackets and hardware bolts to attach the ST frame to the car.

2- You will need the rear decklid latches, and will have to cut appropriately shaped holes in the decklid for these latches. later C1's had a built in template/cutout in the inner(underside) decklid panel as a guide. The '59 decklid does not have this feature. You will have to locate the holes with accurate measurements or a template from a known "correctly-placed" set of latches.

3- The outer ST frame attach bracket is attached to a bracket mounted to the pie-plate. Original ST cars had a captured Tee-nut bonded an/or riveted to the inner well of the body for a 1/4"x20 bolt. Some are riveted, some just bonded. The bolt passes through the upper outer body bracket and into that captured Tee-nut. You will not be able to install that nut. The nut is missing on HT only cars. Here's a picture taken of a '59 with a factory ST. It can only be seen with the fuel tank removed and a mirror at the right angle(pic). My '59 doesn't have them, being a HT only when built, and because of that, one side is a bit offset because the bolts are missing and the bracket cannot be made flush to the body. When I raise the top, that side is slightly misaligned. Even bending the bracket didn't help as the ST frame pulls away from that area when latched down.

P7100007.jpg

Pics of the AIM showing the location of the Tee-nut and brackets you'll need.

P6160247.jpg P6160248.jpg P6160249.jpg

Also, it will be extremely important that your side windows are properly adjusted to the HT before you install a ST frame, especially if the rag is already installed on it if you buy one fully assembled. Personally I wouldn't choose that method. I've done many soft top installations over the years, and to get them adjusted properly for use on a HT car to be able to use both.......... is a tedious task.

Rich