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I am at a loss here. Trying to get the restored convertible top frame to line up properly with the side glass and the windshield header. The frame mechanism is at the end of its travel and is at least 1" shy of meeting the windshield header receivers. I'm also noticing the side rails of the top frame don't seem to fit the side glass either. I have the top frame mounted to the inner quarters and sitting fully into the "v" slots in the top frame rails. I'm not sure what the correct approach should be. Are there window specs to help get the windows at the correct height? Can I pull the top frame up at the mounting slots to get the missing 1" of reach? Is there an adjustment to the top frame to allow the frame to travel further to the windshield? Any tips or advice would be appreciated.
Here's some pics:
Rodney
The top header will not reach to the windshield header.
This is the side shot showing how far off the hooks are from the latch receivers.
This is fully extended (the motor is whining at this point). It seems to me the top frame should extend further as it doesn't reach the back edge of the quarter glass.
The top frame is not aligning with the quarter glass - see the red lines. The angles are not the same.
The arm that is behind the red taped frame is adjustable. If I remember correctly, it will allow the top rack to move forward and relax as you probably have its adjustment maxed out. Try moving this a little at a time until you get it to come forward enough. If you move that arm to much it will cause the frame to sag in the middle.
I would not worry about your window alignment until you get the top alignment. You also should install the weatherstrips before messing with the glass.
Its been about 7 yrs since I messed with a conv, so hope this helps. Good luck.
The problem you’re working on is not well documented. The manuals assume you have been trained. Those guys are all retired and/or gone. So we have a knowledge gap of what was once known & is now forgotten.
I’ve had a ‘66 98 convertible for 40 years or so. Wind noise drives me nuts. So does water ingress. The 88/98 vs A body convertible tops were different in size, but not really different in design. So I hope some of my big car tips can help you with a Cutlass/442 or maybe even Skylark/GS or heck even a Ch*velle.
First up, your convertible doors need to be properly adjusted. This mainly means that your hinges _do_not_ sag. Not even by a 1/16”. If they sag, you’ll try to make up for the sag by fiddling with windows & roof rails to fix the symptom (whistling noises and maybe water inside). The real problem is the doors aren’t aligned properly. Please do this first. Or fall back to fiddling with the top & windows knowing that your _real_ problem is the doors. As a counter opinion, realize that convertibles frames really do bend on when in use so your targets move around a bit.
Second, once the doors are aligned correctly, you can adjust the top down to them. In the big cars there are a couple of bolts in the rear, you can use to adjust the whole top up/down & front/back. See this post for how it’s done in big cars: https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-bolts-140065/.
I hate doing it, but I’ve used sponge rubber shims between my top frame (steel) rails and the roof rail rubber to force the roof rail rubber tighter onto the windows.
I’m hoping the A-bodies are similar. See your Fisher Body Manual for more details on what the factory intended.
The upshot here is the top frame needs to be adjusted as a system. Meaning not adjusting just the front header seal, but the rear bolts too. It’s easy to fall into the trap of adjusting just what’s available or easy. The real answer here is to start with all the adjustments roughly in the middle and work towards the best solution for your car. As best as I can define it, aim for middling adjustments, parts flat, square & plumb. Especially if you have the top fabric and pads off, that’s the _perfect_ time to get the frame set as best you can get it. Aim for top frame gaps to sealing surfaces like glass, windshield and so on of 1/16”- 3/16”. Those gaps can be filled by seals. Anything bigger than 1/4” will be hard to seal with rubber.
Third, once you have the doors & the top frame right, you’re in perfect shape to get the roof rail rubber & windows as snug as possible. From what I’ve seen over the past 30 years, + especially in the past 5, I’ve learned that GM was really depending on the window inner vertical surfaces to seal against the roof rails to keep out wind & water. You’d think it was the top edge of windows against the bottom of the roof rails, but, if I have it right, the _real_seal_deal is the inside of the windows against the vertical rubber flaps of the roof rails.
Let’s take a moment to estimate how long these jobs take.
1) Mounting & adjusting doors - 2-3 days for amateur me. You can probably do it in 1-2 days, but realize that your unit of measurement is consistent 3/16” along all the door gaps and the doors need to be flush in/out and square up/down from front to rear.
2) Adjusting the top rear bolts & front header seal. 1-2 days. I recently did a post on how to get the front header seal square on big cars using a digital caliper. I’m hoping that’s relevant here. What’s important here is that the rear bolts can help move the top _down_ & _forward_. This helps alleviate dependence on the header seal to solve top-fit problems.
3) Adjusting windows to top: 2-3 days for amateur me, I hope you can do it faster, but there are a ton of parameters here to optimize: In/out window-to-gasket pressure, windows being cockeyed front/rear and/or in/out and on & on. I think I recall 7 dimensions of adjustment _per_window. See my post on window adjustment for painful amounts of more data. Plan for time to remediate rusted adjustment bolts, bad motors, greasing everything for smooth movement, busted nylon rollers & so on. In addition to the actual adjustment of the windows to each other (i.e. parallel lines from rear window leading edge to front window rear edge…), plus adjustment of the windows to seal tight to the top. When you’re adjusting windows, use a sharpie to precisely mark 1/4” below the top edges of the windows, then put a line of blue tape to precisely mark that 1/4” line. The bluetape serves as a great reference to see how far the windows nudge up into the roofrail rubber. If the interface bluetape line isn’t consistent, adjust something to make it tight & consistent - either windows, roof rail rubber, or both.
Sorry this went long. Just wanted to share what I’ve learned. Or think I’ve learned.
Just to throw out another *potential* complication: the upper stops on the glass are adjustable. I would start with the door - get it closing and aligned perfectly, then get its glass lined up with the A pillar perfectly. Then bring up the rear glass to line up with the door glass. Make sure the forward edge lines up with the door glass and the top hits the same height.
Probably not an issue, but just another thing that can go wrong or get bumped when stuff is disassembled and easy to forget.
July 4th, 2023, 04:52 PM
