convertible top replacement

Just got my new top.

The color was supposed to be "Dark Tan" but was way too light and there was little of the olive that showed in the online color chart.

What I got was a very light tan.

I'm gonna paint in light silver, so I guess I'm not hurt too bad.

Next time I'll ask for a sample patch. Everyone should do the same.

I did not get the installation instructions I'd requested and I had to listen to the lady tell me I'd never asked for them to begin with. So I ordered the instructions. Again.

I pulled the rubber seal from the header seal channel and drilled out the rivets.

I wanted to use my handy-dandy pop rivet gun when I reinstalled the seal channel, but I couldn't get my rivet gun to fit.

I'll use Lowe's hardware section for #8 x 3/4" countersunk phillips head wood/metal screws.

The seal retainer strip will have to be drilled out and countersunk, and the holes in the sheet metal of the header may have to be carefully widened.

I'll post on my efforts.

G'nite

Sorry about your luck, it's always discouraging when you get something you've been waiting for and it's all wrong. Who did you order from?

OJX Wrote:

When I replaced my top this summer, I took one of the heads on my pop rivit gun and used my dremel to grind down the tip so it fit into the chanel. Worked like a charm. I also used the same head on the tonau buttons on the car body, before, the head was just too wide.

Unscrew the metal tip off of a spark plug. insert the rivet through the spark plug tip,then into the rivet gun. The spark plug tip will fit in the narrow channel and effectively extend the length of your rivet gun. I unscrew the tips off my old plugs just for this purpose.

The big thanks to both Chris and Greg for their elegantly simple fixes for the problem of the too tight fit of the rivet tool.

With golden help like this, how can a gringo lose?

yours, Len

p.s. I'll try the ND method first (spark plug tip as spacer).

I wished I had known about rivnuts before I replaced my top a few years ago.

There has been previous discussion on this board before about them. Seems like a great proactive solution to this type of thing.

Check out this website, for example

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/hapages/rivnuts.php

When I riveted mine on, The nose of the rivet gun would not reach down in between the edges of the rail, so I just pushed the rivet through the rail / header and slipped a small hex nut over the shaft of the rivet to where the nose of the rivet gun would press against the nut. After "popping" the rivet, you just retrieve the nut and put it on the next rivet.