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1958 bn6 side curtains

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maxwedge5281

maxwedge5281

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readying for cooler weather and thought that i would overhaul the side curtains. first thing that struck me was that the forward wind slides and not the rear panel which is fixed. i remember it being the other way on my early healeys. at any rate, is the felt liner material glued into the tracks or is it just "jammed" into place. of course the rear sliding pane will hold lots of the felt in place. but what about the track area for the window that slides. also one of the corner reinforcement steel pieces ...one of the 90 degree ones...has two of the very small screw threads stripped. are these available from any of our vendors. i could buy a used set of frames and remove the piece but that is expense that i wish to avoid. i suppose i would weld up the small holes and rethread... any other suggestions when rebuilding other than buy the later one piece frame side screens...which are much nicer but really expensive. thanks for any help!!
 
thought that i would place a side curtain on the car and ot does not fit the top at the rear top corner...see the attached pictures. the side curtains that i have, have the screw on inner track to hold the rear pane which is fixed. the front pane slides in the track. does this seem to be a typical problem with old tops or do i have the wrong side curtains? thanks for any input. the car is a 1958 bn6.
 

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The frames look right enough (2 & 4 seaters use the same side-curtains, though the earliest 100/6 ones were different in detail; 100 side-curtains would've been about 2" shorter).

I'd say that the infraction was made when the top was fitted, or perhaps the fault is in the top itself...?
 
i think that the top is very old and maybe it has shrunk. i guess that a new top is in order or just drive in faIr weather. thanks for the replies.
 
they must have placed the top too far forward on the front bow. i will probably just leave as is! i did bring my v8 bj7 home this morning for a new top replacement. i bought the car with the top bows and most of the top parts but no top. course it required lots of new gaskets, rubber parts, etc. thank goodness all the expensive parts were there. not much experience in my part of the woods with replacing the convertible tops properly. local installer-customizer-restoration expert with lots of experience with these tops. took one look at my car and parts and told me exactly what i needed! expensive but well woth it! by the way there was a 65 gtb ferrari longnose in his shop, a hupmobile and several other classic and hot rods in various states of build or restoration. very pleased with his work!!
 

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i removed the bn6 top this morning and snapped a couple of pics of the top frame end that sits into the body. does this look to be correct? both ends that sit into the body receivers are rough and worn. does anyone have a top off that you coul snap a pic of this area for comparison. and, maybe measure from the rear arm support pivot to the bottom of the frame. thanks for any help!
 

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I'll try to get those pictures for you later, but the tops that I have, have a 5/16 x 24 bolt threaded into the ends, presumably to adjust tension on the top. That could account for raising the main bow anywhere from 1/4" to >1/2". Looks like that would help, but the fabric still appears to be pulled too far forward (as you stated).

My issue of Sports Car Market, with the Montery results arrived just a few days ago; looks like GTBs are now (correction: 2 months ago...) three million dollar cars now! Of course I could no more afford it then, but a guy I knew in San Francisco with a Healey, was having a tough time finding a buyer for his GTB (2-cam) @ $7500.00. Asking him why he was selling it, he said it was too much of a pita to keep running/driving (like a Healey isn't?) and every time he took it out, something else broke/went wrong/fill in the blank. It's no wonder that so many of them have low-mileage. More than one source has told me this about Ferraris they've had: "drive it a day, work on it a day; drive it a week, work on it a week; drive it a month..."

I'll try to get those pics for you sometime today...
 
thank you randy. makes me think that the ends were already damaged and the top was fitted to less than standard height. so the top materials was mounted to the front bow in the wrong position...too far forward...without placing the side curtains in place to check! as you can see in the picture there is no evidence of threads in or on the ends. i suppose i could make up any height adjustment...if i knew what the max might be...by filling the body receivers with a proper spacer.. still dont think that the top material will stretch that much but as you noted...it might help!
 
Don't do anything until you are sure about the side curtains. Mine look different, both in mounting detail and the angle of the rear vertical channel. Pictures would help, but mine don't seem to load.
Bob
 
bob and randy if you can get a closeup or two it would be very nelpful. i can see in my bn6 service parts list what appears to be some type of adjustment in the bottom legs...but in the drawings the legs do not appear to be slightly bent as mine are.... 2 3/8 inches from the base.
 
thank you randy. after grinding the corrosion and rust off off of the ends it appears that maybe the bolts ere twisted off inside the arm. i will try to grind the end flat and look at extraction but most like will have to drill and retap. thanks again...larry ingram
 
Yes, I think I got lucky on that set, and was able to get the bolts to back out, but on my other set, I had to redrill them. As you can imagine, the tube-socket receiver fills with water, and the end of the top bow spends its time submerged.

The paint I used, as was as close of a match as you can get__at least when compared to the top bows I used for comparison__is a Rustoleum product from their "America's Finest" line; Smoke Gray HD2886 (#'s under barcode: 20066 28868).
 
thanks for all the replies and the pictures. i drilled the bolts out and rethreaded the sockets. but my top is so tight that just the thickness of the bolt head is too much. i am sure i have the correct side curtains but the top is just not going to fit the side curtains. so, it is going to be a new top or just not ride with the side curtains on the car. any recommendations for a good quality top!!!
 
Just running this up the flagpole to see what comes out but -

The shape of the window formed by the soft top looks a bit like that for a BN1. Has a PO put the wrong soft top on?

:cheers:

Bob
 
bob, that is exactly what i was thinking. it is way to short and even if you could move the top back it would be very loose and baggy on the rear half. the profile does seem much more suited to the bn1 top!
 
Max

You had better check the metal frame as well, that soft top looks too comfortable on the frame. I can not be sure as I have never owned a BN1, but it appears to me from the SC Parts catalogue, that the down leg of the BN1 frame slopes forward as does the rear of the BN1 side screens whilst the leg on the frame on a BN6 slopes backwards. Can't tell for sure from your piccs but it does seam that the down leg also fouls the side screen.

:cheers:

Bob
 
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