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Top frame adjustment

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BJ8TONY

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The wood top rail on the passenger side of my top is dropping down about a 1/2".
I seemed to have seen this on other healeys.
Anyone have a solution to correct this
I see there is a pin in the hinge assembly that appears worn.
Didn't know if a new pin with the guide holes re-bushed my solve the problem.

comments??
 
I have had a similar problem, though my pins appeared to be reasonably sound.

My solution was to carefully bend the frame using heat, and also cut a 3/16 chunk out of the legs at the rear of the side screen and re-weld. I think that over the years the frame bends in certain areas causing the problem.

:cheers:

Bob
 
Thanks.

Certainly not an easy solution..
Did you have to re=-fit the top once you were done??
 
Well how about that. I haven't visited here in a while and today I log in and find my name is mentioned.

They say the BJ8 top is one of the hardest to get right. I will chime in that I spent 9 months with the learning curve. Welcome to the learning curve BJ8tony. (I used to live in MA, Dighton and Cape Cod, where do you live?)

Most of the problems have to with the frame. I spent a lot of time (9 months) back engineering how it all works.
Is any part of the top frame bent, or are any of the rivet holes enlarged thereby having too much play. Are some of the rivets so rusted that it hinders free movement. Does the frame go up and down evenly, or is it tilted off angle in the process. That's a sign something is off.

Tony, are all your metal frame rails where they should be? Do they settle in the same place on the left and right? If the top right side rails are not in the right place, try shimming the right side where it bolts to the car. If the rails are in the proper place, the simplest thing to do is move the wood. You most likely will have to fill the screw holes (I used toothpicks and wood glue) and make new ones. Position the wood where you need it to be and drill new holes. Another option is moving the aluminum rail that's screwed in the wood. That's how I fine tuned where the bulb rubber meets the outline of the window. Note, the window needs to be adjusted too. Both the top frame and the window need to be adjusted to meet each other. Most of the adjustment for the top frame will be where it bolts to the car. By placing thin washers under any of the two bolts or the elevator bolt. Lots of trial and error. You'll notice it changes the angle above the side windows. Then you may have to change the fit of the side window to find a happy medium with the top frame.

If you find that the problem is the frame is just too out of whack, then it maybe best just to buy another top frame. Just so happens that's what I ended up doing. I ended up buying two and between the three I found one that I could live with. I found it interesting that each frame reacted differently on my car. Need a frame, I've got two for sale. I ended up tweaking them so they are now straight and go up and down smoothly. As we say in MA, they're WICKED nice now.

Tony, the only way to get a top that fits really nice is to start with how well the frame is when in the up locked in position. Just like a house. Foundation no good, house will have problems. Once the top frame is set up properly, then on to the adjusting the wood, then adjusting the aluminum rails that hold the rubber seals in place. Because of the old frame, old wood, old aluminum, don't think that those parts should be placed where they were when they were new. Move everything till it fits where it needs to be. Then adjust the side windows to follow the outline of the wood/aluminum rails. Then maybe back to adjusting the wood or aluminum again becase the window has no more adjusting. Oh, good times!

Once the windows are in the right place, now it's time to adjust the top material. I know, more good times ahead! Adjusting the top material, the pro's can do that a lot better than most owners. However I did help the top place and learned alot about putting a top on. Heads up about tops. The Everflex top will not stretch, sag, over time as much as the cloth tops. I have a Robins cloth top. After a while the cloth tops stretch and begin to bow up in the middle, then make a flopping sound when driving on the freeway. Simple fix. Unstaple the front material from the wooden bow, pull it forward till it taught, restaple. Tops tight again.

You'll see how I lined everything up before the material went on. Woods in place where I needed it, then screwed it there. Notice that I added some wood to the ends of the wood over the passenger windows. What ever it takes.
Same with the aluminum, out farther or in more on the wood. Some places I added some shims under the aluminum to bring it down to meet the glass edge. It's all about the glass following the curve of the frame and pressing the right amount against the rubber.

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I spent some time on one of these and it looks to be caused by the top material shrinking as it ages , then being forced to latch causing the frame to bend. It takes some time to work it out but the top should erect easily with one hand and line up fine . How many original tops were replaced only to have a new top fitted to a bent frame?
 
Correct Brinkershoff, over time the material does shrink or pull up from the sides, above the side windows. (I sewed a channel in the top material front to back over the side windows and ran a cable through it, to keep that from happening down the road.)

The cloth material (not sure about the Everflex vinyl) stretches, especially in the middle, center of the top. That causes it to bubble up and flap against the metal bars that run across the middle of the top frame when driving on the freeway. The fix for the flapping noise is to pull the material forward, make it taught again and re-staple at the front wood bow.

Not sure that top material can bend the metal frame. My top is taught, wrinkle free. It takes a bit of a pull to get it to latch.
I think the frames get bent by not taking care when erecting or storing them. If they aren't greased properly, it may bind and if forced, may end up bending something or throwing off the alignment. If not addressed, the problem grows. As I explained in my prior post here, one must have the top frame set up properly before fitting the material.
 
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