And another hardtop project.

indianamoon · #1 (**permalink**) 06-19-2023, 07:02 PM

Picked up the Butler hardtop a whole back that was for sale on here, and have finally gotten around to installing it. My car is a B&B and it is amazing how well the top fits. Had to tilt the windshield back a bit (Hey!! it's a B&B huh?) but the area in back fits nearly perfect and the sides will only take a bit of tweaking. I will need to machine up some pieces to fit into the soft top ferrules and will install some stainless steel over center clamps entering into the bottom of the ferrules to hold the rear of the top down. In front, the top came with come formed sheet metal pieces similar to the ones that attach a soft top. Think that I will use these and make a couple of stainless steel angle brackets to bolt to the top of them and epoxy to the underside of the hard top in the front. Question that I have for those of you versed in fiberglass work is: What kind of resin should I use? Haven't done any of this kind of work in about 30 years and have no idea what is on the market nowadays.

Thanx in advance and more pics coming.

indianamoon · #2 (**permalink**) 06-20-2023, 03:06 PM

Just got these in and bent up to fit. They are going to work extremely well. The swingy thingy will enter the bottom of the ferrule for the top and clamp perfectly. All stainless, made in the USA and with standard threads. Making the aluminum blocks to epoxy to the hardtop now.

indianamoon · #3 (**permalink**) 06-20-2023, 06:56 PM

Well, new to me, but it is in great shape and pretty much unused. Has a NASA Property tag on it.....

Part is the pin to enter the ferrule just behind the door. Fits real nice but looks like it will be at a compound angle in the block and different angles side to side. It's a Cobra, Right?

indianamoon · #4 (**permalink**) 06-24-2023, 04:53 PM

After owning a machine shop for over 22 years and living by the mantra "If you don't draw it up in CAD, you will screw it up" what did I do? Yup, just made the pieces, didn't draw them. Actually turned out pretty well except the over center clamp didn't quite make it over center with the locking pin in. Put a kick in both of the clamp rods and it is over center just fine now. There is a jack screw in the top of the aluminum blocks to adjust the height of the hardtop off the deck, and setscrews to hold the locating pin in place. Even milled a slot in the pins for the setscrews so they won't mar the rod and keep it from moving. Now on to the front clamps. Just ordered new ones (found then on eBay at quite a discount) Protex brand with a latch for the latch. https://www.ebay.com/itm/11252798882...Bk9SR7KGy_mdYg if anyone is interested.

indianamoon · #5 (**permalink**) 07-05-2023, 06:38 PM

Well, all of the hardware for this project is going to be stainless, and the order showed up today.

For those of you looking for a decent source for stainless:

And they send you at no charge, one of these very cool gages for imperial and metric screws, bolts, nuts, etc.

indianamoon · #6 (**permalink**) 07-05-2023, 06:51 PM

These are the clamps that came with the hardtop when I initially bought it. The rear clamps did not fit my ferrules and I found clamps that I liked better for the front. Send me a message or email or something if you are interested.

indianamoon · #7 (**permalink**) 07-05-2023, 06:58 PM

Windshield fittings are all bent and hammered into shape to fit. Stainless angle pieces are hammered into shape to fit the underside of the top, and the front clamps are trial fit. Ready to epoxy these to the underside of the top tomorrow.

indianamoon · #8 (**permalink**) 07-09-2023, 05:26 PM

Mixed up a bit of epoxy, and with the front mounts securely in place with the clamps clamped, glued the formed stainless angle iron pieces to each side of the top. When that was cured, took it all apart and added a layer of glass cloth to both sides of the stainless angles. Looks like a lot of epoxy to me, but just to be safe, I drilled and installed two button head stainless screws on each side also.

indianamoon · #9 (**permalink**) 07-09-2023, 05:44 PM

Alright, can't put this off any longer. The fit all across the back is as near perfect as I could hope for.

Fit on the passenger side is good enough to seal with the bulb seal.

However, (and I knew this) the fit on the driver side was just terrible, with a gap of at least 3/4 inch in places. Time to bend the fiberglass. Found a 4x4 and cut it to the contour of the bottom of the top as was.

Then scribed and did a matching angle cut to fit the pieces inside and outside the top at the flange.

Probably spent an hour with the belt sander getting the fit just about exact and then clamped everything up. Cut some small wedges to insert under the lip and started heating the lip of the top to about 375 degrees F. Worked it up and inserted the wedges, heated some more, wedges in further, until I had moved it about 3/4 inch where it needed to be.

Left it sit overnight and next morning the fit to the body was, while not perfect, certainly good enough for the seal to work properly

indianamoon · #10 (**permalink**) 07-09-2023, 05:54 PM

Got the rear mounts in today. Marked the top for location with everything in place, took it all off (for about the leventeenth time) glued the mounts in, and when that was cured, added a layer of glass cloth on each side of each block. With all the epoxy and the holes I drilled in the blocks, I am pretty certain that they will be going nowhere.

Now it is on to forming the rear window.

PDUB · #11 (**permalink**) 07-10-2023, 12:05 AM

That is impressive effort!

indianamoon · #12 (**permalink**) 07-13-2023, 07:43 AM

Discovered that I can pin the rear mount over center clamps in the up position, keeping them off the bodywork when installing the top

indianamoon · #13 (**permalink**) 07-17-2023, 01:13 PM

Still moving forward with the installation. As I mentioned earlier, I had to pull the top of the windshield back about 2 inches. That necessitated moving that miserable little angle bracket on top of the dash. You know, the one with hardware that is so difficult to turn that you invent previously unheard swear word phrases to describe. Well, I was out of words, so ordered some teeny tiny stainless steel hex head machine screws to go into the bottom of the windshield frame. And some stainless phillips pan head sheet metal screws to go vertical into the top of the cowl. Knowing how hard it is to tighten these without a hole thru the windshield, I set them up in the mill and cut a hex on the head. Smiled all the way thru the installation 😃. I have more if anyone else needs their mood improved.

KevinW · #14 (**permalink**) 07-19-2023, 02:51 PM

Interesting thread, and great work.
I bought a 289-style hardtop a few years ago. To fit the 427-style body, the roll bar and its rear leg, had to be cut into 4 pieces, new rear skirt to fit the 427 bodyshape and glassed back together. Prepped and painted it with 2k paint. Just finishing off the fixings, and will need to fix a few paint issues you can see here:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0B_9zDOgmKk

Heard these hardtop are notorious for leaking at the middle of the windscreen. To address this I bought a pair of standard soft top hood bows, pinged off the locator pins, and then cut a piece of curved channel to fill the gap between the 2 bows. I used polyurethane sealant/adhesive to fix these pieces together and to bond the hardtop to the bows. Some grp ribbon still to be added along the top to make sure it doesn't blow off t high speed.

If anyone's interested I can post some more, or start a new thread.

indianamoon · #15 (**permalink**) 07-20-2023, 06:44 AM

Please post more, or a new thread. I would like to know more about sealing the front. I also have soft top front pieces incorporated in my installation. However, the front edge of the top doesn’t mate well with the top of the windshield. Difference shapes and with the textured outer face of the top, I decided to leave it as is. Picked up some different bulb trim for the front edge and will see how that works.

john4337 · #16 (**permalink**) 07-20-2023, 08:02 AM

My hardtop experience is covered here.

Hardtop Project

For the front seal at the top of the windscreen, I'm using a 1/8 inch thick adhesive rubber seal that I found on Amazon. I haven't road tested it, but while fitting the top the imprint of the windscreen frame was pretty even all the way across, so I'm hopeful that it will seal pretty well.

Edit: Here's the seal

https://www.amazon.com/Neoprene-Weat..._rp_0_8_t&th=1

KevinW · #17 (**permalink**) 07-21-2023, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by indianamoon

Please post more, or a new thread. I would like to know more about sealing the front. I also have soft top front pieces incorporated in my installation. However, the front edge of the top doesn’t mate well with the top of the windshield. Difference shapes and with the textured outer face of the top, I decided to leave it as is. Picked up some different bulb trim for the front edge and will see how that works.

Thanks, will start a new thread when I get a bit more time work-wise.
Don't want to dog-leg the OPs great thread!

indianamoon · #18 (**permalink**) 07-21-2023, 05:38 PM

Bending the rear window. The seller of the hardtop had informed me that the original window had broken and that he had replaced it with a plastic one. That was fine with me, but when I received the hardtop, it included a flat sheet of Lexan. I was told to "just install it" it would be fine. Tried to bend it in that small a radius and no way. Made a form.

Tried the heat gun and just no way with that lexan. Got it to bend a little but with beaucoup distortion. Ordered Plexiglas. Heated, bent, clamped. paper back on, cut to fit.

Got an appointment to get it popped in first week of August. On to paint.

KevinW · #19 (**permalink**) 08-02-2023, 06:02 AM

I'm impressed. Interesting to hear how you applied heat. Blow torch?

indianamoon · #20 (**permalink**) 08-02-2023, 04:50 PM

Industrial heat gun and took the temperature regularly.