Progress on #782

[ERA Chas]

Place it on the floor in the sunniest room in your home in direct sunlight. OR put it in your street car parked in bright sunlight a few hours-even with temps in 40's. I've dried small painted parts in the car which easily gets the surfaces up to 80's.
Keep a heat gun (not hair dryer) handy while doing the install and play it on stressed areas.

[patrickt]

Dan, what does a convertible top installation shop estimate their cost would be? Personally, I'd rather pull the transmission and rebuild it on the kitchen table rather than have to fit the top.

[kevins2]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Dan, what does a convertible top installation shop estimate their cost would be? Personally, I'd rather pull the transmission and rebuild it on the kitchen table rather than have to fit the top.

Something to be said for that. I fitted my tonneau cover and it did take a lot of patience - came out nice, though. And, just to make it harder, I lined the inside of it with felt where it will touch the paint. The vinyl, particularly corners where it is folded and stitched, felt a bit harsh so worth the extra work. I imagine the top will be more difficult to fit. If I recall, ERA wanted $800 to fit it to the car.

Kevin

[patrickt]

Am I reading this right? http://www.erareplicas.com/427/427options.pdf ERA wants almost ten grand for a fitted soft top now?

[DonC]

They may be getting their parts from Ferrari now hence the cost );-)

DonC

[kevins2]

I would say this line:

Soft top and bows (Requires fitting to car) .................................................. ......................................$9850

is a typo.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by kevins2

I would say this line:

Soft top and bows (Requires fitting to car) .................................................. ......................................$9850

is a typo.

It's at the very bottom of this page: Options list listed at $985, plus fitting. Ehhhh, what's a zero here and there.

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Dan, what does a convertible top installation shop estimate their cost would be? Personally, I'd rather pull the transmission and rebuild it on the kitchen table rather than have to fit the top.

Patrick - I'm not sure. I'm kind of a do it yourself-type guy. Try anything once unless the cost of specialized tools is just plain prohibitive. I've rebuilt seats and re-upholstered them. I hate to take a car to anyone and leave it - you never know what will happen to it. Also, custom upholstery work in my neck of the woods has gotten ridiculous. In my car club there are many stories in recent years of cars sitting untouched at an upholstery shop for 6, 8, 10 months before they get to the work. They all seem to be like this around here - custom work is set aside while they do profitable small repairs on new and used cars for dealers. I know of one guy who left his car at a paint and body shop for about 4 years. The guy worked on it off and on but I would drive by and see it sitting outside in the weather. Before he got it back rust started blooming out again and they had to strip the car back down and start over. Then he noticed that nice original parts on the car seemed to be deteriorating - he suspected a worker was stripping parts off the car and Ebay'ing them and replacing them with junk parts from the salvage yard.

I will tackle the top myself. And I promise I'll read ERA's instructions.

Dan

[avanti-176]

Originally Posted by DanEC

Dan - as best I can measure on the car, the grill opening is around 26-1/2 inches wide at the splitter. The actual sheet metal splitter is 26-1/4 give or take a sixteenth.

Thanks Dan, mine is just a shade under 26-1/2 so it seems as if the ERA splitter should be able to work, now to see if they might sell me one...

Thanks again,
Dan

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by avanti-176

Thanks Dan, mine is just a shade under 26-1/2 so it seems as if the ERA splitter should be able to work, now to see if they might sell me one...

Thanks again,
Dan

Uhhh, you might want to make sure that an errant zero doesn't make its way in to the price.

[avanti-176]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Uhhh, you might want to make sure that an errant zero doesn't make its way in to the price.

It's almost Christmas, definitely the wrong time of year for a stray zero to be messing with my desired shiny things.

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by avanti-176

Thanks Dan, mine is just a shade under 26-1/2 so it seems as if the ERA splitter should be able to work, now to see if they might sell me one...

Thanks again,
Dan

Hopefully they will. You will probably want the piece of plastic chrome trim for the front of it. I understand a piece of VW chrome trim can also be made to work (it may have been the original source). I think there was a thread in the Originality Forum about this a couple of years ago.

Dan

[tboneheller]

I have a brand new ERA splitter (no chrome trim) & an unfitted soft top (still in the box) w/ bows. Send a P/M if interested.

[strictlypersonl]

My recollection is that strip we originally used was from a Karmann Ghia hood. We haven't been able to find those in about twenty years.

[DanEC]

Icy, cold day here with sleet all day. Fortunately Little Rock itself missed the freezing rain. Spent the day in the garage installing bumpers, trim, odds and ends. So, here are some pictures of Cobra bling:

Mounted the bumpers:




The usual emblems:







I cut some gasket washers to go under the flare on the top of the ferrules since they will never sit evenly on the body all the way around and I was concerned an edge could chip paint. Also, on the underside I put a thin O-ring between the paint and the C-clip that ERA uses to secure the ferrule. I figured the ends of the C-clip might dig into the paint. Overkill I'm sure but it kept me out of holiday decorating for awhile:


Street roadster ash tray in the console. I've never smoked in my life:



Street roadster gas cap (except for incorrect button release):



I should get the windshield mounted tomorrow and then it will look somewhat like a car. Still have the rear bulkhead to cover with vinyl and that isn't going to happen in a closed garage in this weather.

Stay warm everyone.

[kevins2]

Dan,

Looks great, I enjoyed looking at the photos. That really does beat holiday decorating!

Enjoy.

Kevin

[DanEC]

I'm curious as to what others with the full street bumpers have done with the threaded rod spacers? Left them natural? Painted or powder coated them? What color?

I have no idea what the originals looked like in that area. Natural may be fine as long as they stay clean and don't rust.

[Jim Holden]

As I recall, the tubes that go over the threaded rod are aluminium. A little polish every now and then should take cae of them.
Jim

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by Jim Holden

As I recall, the tubes that go over the threaded rod are aluminium. A little polish every now and then should take cae of them.
Jim

Thanks Jim. Can you also take a look at my other ERA post on the fit of the sidecurtains to windshield and give me your opinion?

I should add that I like the answer on polished aluminum. After finally getting that front bumper bolted in with those hard to get to threaded rod/nuts behind the grill - I hope to never remove it again.

Thanks

Dan

[DanEC]

Not much progress this week. Had the windshield on but had to remove it for an issue with the rear view mirror bracket. I did a trial with the vinyl for the rear bulkhead. I applied sound deadner/insulation over the rear bulkhead which ends up lumpy enough to reflect through vinyl. I had a roll of sunscreen fabric laying around that I thought might work as an underlayment to provide a smooth surface under the vinyl. It's pretty stiff and has a fine woven texture. I used it on the differential/brake access cover and it looks like it will work fine. This will be a lot of work as basically I will have to cover the rear bulkhead twice with material.



The ice has finally left the driveway to where I could back my Lightning pickup backed out and get a couple pictures with a little more perspective.