So I had some free time today(instead of watching "I love the 80s in
3d") and tackled the rattling rear of the ragtop.
It was down to just ONE bolt and nut and I was done. you know that rear
plate the back 3 button snaps hold onto to the car's body? The right
securing bolt wasn't on at all! In retrospect, it doesn't make much
sense(okay, how did I find the bolt if it wasn't on?), but here's what
it boiled down to:
THe nice shiny chrome bolt would NOT go back onto the nut "plate"
thingamajig. Oh sure, it screwed on, but you had more resistance than a
lugnut on a semi cab. I tried a different bolt, same thing. I eventually
took the thick nut out, and put in a regular one. Now it has no grip,
and freely rotated. 3rd try: just put in 2 thick washers where the nut
was and put a nut+washer underneath it. That did the trick. Now with the
2 bolts put back on, and replacemnt nuts for the 3 screw-on buttonsnaps,
that ragtop ain't rattling no more.
Oddly enough, no matter how tight I put the 2 mounting bolts on, there
was still some movement available.
Another question: why are there FOUR mounting nuts on the cockpit back,
when the plate only uses 2? Hardtop?
Then I realized what was that scratching problem on the window. One of
the nuts on the ragtop was gone entirely. It was a short l-shaped tube
that was only held on with one screw. The screws that compose the ragtop
hardware are a bizarre breed indeed. Now I need to shop aronud for a
replacement part or 2.
And to think, when I buy a new ragtop, I have to do this all over again.
This winter might be the time i bring the ragtop in the house to do
some major surgery on it, hardware and all.
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