Replacing the hood

8/7/2019 Replacing the hood

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Installing a new hood It will take at least one day and part of another. If you decide to removethe frame and rework it, set aside another day (I didn't have time to redothe top frame). Things you will need: New topDrill1/8" drill bitPop Rivet tool1/8" x 1/8" long Aluminum pop rivets1/8" x 1/4" long Aluminum pop rivets1/18" pop rivets washersScissorsX-Acto KnifeSnap setting tool3M Super 77 Spray AdhesiveGood fast drying contact cementChina Marker in white and/or contrasting color to your carSharpie MarkerTape measureSmall spring clampsAwlTwo people to help when stretching topRatchet handle and socket to fit nuts on retainer bar.Extra poppers to fit to car (try to save all that are already there!)Newspaper OK, you got your stuff, let's get started! On the car, measure the width of the car and mark the center both at theback and at the top of the windshield. Extend the line on the windshieldabout 7" straight down. At the back, mark the position of the poppers forthe hood cover. Inside, remove the carpet panel at the back of the interior (4 sheet metalscrews). Remover the 7 nuts, washers, 5 backing plates and release theturnbuckles for the webbings. Unlatch the top and fold it back. Go alongthe header seal and mark the positions of the pop rivets. Use a 1/8" drillbit and drill out the pop rivets. Remove the seal and bar and lay it on thebonnet. Drill out the two pop rivets holding the flap straps to the headerrail.



Carefully pull away the top from the header rail (there is a vinyl coveringon the inside of the header rail, if your is the original top, it is probablystill intact, if not, it was probably was cut when the last hood wasreplaced, so be careful not to tear the covering!). Undo the Velcro on themiddle bar and remove the hood. Remove the rubber grommets from

around the studs and popper pop rivets on the back of the top and retain.Drill out the pop rivets on the poppers across the back of the top beingcareful to save the poppers. Remove the top retainer bar from the back of the top and mark the drivets side for reference. Now place the bar backinto the holes in the body of the car and mark the center of the bar tocorrespond to the centerline of the car. With the top off, re-latch the frame to the windshield and inspect the feltthat is used to protect the inside of the top. Re-glue any of the felt that isloose with the quick drying cement. OK, the most important things for the installation of the top are: KEEPEVERYTHING CENTERED! and BE CAREFUL OF THE DRILL!! Fold the top inside out, side-to-side. Make sure that everything lines upand then mark the centerline of the top. Open it back up and mark thecenter of the top with a china marker on the outside both front and back.Lay the top out in the sun to heat up. There are two flaps at the back of the top. Lay the top behind the cartopside down and with the back of the top closest to the car. This willmake sure that it is orientated correctly side-to-side, drivet’s side of thetop to the drivets side of the car. Lay the rear retainer bar down acrossthe bottom of the top with the studs pointing up and center it with thecenterlines. Fold the top flap up and away from you. The retainer bar willbe inserted into the second flap to hold the top securely in place. Withthe bar lined up to the top, mark with the china marker the studlocations. Once you have marked the locations, you will cut holes to allow the studsto go through this flap. The center hole car be small, but you will have tomake the out side holes larger to allow the top to stretch. Also, makesure that you have the holes close enough to the bottom seam that thetop will not pull up when stretched. Once the holes are cut, fit theretainer bar in to the pocket with the studs in the appropriate hole. Gluethe rubber grommets to the top around the studs.



Place the top over the framework and work the retainer bar into positionwith the studs aligned in the seven holes in the body. Lightly affix thespreader bars, washers, and web turnbuckles into place with the nuts.Align the center mark on the back of the top to the center mark on thecar. Tighten only the center nut to hold the bar and top in correctalignment.

With two assistants, stretch the top at the front of the car, taking carethat the centerlines on the top and the windscreen match up. Use aSharpie marker to trace the edge of the front of the front header onto thebottom of the top. Release the top and retract the line if there are anygaps. Unlatch the header rail, flip the front of the top out of the way andpull the header back about 2” away from the top of the windscreen. Spread newspaper over the windshield area, the dash and seats. Spray thetop of the header rail with spray adhesive and let it tack up (about 45 secto 1 minute). Have an assistant hold the frame up so the header rail ispointing straight up and start to apply the top with about ” to 1” gapbetween the front of the rail and the line scribed on the top. Rub the topdown and then latch the header rail into place. If the top is not tightenough, release the rail and pull the top away from the header. Re-spraythe header rail and reattach the top with more gap between the scribedline and the front of the rail. It should be hard to attach the header rail,as you want to make sure to really stretch the top so that it will not sagwhen hot. When you are satisfied that the top is stretched tight enough,release the header rail and hold it straight up. The next step is to glue the excess material under the header rail. Makesure that you have marked the position of the pop rivet holes on theinside of the header rail. Apply glue to the top and the sunder side of theheader rail and let it tack up. Start in the center and pull the top materialdown and onto the bottom of the header rail, rubbing it into place as yougo. When you get to the curved edges of the header rail, cut slots into thetop material from the outside edge in toward the header rail to form tabs.Fold these tabs under the rail, inside ones first and overlap the next tabto make an even curve. Apply extra glue as needed and use the springclips to hold the tabs in place. Once all of the material is rubbed down,reconnect the header rail to the windshield. Go to the side of the car and determine where you want the first snaphead to be to fit the popper closest to the door. Drill the hole and insertthe snap head and bottom halves together. Using a set tool, a hand gripone works best, set the snap together and while pulling on the fingerloop, connect it to the first popper. Repeat the process on the other side



of the car. Now stretch the edge of the top over the trim rail and popperheads on the car. Find the popper heads under the material and with theawl, force a hole through the material to align with the popper. Repeatwith all the poppers on that side of the car. Unsnap the first popper andset the snap heads and retainer in place. Once all of the snaps areinstalled, repeat on the other side of the car.

Now that all of the snaps on the side of the top are in place, it is time tomark the location of the poppers for the back. Using the awl and themarks you made on the back of the car for the popper, locate the existingholes in the retainer bar. Push the awl home and insert a pop rivet pullerstud first to retain alignment through the hole. Repeat with all of thepopper holes.

Unlatch the header rail, unsnap the popper and remove the seven nutsfrom the studs. Carefully remove the back of the top and pop rivet thetwo inside popper into the center most holes with pop rivet washer onthe under side of the top. For the two outside poppers, you may find thatthey are setting right in the thickest part of the material caused by theoverlapping to the window frame. I found that if I placed a washer directlyunder the popper itself, it would raise it enough so the snap would go on



easier. Once you have set the popper in the retainer rail, glue the rest of the rubber grommets into place around the stems of the pop rivets.

Re-install the retainer rail/rear of the top and tighten down all of thenuts. Snap all of the poppers into place and reconnect the header rail.Make sure that the top is still tight enough for to allow for sagging whenhot. Once you are happy with the fit, unhook the header rail and fold itback to give access to the bottom of the rail.Using the awl, find all of the holes where the seal was originally held inplace, follow the marks we made earlier. Position the seal and metalretainer on the header rail and align with the marks. Start in the center

and set the pop rivets in place. NOTE: If you get the rubber from the sealunder the head of the pop rivet tool, the pop rivet will not set. It isdifficult, but you must spread the seal material to set the pop rivets. Workyou way to the outside of the header rail, setting all of the pop rivets. Using the X-Acto knife, trim the extra material from the top from thebackside of the header seal, being careful not to cut the vinyl cover overthe header rail. Once you have trimmed off the material, hook the headerback on the windshield. Get in the car and shut the door. Pull the tab forthe window flap and check for the hole in the frame for the pop rivet.

Push the tab up between the door and the top frame and use the awl tomark the position for the rivet. Mark the other side in the same matter.Loosen the header rail and inset a pop rivet and set, repeat on the otherside. Latch the header rail into position. Get out of the car and admire your new top!!

Replacing the hood

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