Convertible Top HELP!!

[Mountaineerfan 44]

CRAP!

Power top convertible.  I was putting the top down yesterday, and there was a weird sound, and the top had trouble dropping the rest of the way.  It finally went down.  Today I went to raise it, and the passenger side wouldn't raise.  I manually raised it, and noticed that the bracket connected to the lift cylinder had broken!  Does anyone know if I can just get a new pillar and replace it, or do I need to replace the entire frame (please don't let it be the entire frame).

[barnett468 418]

can't you just re-weld the bracket?

can you post a photo of the offending item?

[Mountaineerfan 44]

Looks like cast iron. 

[newstang 388]

ouch!, cast aluminum. yes you will need another frame.  unless someone has a trick up their sleeve.

[Kris 90]

I had a piece broken off of mine but it was at the top where the tension cable attaches. I used some alumiweld and welded it back together. The part you have will be much harder to weld than what I did though. I would the part off and clean it really well and try it. I think the alumiweld cost like $15-20 For a pack of 8-10 sticks. I tried it on a couple other scrap pieces first and got used to it. I’ve seen people use a temp gun to watch the temp of the metal so they know when to use the alumiweld. I didn’t do that but if you get the metal to hot it will melt a hole quick. Top frames pieces are hard to find as no one wants to take a good one apart and a full top everyone wants a premium for. Good luck. 

[Mountaineerfan 44]

Anyone know of a junk yard around?

[barnett468 418]

Ok, you can have that tig welded by a good welder. They will grind enough material away so they will have a gap to fill that is pie shaped.

Now, here's the problem, it should not have broken in the first place, so this suggests there is another problem somewhere, ad it should be found, otherwise the same thing can happen.

Also, after that small piece is welded back on, that area will need to be reinforced, or it will crack again. There are a few different ways to do this and 2 of them are listed below.

1. Have the welder make 2 straps around 5/8" long and around 1/4" narrower than the bracket then bend these pieces to conform to the 2 areas they welded, then place them so they are 1/2 way onto the broken off piece and half way onto the larger piece and bend them so they conform to the shape of the metal then weld them.

2. Weld around a 1/4" thick aluminum "washer" to the sides of that piece after it is repaired, however, this will require the use of a longer pin, which might be hard to find.

[barnett468 418]

8 minutes ago, Mountaineerfan said:

Anyone know of a junk yard around?

http://www.mustang-village.com/

or

Mustang Salvage in Orange, California (714) 997-2000 .

 

 

 

[Vicfreg 771]

My '70 has a weld repair in the same place.

Good luck finding that part.

I am going to buy a whole extra top mechanism.

 

[Vicfreg 771]

Or find someone with a 3D printer.