- Joined
- Jul 27, 2012
- Messages
- 3,094
- Reaction score
- 445
- Location
- Brisbane - Australia
- My Car
- 1973 Mustang Convertible
Hi to all,
Got my car back from the trimmer today, and wanted to follow through on how i went as promised. Firstly, thank you to all the forum members that responded to me. Your input was most helpfull.
1. FORUM FEEDBACK.
Feedback proved interesting AND TOLD A STORY AS SUCH. A total of six forum members replied to date. Five members have stated that they have or have had the same problem as me, rubbing of the passenger's side seam only, on the dress chrome mould. One member says he has seen this problem on other original top verts. One member says that his rubbing problem has occured on both sides of his car. One member had no rubbing issues on both sides at all. Two members offered solid advice on what might be causing this problem and how to fix it. One member said it was the three adjusting frame bolts that need to be adjusted and the frame moved into the center of the car more. Another said it was the vinyl side of the roof needed to be reglued and pushed in more around the metal frame siding.
2. MY TRIMMER.
He has in the past adjusted the three anchor bolts on the passengers' side roof frame, and pushed the frame in as far as it could go.So far, that move has not done anything to help stop the rubbing. Today, he's taken the vinyl siding off the side frame,reglued it, and wrapped it hard and in around the metal frame.He also removed the rubber and metal wheather striping piece, and ground some of the rubber off the side of this strip as well as elongating the screw holes so the rubber wheather striping can sit across in more , and thus keep the side vinyl edge in more.By doing this, he has greatly improved the the situation. Now, i'm getting a small amount of rubbing, but with no sideways pressure anymore to destroy the seam edge.
This to me is a breakthrough, as now, the side seam edge should last a great deal longer.The key will be to keep an eye on the seam to see how it's holding up to wear and tear. He tells me that this is all he can do to help me.
3. CONCLUSIONS.
Sadly, the Jury is out as to what is specifically causing this problem to occur. No doubt that getting my trimmer to do the latest adjustments has improved the problem, but not 100% fixed it.Given as evidence, that this rubbing seems to be a specific common related thing, leads me to believe that this could be a factory or an original design issue from the start. Also, the frame joints could have slop or play in them from an age thing, and thus cause unwanted side movement when the roof is in operation. I also thought that the two ram cylinders may not be working in total equal sync, and that may cause the frame to develope an unwanted sideways move when the roof moves up and down, although Bill's 73 Ragtop situation where both sides of his roof are rubbing, contradicts that cylinder theory to some extent i think. I'm only guessing here people. However, i think that if you folllow the above mentioned adjustments, you may well improve your own problem, or even fix it maybe. I feel at this stage, i have pretty much exhausted most of the remedies and fixes to try and totally fix the rubbing issue.
In closing, i welcome anyone's further and future input as to what causes this annoying problem, and can offer specific help and advice on how to remedy the fault 100%. It could well be that something simple in particular is being overlooked regards the cause of this problem.This case is certainly not closed.
Your Reference to Ragtop Rubbing Problem thread .........................
http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-ragtop-rubbing-problem
Thanks to all,
Greg.
Got my car back from the trimmer today, and wanted to follow through on how i went as promised. Firstly, thank you to all the forum members that responded to me. Your input was most helpfull.
1. FORUM FEEDBACK.
Feedback proved interesting AND TOLD A STORY AS SUCH. A total of six forum members replied to date. Five members have stated that they have or have had the same problem as me, rubbing of the passenger's side seam only, on the dress chrome mould. One member says he has seen this problem on other original top verts. One member says that his rubbing problem has occured on both sides of his car. One member had no rubbing issues on both sides at all. Two members offered solid advice on what might be causing this problem and how to fix it. One member said it was the three adjusting frame bolts that need to be adjusted and the frame moved into the center of the car more. Another said it was the vinyl side of the roof needed to be reglued and pushed in more around the metal frame siding.
2. MY TRIMMER.
He has in the past adjusted the three anchor bolts on the passengers' side roof frame, and pushed the frame in as far as it could go.So far, that move has not done anything to help stop the rubbing. Today, he's taken the vinyl siding off the side frame,reglued it, and wrapped it hard and in around the metal frame.He also removed the rubber and metal wheather striping piece, and ground some of the rubber off the side of this strip as well as elongating the screw holes so the rubber wheather striping can sit across in more , and thus keep the side vinyl edge in more.By doing this, he has greatly improved the the situation. Now, i'm getting a small amount of rubbing, but with no sideways pressure anymore to destroy the seam edge.
This to me is a breakthrough, as now, the side seam edge should last a great deal longer.The key will be to keep an eye on the seam to see how it's holding up to wear and tear. He tells me that this is all he can do to help me.
3. CONCLUSIONS.
Sadly, the Jury is out as to what is specifically causing this problem to occur. No doubt that getting my trimmer to do the latest adjustments has improved the problem, but not 100% fixed it.Given as evidence, that this rubbing seems to be a specific common related thing, leads me to believe that this could be a factory or an original design issue from the start. Also, the frame joints could have slop or play in them from an age thing, and thus cause unwanted side movement when the roof is in operation. I also thought that the two ram cylinders may not be working in total equal sync, and that may cause the frame to develope an unwanted sideways move when the roof moves up and down, although Bill's 73 Ragtop situation where both sides of his roof are rubbing, contradicts that cylinder theory to some extent i think. I'm only guessing here people. However, i think that if you folllow the above mentioned adjustments, you may well improve your own problem, or even fix it maybe. I feel at this stage, i have pretty much exhausted most of the remedies and fixes to try and totally fix the rubbing issue.
In closing, i welcome anyone's further and future input as to what causes this annoying problem, and can offer specific help and advice on how to remedy the fault 100%. It could well be that something simple in particular is being overlooked regards the cause of this problem.This case is certainly not closed.
Your Reference to Ragtop Rubbing Problem thread .........................
http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-ragtop-rubbing-problem
Thanks to all,
Greg.
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