74 NovaMan's 1992 Camaro RS Convertible

[TheSilverBuick]

Wow!

[74NovaMan]

After that we stretched the top towards the first bow and marked the location. We applied the glue in about 6 sections starting at the middle and alternating. We also pulled the top about 1/4 inch past the marks. We clamped along the way similar to the rear bow, but once we were done we quickly removed the clamps and installed the retainer strip that goes all the way across the first bow and is held in by 13 screws. Once you are to that point, the instructions said that the top should be just short of latching. I believe that we got it about right.

[74NovaMan]

Next we reinstalled the rivets, cables, and the weatherstrip retainers.

[74NovaMan]

We let that mess sit overnight. If not for the glue issue, the install to this point was pretty simple and where and how the top was to be placed was very intuitive. Here is what it looked like without the clamps.

[74NovaMan]

The bonding issues let us to do this on the rear bow.

[74NovaMan]

We used vinyl cement sourced from the "Convertible Top Guys"



This stuff did not work as well as I had hoped it would. It certainly did not like any of the old adhesive that was left over. The good news about that was that I was able to use it as a stripper to remove the old glue. Performance wise, I was expecting it to bond immediately after contact (after the 3-5 minute waiting time). After fiddling around with it a bit it appeared that it has good holding power in the direction needed but did not hold as well when you fold back the material and pull on it. If it does let loose or if I do another one of these I will be looking at other options.

[74NovaMan]

Install was largely the reverse of the removal with the exception of starting the gluing on the pillar behind the side windows. BTW - Those clips you see really did not work very well.

[74NovaMan]

From there we spent a bit of time cleaning up glue and ordered new weatherstriping (rear bow and side windows). We decided to take the slack out of the stay pad between bows 3 and 4.

[74NovaMan]

Top is off:

[74NovaMan]

After that was out of the way, we drilled out 2 more rivets and pulled the fabric off of the bow. The only thing holding the top to the rear bow are the 2 rivets and glue.

[74NovaMan]

Once that rivet was out of the way we peeled back the headliner far enough to pull the top material off (more contact cement). Next up was removal at the rear bow. Here we discovered that we would need to order a new bow seal. Not only was it torn in places there was a piece missing.

[74NovaMan]

Next I pulled the headliner off of the front bow (this was glued). The headliner was sown to a clip (full length -side to side) on the second bow so that just snaps off. At the third bow, the headliner was glued to a metal angle that was fastened with screws and when that was removed we found out that there was a front and rear section to the headliner. We were able to leave the rear section of the headliner installed throughout the rest of the removal and install.

With the front section removed we were able to remove the retainers that slide into the pockets sown into the top. Once that was done, and the cable ends were disconnected, we were able to fold the top back to the 4th bow.

Next we removed the side window weatherstrip. The top piece unbolts from frame with the weatherstrip left in place. The seal for the rear of the side windows needed to be removed from its retaining channel before the channel could be removed. After that we drilled out these rivets that hold the top at a stress point at the base of the top where it meets the back of the side windows.

[74NovaMan]

Next up was removing the plastic cover and retainer strip from the front bow. Then pulling the fabric off of the front bow (glued with contact cement of some sort).







Here is the screw for the side cable:

[74NovaMan]

Next up was making sure we had the correct top. This mainly consisted of measuring the old and the new. The new top came with the car when we bought it.

[74NovaMan]

Over the last 3 weekends we installed the new top. Started by removing the seats: