how do i fix a bent top frame?

[shawnee's thing]

i just got my first thing and now that i have i see ive been @%$$ed over by someone i thought sounded like a good person :snipersmile: .
one of the many things i need to fix on my thing is that the top frame is not stright and i dont have a lot of money after spending 6 grand plus another grand on traveling any sugjestions
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There is no creature on this Earth who will ever make you merrier. The animal I do speak of, it's the American Pit Bull Terrier.

Punish the deed not the breed!

[bljones]

it depends on where and how bad it is bent. If you actually need to replace pieces, I have a spare top frame with a bad header bow that i can part out for you, if you know what parts you need. Sorry to here about the bad experience. keep your chin up- there are some good folks here who can help you out and stand behind you.
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OG JHC
Author of Original Rant #1
"It stingd itself to dead... now that is control on you"

2%

[chinarider]

For whatev it's worth:

Original Thing soft-top frames bend pretty easily, and you'd be really hard pressed to find one that's not bent. My Thing came with both hard and soft tops, and when I put the ST on in the summer, I realized that it was also bent way out of shape, bowed up - even wrinkled in one spot. Rather than shelling out $$$ on a new one, I was able to do a decent job of straightening it myself with a few strips of hardwood, clamps, a heavy hammer, and some elbow grease. Since the metal is fairly soft, it bends and can be hammered back to shape relatively easily. I also changed my soft top when I straightened thge frame. Now, it's not perfect, but it works, and looks fine. Thing shop also sells some reinforcement parts for bent frames - it's pre-cut angle iron that you'd need to weld in place. I opted not to go that route.

[emersonbiggins]

I have some metal that is bent to the contour of the top frame. When they are cut up there is a short piece left over that works great to put against a bent frame and beat on to help straighten it out. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/index.php?photo+200310022020507257

[flamed74vwthing]

most bent tops are due to not using the top corectly read a owners manuel on how to raise and lower the top. There is a diffrence.
Im currently working on having a sheet metal shop bend new rails out of stronger material.

[rfoutch]

I have the same issue, and was looking for a proceedure to make it right. If one of you that have done the deed could post some instructions and what to look out for that would be great.

If you have some before and after pictures that would even be better.

Also if someone could post some pics of the kit that would be great too!

Thanks
RF