She's topless! Ci Piace!

[crocteau]

Going to try my luck installing a new top.

Old top:

[Mr. Unpopular]

Look up Chris Vallone on Youtube. He posted a series of videos a few months back detailing the MANY steps it took to install a convertible top.
_________________
"In any racing engine, the nearer you are to it disintegrating, the better it's performance will be"
-Keith Duckworth, creator of the Ford/Cosworth DFV

[Dwayne1m]

What was wrong with the old top? Looks good in that pic.

[vamram]

mi piace molto il tuo maggiolino......
_________________
Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!

[crocteau]

[Tom K.]

Congrats, I'm really happy to see people take this on. So many posts suggest that replacing the convertible top is one job "I would never do". That it usually costs $3,000 makes me want to try. Hell, I just completely rebuilt an engine - how hard can a top be? So, please continue to share any experiences you gain from the process.
_________________
'91 Vanagon Westfalia
'70 Beetle Convertible
'71 Super Beetle Semi-Automatic: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=714131&highlight=
'65 Ghia: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=762478&highlight=

[Rome]

Consider welding a small gusset plate between the main frame bar and the crossbow for further strengthening of that joint. It can be a simple triangular piece of sturdy sheetmetal (~18 ga.) positioned along the inner face of the frame bar and curving maybe 1/2" outwards along the underside of the bow for sufficient contact area. Template would be easy to make using a grocery bag paper and a Sharpie marker. Do that on both sides of the crossbow. If you grind the welds down smooth and paint the gusset semi-gloss black, it should be nearly invisible even when the top is folded open.

Looks like your front top header is in excellent condition. That's a huge bonus to reuse that with your new top cover. I live near Chris Vallone's shop and usually stop by every 1-2 months to see what's doing. When he was replacing the top on the '70 Cabrio per the video, he had to replace the front header. Needed quite a bit of reshaping of the new wooden piece to get the contour right.

[crocteau]

[Dwayne1m]

Canvas tops do look awesome and classy.

[Tom K.]

But canvas tops are not as rain resistant as vinyl. If you are only driving on sunny days and to shows, then canvas is the choice (though your top may always be down on these sunny days). If you are thinking daily driver, including rainy days, then vinyl might work better for you.

I watched the Classic VW videos. My favorite line from Chris was something like "these Verts were leaky the day they left the factory". I think all convertible owners should be preventive in terms of moisture damage. The best step, I think, is to remove all glued-on carpets and padding from the floors and replace with carpets glued to removable gym-boards. I am in the process of doing this now.
_________________
'91 Vanagon Westfalia
'70 Beetle Convertible
'71 Super Beetle Semi-Automatic: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=714131&highlight=
'65 Ghia: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=762478&highlight=

[Cusser]

[DeMinimis]

Awesome. I did one on my former '79 back in, say, 2005, and helped a friend do his around the same time. It was cake. Of course, I had the Convertible Specialties VHS tape to follow. Gave away the tape (extra) to someone on here and of course, I can't find the old tape I had. Wish I had it now. Please detail your progress.
_________________
Yes Virginia, beer can make you smarter.

'78 SB CEII In Progress.

[crocteau]

[Cusser]

Good. That reminds me: the frame on my 1971 Convertible had a breakage a few decades ago, think I screwed it together somehow; and not going to check this today !!!
_________________
1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[vamram]

[Cusser]

[Freebirdbeachbum]

[Cusser]

[crocteau]

Thanks to Cusser for the hint of things to come in the way of foundation apparel , in the case of Ci Piace it's the headliner and support straps. Here's an update:
From the number of hog rings that were holding the rear window pad material to the rear metal rod it was apparent that whoever installed the previous owner's vinyl replacement top had encountered some issues. Sure enough, seven of the metal tabs required to anchor the rod(s) had been broken off, and the short rods meant to hold the rear window pads in place were missing altogether. My workaround was to cut and shape some steel sheet hooks and mount them on the apron... these pictures tell the story:

While screwing the new tabs in I decided to remove the original sound deadener (both the sticky, brittle, linoleum-like stuff glued to the firewall and the ultra heavy fibrous pads) and replace it with some Dynamat and Dynaliner. Then I decided to mount the rear webbing straps like so:

Having the one-time experience of installing the headliner in our Ghia cabriolet, in anticipation of gluing the listings of the new headliner to the various bows I cranked up the Stones "Sticky Fingers" album and proceeded to wrestle those anacondas with a somewhat satisfying result:

The designer hooks work well, and after being glued and stapled to the rear wood bow the rear webbing straps play a nice bass note when strummed. All my measurements are in agreement with one or more of the four sets of instructions described in Chris Vallone's helpful youtube videos.:

Next it was time to attach the front webbing straps to the metal rod at the front of the top pad wrap material... as ugly as my stitching is I think it beats using hog rings here:

Thanks for looking; constructive comments and advice appreciated. Hold your breath and keep your fingers crossed; there's more in store!

[vamram]

I've never owned a convertible and can't even sew a button on a shirt, so just sending you a pat on the back, man, nice work and dedication! Enjoying your progress!

Víctor
_________________
Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!