Hard top front hold downs?

[Brave Salmon]

Anyone come up with a better way to anchor down the hard top? The rivnut solution is ridiculous at best and dangerous at worst. Is there a hold down clamp suitable for this application? Thanks

[NAZ]

If you're NOT interested in removing it to reconfigure the car as a roadster then yes, there is a better way. 1/4" pop rivets in the front thru the metal inbed that the rivets are supposed to attach. I used a 3" spacing but I also bonded my top with 3M Panel Bond and glass the seams.

[Brave Salmon]

Thanks again NAZ but I want the roadster configuration as an option. Can't believe this us so damn difficult to come up with something to hold the top down up front. Reaching in through the panels is ok but I need a way to get anchor bolts into the top front that will hold up. This car will be driven and it gas to be solid and safe.

Take care bud. You getting close to having yours done?
Tom

[NAZ]

Tom, you may want to rethink the rivnut and perhaps go with a series of fabricated studs epoxied into the lower windshield frame. It was an idea I was kicking around at one time. Sorry I don't have a sketch but I'll do my best to explain what I was thinking about.

Bend a short legged "L" on the studs where you can drill through the windshield from the top side (and thru the metal embedded in the glass) so that the "L" is catching the metal and won't pull thru. You can flatten the "L" so it has a lower profile. This will require using a burr in a die grinder (or maybe a router) to make a short groove in the glass of the windshield frame so the "L" of the stud is below the surface. Come back and glass over the groove later to cover the stud. This repair would be hidden by the edge of the windshield. Then you simply use flange nuts to attach the front of the top to the body from below where you would normally use a bolt with the rivnut. If you do something like this you should get a burr made for cutting fiberglass as anything else is way to aggressive and hard to control.

As for my hot rod, the chassis is done and my body is at the painter. Trying to get the NHRA chassis inspector scheduled for next week -- been putting this off until I had the body off for the last time.

[Brave Salmon]

OK NAZ, I went for it and used your idea for the top studs. Took 3" 1/4-20 bolts, cut off their heads and bent the top 1" over at 90 deg. Flattened them after getting them hot with torch. Drilled down through the windshield glass channel and notched the channel to recess the flats. Bolted the top down using these new bolts and once everything proved out fine, I glassed in the cutouts using short strand kitty hair. I am very happy with the results. Once the glass is installed the bolts are stuck for life but that's fine with me. Strong and safe. thanks for your suggestion..

[AZREALTOR]

I would also like to thank both of you. I removed the top from my 33 that I had bought as an incomplete project. I discovered that the previous owner had installed stainless steel studs in the riv nuts and then used nylocks on the bottom side. You can pretty well guess when removing a mild steel nyloc nut from a stainless fastener thats threaded in a riv nut with no anti sieze on anything what is going to give first. I now have to either attach the top permanently or come up wit something similar to what you've done. One of the studs is also in direct conflict with the A/C but I'll worry about that when I get to it. Anyway, thanks again for the description of your solution.

[Svtfreak]

For reinforcement, I put washers behind the rivnuts on the back deck and glassed in the rivnut and washer together. On the front, I did the rivnut and stud with nut route but I am going to drill from behind and glass those buggers in also then fill the holes I made. That should give me a nice strong mounting method (5 in front and 5 in back) and allow me to remove the top if I want to.

Edit: on the back I mean, I put epoxy on a washer with the same hole size (25/64) and installed the rivnut through it. Then, I turned the body over, put the bolt in with some wax so it would come back out and epoxy and fiberglassed the washer and rivnut together good. I am not done with this process yet but the ones that are in and glued with epoxy are nice and sturdy.