51 Pacemaker Convertible Top Stack video

[Deleted User]

I finally got the top stack restored and put together on the car. I got the 6volt two direction pump ,2 rams , and control switch and wiring from Hydro-Electric. I found a light gray top from Aro2000 (out of new york if I remember correctly). My top guy says he hopes to install it this coming week.

I got a new sony handycam digital movie camera recently and wanted to try it out. I decided to try taking a movie of the top stack operation. I uploaded the movie to photobucket because it was way to large to email. I sent it to Fred Connors about a week ago. I got to thinking some of you guys might like to see it too. When I uploaded it to Photobucket the video was longer than it is now. Apparently they must edit what you put on their site. Anyway here is a link to the video. Rob

http://s1173.photobucket.com/user/RobFayette/media/201305121753321.mp4.html

commodorecollector

Looks very nice Rob! Looks like you getting close to taking it out on the road

SuperDave

I really enjoyed the video. I noticed that the vent windows are crank outs. Do all the convertibles have them? I know that other body styles had crank outs on Commodores and Hornets only. learning every day...

RL Chilton

Rob-

Thank you so much for posting this. I enjoyed seeing the live action on your beautiful convertible and your infectious enthusiasm is refreshing.

It seemed as though you might have been guessing as to how the rear window curtain fastened to the car, so I took the liberty of posting a couple of pictures to assure you that you are on the right track.

In the photos, the gray primered piece is an original top piece. It is the comparable piece to the one you manufactured. It does indeed go inside the curtain and then screws fasten the bottom of the rear curtain to the top of the well lip. Additionally, the shiny stainless piece goes on the top and outside of the top material. The screws that go all the way through metal strip (painted one) and the bottom of the curtain and the shiny outside stainless piece have the interior snaps attached to them. This gives your boot (which would have the female portion of the snap) something to fasten to when employing a well boot.

If you look closely at the back of Park's '51, you can see the stainless strip above the beltline trim.

Only question I have is: Is the top mechanism somewhat slow? It seems to be . . . but maybe it's just me.

RL Chilton

Rob-

Your way will work. As an addendum, the ones I've seen before actually have two flaps and you can lift the outside one to get to the fastening side of the secondary flap, but the principle is the same.

[Deleted User]

SuperDave
Yes, as far as I know the stepdown convertibles all had crank out vent windows. Since my convertible is a pacemaker it would seem like that is the case.

Russell
Yes I thought the top seemed slow too. My friend Fred Connors saw the video and he thinks maybe its because the battery is 6 volts and the voltage can be low when the engine isn't running.

As far as the strip that goes in the back of the top, I still have remnants of top that was on the car when I got it, and I'm pretty sure the metal strip was in between two layers. I don't think it had a flap like you are talking about. Fred also mentioned the flap. He said that a friend of his has a stepdown convertible with a flap like that. Maybe they did it both ways. I talked to a guy at Aro2000 where I got the top from. He said that a couple of years ago they were lucky and obtained an original top to get a pattern from. If this is true that would also suggest that the original tops didn't come with the flap. It would be cool if this thread generates some more discussion on the topic.

Rob

54SuperWasp

@Rob, I don't own a convertible but found that video and all the comments attached to this thread very instructive. Thank you! Michel
P.S. Nice milling machine too!

MikeWA

Beautiful job on the top hardware, Rob. Your project continues to march toward completion- while many or our "projects" languish in a back corner.

As far as "getting it on the road", it actually has been, for some time. Rob drove it to the Spokane National in 2010. To keep from being par-broiled on his trip across the state (Washington is about 2/3 desert, and can be brutal in the summer), he fashioned a "field expedient" top of canvas in an attractive "desert sand" shade, sourced from Seattle Tent and Awning, IIRC. It aroused a great deal of interest from the NW Chapter crowd, primarily because it gave us something to rib him about. But it "did the trick", and he herded the mighty Pacemaker about 350 miles to the meet, without need for the Spokane General burn unit upon arrival.

As far as the Bridgeport is concerned, a couple of resources- there is a machinist's forum at practicalmachinist.com/ Also, I hang out on an antique tractor board at ytmag.com, which is populated with a bunch of machinist types who would be able to answer pretty much any question you have about machining in general or Bridgeports in particular. Go to the "tools" subsection of the forum.

MikeWA

practicalmachinist.com/

[Deleted User]

Christopher,
Thanks for you nice words at the top of the thread. Sorry I missed thanking you before this.

Michel, thanks for your positive thoughts also.

Mike,
Thanks to you too for your positive comments . Yes the Harbor Freight $5 canvas kinda kept the sun off..lol. It poured down rain on the way back home though. It wasn't.so much help for that.
I have had the mill for about a month and I have been frequenting the Practical Machinist forum quite a bit already. Rob

RL Chilton

Nice postcard backdrop on the pic! Holy cow! Places like that don't really exist, do they?

Nice Hollywood, too.

I don't know Rob, maybe you shouldn't mess with the original top . . . I like the homemade one better. It's got that Jeep-bikini-top feeling.

[Deleted User]

Russell
That was shot on our way up to Mt Baker Lodge. Mt Baker is about 50 miles west of where I live in Bellingham, Washington.

The mountain in the pic isn't mt baker, its mt Shuksan according to the title on the pic. I didn't take this pic (obviously, since I'm sitting in the convertible), Jim Haugo did.

Jim owns the beautiful 51 Hardtop. Jims' hardtop was featured on the cover of Old Cars Weekly price guide a few years back.

The 49 super six is Fred Connors. I saw a lot of Fred when he lived in Portland Oregon.
Fred overhauled the engine in the convertible for me, and I spent 4 days at his house in Portland when he was assembling the engine. Fred now lives in Carlsbad New Mexico.
Rob

onerare39

Russell,

I think the word you are looking for is "bimini top", but I'm not opposed to seeing a nice bikini top.

John

RL Chilton

John-

Actually, both words are correct. Bimini and Bikini. They seem to be used interchangeably.