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Soft Top and Hard Top Alignment

thill35803

thill35803

Platinum Level Sponsor
Hi Folks,

I've searched the forum and found a few bits and pieces but there isn't a thread about the whole process of hard top and soft top alignment. I am going to attempt this partly as a motivational tool. I have some time over the next couple of weeks and hope to get finished.

Background - Car is a Series V. I've had it for about 30 years (yikes!). I took the car apart in 1999 and have been sporadically putting it back together ever since. I guess one good thing about this 'rona mess is I've spent more time in the garage.

Current Situation - Prior to the paint and body work, the top frame was removed. The windshield frame was removed and all the door glass was removed. This has all been reinstalled and a first cut at adjustment has been attempted. The results are less than adequate. I have two sets of the top frame hinge blocks and both of the driver side arms are bent.

Step One - I have the Smooth Line replica of the Parish Plastics hardtop. I am going to install it and, if possible, align the windows to the hard top. I will then proceed with aligning the soft top frame.

Here are some pictures of the current state of the soft top frame

Drivers Side

Drivers Side

Drivers Rear Lower

Drivers Rear Lower

Drivers Rear Upper

Drivers Rear Upper

Passenger Rear Lower

Passenger Rear Lower

Passenger Rear Upper

Passenger Rear Upper

Passenger Front

Passenger Front

 
alpine_64

alpine_64

Donation Time
I would think there is a lit of back and forth adjustment between window, the top frame amd the screen rake.
The last pic implies the screen may be raked back slightly to far.. Have you got adjustable acreen nuts installed to adjust the rake?
The soft top mounts and lever are often bent by owners forcing the top down... Re bending these provides quite a bit of alignment
 
rixter

rixter

Gold Level Sponsor
I agree, looks like the top of the windscreen may be leaning back You don't have a photo of the bottom portion of the 1/4 light window, but it looks as though the whole soft top frame needs to move forward and the windscreen may be contributing to that. I've seen the hinges twisted up quite a bit and yours don't appear to be that bad. But they seem not to be permitted to move closer to the B Post caps and that again could be the windscreen adjustment. The Alpine Guide (Service Bulletin on windshield assembly), has a note about the clearance between the windscreen and the hinge. Maybe see if you are way off. Here is the wording:

"Now check that the dimension between the stud on the inside top corner of the windshield pillar and the hole in the pivot bracket on the door shut pillar is to the specified measurement of 29 1/2 inches as illustrated in Fig 1".

Rick

IMG_20211221_090607234.jpg
 
Tim R

Tim R

Silver Level Sponsor
I have had a similar problem myself. I think that your soft top hinges are bent out of shape. They seem to be sitting too high and I expect that if you fold it back the bars will foul on the rear of the body tub. Below is a technical drawing from the Rootes Archive Centre (sorry if it is difficult too read). Blow it up and get the exact dimensions. If you then bend the hinges to match the shape I expect most of your problems will go away.
My own hinges were massively out of shape, now the soft top folds easily and seals well.
If you have a friend with a standard hard top it would be worth putting it on to confirm the windscreen position is correct. We have posted several videos on The Sunbeam Alpine Channel covering hard top restoration and fitting new soft tops if that helps.


Tim R

Soft top hinges.jpg
 
thill35803

thill35803

Platinum Level Sponsor
alpine_64 said:
I would think there is a lit of back and forth adjustment between window, the top frame amd the screen rake.
The last pic implies the screen may be raked back slightly to far.. Have you got adjustable acreen nuts installed to adjust the rake?
The soft top mounts and lever are often bent by owners forcing the top down... Re bending these provides quite a bit of alignment
Click to expand...

I do have the screen adjuster nuts. I had to remove one of them to get the windshield frame to line up with the quarter windows.

How much "rake" adjustment is available for the quarter windows? I fooled with them a good bit and didn't seem to get much adjustment.
 
thill35803

thill35803

Platinum Level Sponsor
rixter said:
I agree, looks like the top of the windscreen may be leaning back You don't have a photo of the bottom portion of the 1/4 light window, but it looks as though the whole soft top frame needs to move forward and the windscreen may be contributing to that. I've seen the hinges twisted up quite a bit and yours don't appear to be that bad. But they seem not to be permitted to move closer to the B Post caps and that again could be the windscreen adjustment. The Alpine Guide (Service Bulletin on windshield assembly), has a note about the clearance between the windscreen and the hinge. Maybe see if you are way off. Here is the wording:

"Now check that the dimension between the stud on the inside top corner of the windshield pillar and the hole in the pivot bracket on the door shut pillar is to the specified measurement of 29 1/2 inches as illustrated in Fig 1".

Rick
Click to expand...

Thanks Rick. From the diagram its a little difficult for me to grasp which points are to be measured from.

Is the "stud on the inside top corner of the windshield pillar" position A or B?

A Pillar.jpeg


Which position is "hole in the pivot bracket"? (C being the screw and D being the opening for the pivot arm)

B Pillar.jpeg
 
thill35803

thill35803

Platinum Level Sponsor
I did not. However the referenced document appears to be from the SI. I think the trim pieces are different.

I am still working on this and hope to have a better update soon.
 
rixter

rixter

Gold Level Sponsor
Hi,

Sorry. Missed that you were looking to me for clarification on the diagram. I do not know either. I was just posting the wording that was associated with the diagram in the Alpine Guide. Much or most of the content in that guide is extracted from Horn magazine issues of the past and sometimes edited for updated knowledge or clarity at the time of the Guide publication and revisions. Will look to see who provided the original data.

Rick
 
Paul354

Paul354

Diamond Level Sponsor
thill35803 said:
Thanks Rick. From the diagram its a little difficult for me to grasp which points are to be measured from.

Is the "stud on the inside top corner of the windshield pillar" position A or B?
Click to expand...

I have just checked my Series V and measured 29 ½ inches

From your photos the front position should be “A” the back side of the hole not the center

And the back location for the measurement is “D”

In the sketch from Rick above there is a dotted line going across the windshield to the other side just above the mirror
 
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