Source for 79-85 Biarritz complete stainless steel roof cap?
If it comes from a donor car, how would it be removed?
thanks,
matt CLC# 18621
I haven't owned one of these, but in checking them at parts yards when I did own an '81 slick top (thinking I might install one), the caps are so thin that it is highly likely that there is no way to salvage one without bending it. However, it is probable that the cap was installed with rivets which might be visible on a donor car by removing the head liner and grinding off the visible rivet heads. Good luck.
You would need to remove the moldings which may snap on or may have t-type clips nutted from the inside. A peak at a parts book should reveal that.
The stainless cap is probably fastened to the room by adhesive of some type.
The best way to remove it without damage would be by using a thin wire and getting started in the front and using a sawing motion with a friend's help, work the wire under the cap at the front and saw back and forth as you slowly move to the back. That's the only way to remove an item like that.
I have done this on the fiberglass roadster caps that are glued down on Eldo's and Sevilles from the 80's.
Brian
I have seen several in the junk yards where people have attempted to remove them. They are glued down, and I am not even sure the wire method above would work well on this top without damaging the edges, since the Eldo top wraps downward on the edges, and I would be concerned that the wire would tend to distort that downward curve. Perhaps some heat applied from the inside, along with a combination of the wire method and lots of patience would eventually get you a usable cap, but yes, they are very thin.