How Do You Align The Convertible Top Frame On A 1975 Eldorado?

[Jack Miller CLC# 24441]

Hi All,

When is spring a comin' in the north east!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Listen, does someone here know how to align the top on my 75 Eldorado? It doesn't go down straight, each arm moves differently, so I can't put it down and when I try to bring it back to closed position, I need a crow bar to make the corner point go into the holes so I can lock it.
I was told that there is a way to do this.

Thanks
Jack

[harvey b]

Hello Jack,i would start with a bit of lube on all the joints,unless you have had the top mechanism all apart and recently put it back together,it should just need a bit of fine tuning to get it perfect,it normally should not come undone?it sounds like it is stiff and is not flowing freely to open and close.As for the snow i cannot help you there,here in PEI today we got hit with another 25 cms on top of the 80 cms that are already on the ground,i am running out of places to put the stuff!it will be at least the first of may before i can even think about driving my cars here.HTH Harvey B

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Jack,

The Workshop Manual describes the operation and measurements of the Convertible Top and if you check all those bits and pieces, it should work satisfactorily.

But, be aware that in cold weather, the operation WILL be slow as the top material won't be as supple and looks as if the weather was hot.    My rule when putting the top up or down is to do it after at least an hour of being in the heat of the day, that is, with the Sun on it, and always put the top up at least an hour before Sunset.   This way, the heat of the Sun softens up the material.

Further, seeing as the car has stood still for so long, all the hinging joints could be suffering from rust and general tightness.

Having problems with the header bar getting into the correct position for locking to the windscreen leads me to think that the Covering is shrunk to the point of being way too tight.

Bruce.

[Jack Miller CLC# 24441]

Sorry All,

I was referring to the last drop in October. I have always owned at least one convertible car since 1969. My motto on dropping them in the New York area has always been Down on April Fool's day and up for the winter on Halloween. I have never had a cracked plastic window. When I had a heated garage (years ago) I would leave my 65 Impala top down and drive it like that with the heat blasting all year round.
I am asking this alignment question as April 1st is around the bend and I want to start getting this car in top down condition. I can't afford to redo the A/C in it this year as I have too many other cars that need completion first. My 61 Caddy gets a fresh paint job this spring, my 67 GTO convertible too.
I have my 88 911 ready for a brake rebuild and I just redid all of the fuel lines on that car (very expensive parts). When you let things sit they get stuck.
All 3 Jags will be road ready too by the summer and the Model A Ford's frame will get it's repair.
So.............................the 75 Eldo will be road ready and nice to drive but more of a driver than a showroom baby. Unless I hit the lottery.


Jack

[TJ Hopland]

You leave them down for months at a time?  I never had good luck with that.  The time I did leave it down for a few days I had the problem you describe.  I then talked to several shops that said to put it up at night so thats what I have been doing and its been fine.  On the cooler nights if its been down all day I have to leave it up as far as the motor will push it for about 15 minutes before its close enough to pull down and make the latches.

I wonder if your arms are out of sync with each other?  Each side is driven by what looks like a speedometer cable from a motor / gear box in the middle behind the back seat.  I would imagine if one side was a few turns ahead of the other one you would get strange results.

The info on the convertible top is not in the regular shop manual its in the 'Fisher Body Manual'.  They were the same from 71-76 so any year manual will do.  There was also a very good write up in the Self Starter about 3 years ago, I wish I could find where I put that issue.  I meant to shove it in the glove box because it included an 'emergency' procedure to get the top up manually.

[Brian Daum]

The convertible tops on the 71-76 Eldo`s can be quite challenging. The scissor mechanism must be properly adjusted to work well, and I agree on the point of not keeping them down all the time. The mechanism benefits from being used.

What about the wires on each side of the top, they are supposed to straighten out the top when lowering. They are a easy fix in case the are broken.

[Brian Daum]

Hope the weather gets nice i NYC soon. I`m heading there in two weeks....

[Barry]

The cables along the side have 2 purposes. First, they keep tension on the second ( floating ) bow to guide it away from the header. Second, they keep the top material tight against the side rails to cut out flapping and wind noise.

[J]

once again this is a good article   http://www.remaker.com/caddy/scissortop.html   once you get into it they are not so hard to work on