Went to put the top up so I can race this weekend, hose burst fluid everywhere! Is there an inexpensive fix? Can you get those hoses made up or do you have to buy a kit? Is there a way to get the top up by hand? What kind of hose is it? Thanks for any help. Kevin
I have done this repair before with a compression fitting. I had to sand the OD of the hose slightly to get it to fit in the fitting. Worked fine.
I have a set that was heading to the trash bin. Pretty nasty because I had a piston leak but the hoses should be good. If you want to try your luck just pay cost of shipping. Matt
Kevin- do you use the top frequently? I hear more and more folks only take their conevrtible out on good days, and park the car inside with the top down. The top needs it's 'exersize'
I always store with the top up. Otherwise it gets creases and would tend to crack. Especially true if it's not climate controlled. Then again, just about everybody already knows this. I've not had a leak yet, knock on wood. But my switch is starting to act a little bit intermittently. I'd ask the same question, what can you do by hand? Is there a hand crank somewhere down there that you can use like lowering the landing gears on a DC3 LOL?
You can disconnect the other hose and it will lift up by hand. You need to stand on the middle of the backseat and lift from the middle or get a helper for one side.
Putting an electric top up / down manualy is not impossible but it is very difficult for one person to do. You have to disconnect the top pistons and make sure they are out of the way. Since the top was set up for an electric motor it is not balaced the same way that a manual top is, so it is very hard to move in some positions. It is always smart to carry the tools to disconnect the top pistons just in case something happens when the top is down and you need to get it up quickly. When I purchased my '68 GS from the second owner he said that the electric top never worked for him and he owned it 20 years. He would put the top down in the spring and back up in the fall, thats it. I must be lucky because the top is still original on this car and looks very nice. To make a long story short about my GS top, when I purchased the car the top and the power windows did not work correctly (only the drivers side window worked). When the owner delivered the car to my house I started poking around with the wires and found out that they were not plugged into the fuse box correctly ou: I had the power top motor and all of the power windows working before the guy got to the end of my street on his way home.. :laugh: Its funny because the fact that the top and windows did not work made him lower the asking price.. :laugh:
Guilty on all charges, I only put it up to race,which isn't that often. The car is pretty rough at this point, but I have a dream! SF motor in the garage awaiting $$ and a Maine Buick guru! The top was white someone poorly dyed it back and it is pretty dry rotted, has defrosting glass window though! I will try the compression fitting trick if not I will definately grab those hoses, keep them out of the trash till monday! Someday sub 12 second and maybe a 200r. I heard it's been done though :3gears: Thanks for all the help I will keep you posted, watching the Blues Brother's on AMC for the 300th time.... Kevin
Kevin- when you get it fixed, do yourself a favor- clean the hydraulic rams with a light oil like 3-in-1. If you see any rust on the shiny parts of the rams, carefully polish the rust off with a very fine scotchbrite- the rust can rip the seals. Any debris on the rams can rip the seals as well. It's never fun to learn you should have been using the top often when this happens, but live and learn. i've seen photos of hydraulic lines on a top system caked blue, it looked like blue rock candy in there! needless to say, the whole system was shot I'm a bit apprehensive myself this year about my power top. haven't used it since August, and there isn't room in my storage to use it
