Craig:
As a matter of fact we did go to the trouble of powder coating the soft top
frame. We started by taking LOTS of pictures before and during the
diss-assembly process.
Unfortunately you have to pretty much trash most of the rivots by drilling
them out, so we then had to make new ones on a lathe. Since we were making
them anyway, we decided to make them out of stainless steel. (Looks
beautiful) Another major factor during this process is to mark which rivots
come out of each position. (yes their are about 3 differant types of rivots
in it, so save the old ones for guides in making the new ones.) This is also
a good time to fix any broken or worn plastic bushings you might
have....again save the old ones for referance. We did ours in black and again
I will say that with the stainless rivots it is reallly something to see, but
keep in mind that by the time you get the top wrapped around it, you really
don't see that much of the detail. It took us about one full day to make all
of the rivots, and the powder coaters got us for about $65.00. The
re-assembly was a little tricky but again the pictures helped a bunch. Some
might say that this is a bit extreme, but when I built this car I didn't have
the benefit of this list, nor did I know about any of the very enlightening
roadster events that existed so that I could ask these very legitimate
questions. I do intend on building another roadster real soon and I would
guess that the million dollar question is: "will I do it again?" The answer
is probably not unless the thing needs so come apart for other reasons, ie
broken bushings or seriously bent or worn out arms. I have seen the tops that
guys have re-done in nickel and the parts that you can see look very good. I
understand that this is a much lower temp process and the bushings survive
just fine.
Hope this helps.........Jon
Huntington Beach, Ca
67.5 1600
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