Mike,
In order to stretch your top. Lay it out on an asphalt driveway in
bright sunshine
for a couple of hours. Then, while hot, stretch it over the top
bows.
Have fun !!
Jim Sheats
'69 Midget
'78 280Z
'82 Mustang
'93 Mustang
'95 Bonneville
and maybe a '77 F250 after tonight.....
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike Maclean [SMTP:macleans@earthlink.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2000 1:29 AM
> To: Spridgets@autox.team.net
> Subject: Fun with Electrics!
>
> Took a couple of days off work because my wife had laser eye surgery and
> I had to take the kids to school and pick them up. Nothing else to do
> except work on the Bugeye. I'm getting real close to finishing this
> car, but the more work I do on it, the more bugs pop up in the system
> I'm working on. Today was spent in my 120 degree garage (one way to
> lose weight) wiring the lights, front and rear. The headlights work
> perfectly, high and low beam nice and bright. The rear taillights work
> when the light knob is turned, but the brake lights come on when I turn
> the ignition on! I disconnected the two wires that go to the brake light
> switch and they went out. Touch the two wires together and the brake
> lights come on. I'm no electrical genius or any kind of genius for that
> matter, but even I can figure out the brake light switch is stuck
> internally in the on position. I did want to use that switch as it had
> the correct date on it for my car (original switch to this car). Now I
> get to drain the brake system and bleed it again.
> The license plate light in the rear does not illuminate when the
> lights are turned on, have not figured this one out yet. Have not tried
> the turn signals yet because I ran out of the connectors to solder to
> the wire ends when I got to the front of the car (just 2 connectors
> short!) The wiring harness I got from British Wiring really was very
> well made and wired exactly like the wiring diagram I got from the
> Clymer book. This wiring diagram shows where single and double
> connectors go in the circuit and is very easy to follow.
> Last but not least, I tried to install the Amco top I got at a
> British car swap meet a couple of years ago, brand new in the box. It
> had been sitting in that box, sent from M*** to the gentleman I bought
> it from over 15 years ago! I locked my top bows in the retracted
> position and then tried to install the rear retainer bar in the slot in
> the rear of the top. The only openings for it are the triangular ones
> that expose the bar to the chrome escutions on the rear deck. The slot
> extends past these openings just enough to equal the length of the
> retainer bar. How the heck are you supposed to put it in there without
> cutting a slit in the pocket? Just to test fit the top, I stuck the bar
> in one of the triangular openings and slid it through until it stuck
> out the other traingular opening. About 4 inches at either end stick
> out. I slid the front bar in the pocket at the front of the top and
> tried to pull it over the windshield to tuck it around and under the lip
> on the windshield frame. It seems to be an inch to an inch and a half
> too short! How do you stretch these things?
> It's going to take a couple of days just to figure out and work the
> problems I created just working on the car today! This isn't a
> restoration, it's subtle torture to drive me insane.
> Mike MacLean-60 Sprite
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