Hey Derek,
With the holidays, and house guests, I did not have much time to get back to this. It is still mounted to the body, so I don't have a picture of the frame itself. I did put it together like you show on your website. A layer of rope caulk above and below the rubber seal. I am sure the seal is oriented correctly. However, I did not shave off any material from the dash pad (only saw that part after I had mounted the dash pad). That may be at least part of the problem. I am using the stock rubber wedges instead of the adjusters from Sunbeam Specialties.
I have the quarter windows installed and I do have a hard top.
I had been tightening it down a little more each day for several days trying to get compression in all of the materials involved. I guess it may be time to remove the windshield and shave off some dash pad.
Thanks for the input!
Marty
Marty, I totally get it. Had been productive on my hardtop restoration and then... it didnt "just fit together." Did some trimming to rubber, but still a challenge and so... I bailed on it. I think the rule is to leave it alone for a day or two... ive expanded that to a half year or two.
Anyway, the reason I ask is alignment of all those elements with only one car experience has to be pure luck. The gurus likely know by angle and gap whether or not they are even in the ballpark with the initial windscreen install.
My own opinion / suggestions... first, the caulk bead(s) and rubber thickness really affect the standoff from the pad. The original mastic was compressed and much much thinner than the new rope. You may need to review that thickness. Also, i feel the pad thickness will make a huge difference, especially if its causing a touch point in the "corners" to lift the wings. Next, there are 3 post and 5 post frames, just an FYI. Next, the original fitting had a number of washers on the post inside (under) the dash before the nuts. I recall 2-3 washers of varying thickness. In my case if the washers were lacking/short, this left less thread to be able to draw the frame down (if i recall you run out of thread near the underdash).
im thinking that in a perfect world the hardtop is untouched, complete and all clamps are in original position / alignment. Id might not fully tighten all windscreen frame nuts and poss do same for quarters, to then allow the HT to rest in position and THEN fully tighten frame once i knew the HT would be fitting. That seems like a s ton of fiddling and prevents weeks / months / years of joy just driving with top down though... so my lazy ass didnt do it "the right way". I'll be continuing to pay for that as i finally get back to trying the HT fit again.
If those pesky guests ever leave and you pull the frame back off, take some closer detail pics of what ya got.
