MERCEDES-BENZ #107 BODY 1972-1989
How to Install a Convertible Top
TOP #113-3040
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Back to How to Install
The following information is supplied as a customer service
guide only. World Upholstery & Trim recommends professional
installation of all our products. No guarantee or warrantee with regard
to results of installations made by this guide is made or implied.
Tools required:
Phillips Screwdriver --Scissors --Marking
pencil or Chalk --Metric socket set or wrenches
Blunt stuffing tool (rounded putty knife)--Awl
Contact Adhesive,
(purchase locally)
Pulling wire or hooked tool
Weatherseal Adhesive black #000- 9412
Protective blankets --Masking tape--small paint brushes
1/8" pop rivets and gun
Additional parts not included that may be required:
Top Straps, pr.#113-3056 , Top cables,#113-2195 Top to windshield weatherseal #113-0098Door glass to top frame weatherseal #113-0104/0105
Upper A post weatherseal #113-0106Top to rear deck lid weatherseal #113-0099
Preparation
* Inspect contents of box against your invoice, especially
color and material.
* Protect car with fender covers or blankets to avoid
damage to finish.
* Tape protection over inside and outside of plastic
window on new top.
If your soft top frame is in need of adjustment, now would be a good time to do
this job.
(Add or remove shims where the frame meets the body of the car as this helps the
moldings to line
up perfectly with the roll up windows)
Before starting, decide if you are going to replace the rubber seals and order
them. The front
seal above the windshield will most likely be destroyed during removal. The rear
seal is easily
removable but check for cracks and fraying ends. Use quality contact cement.
The first step is to remove the rubber seals and metal retainers. You will need
a small phillips
screwdriver for this. Label everything you take off. Keep the screws to each
metal retainer
together.
Make notes; for example, one of the screws for the side window moldings goes
under the metal
retainer and must be screwed in prior to reinstalling the retainer when the time
comes.
Remove your old top. Loosen the nuts holding the side wires above the roll up
windows. Measure
and note the distance between the rearmost frame bar (the free floating one) and
the (stable)
frame bar forward to it. Remove the old inner cloth listings and drill out the
pop rivets to the
front bar.
Protect the paint. Use the 1/2" brush and lightly dab on adhesive remover to
remove the old glue.
Do not allow the adhesive remover to come in contact with any painted
surface.
Starting the Installation.
Lay your new canvas top on the opened, but unfastened, frame. Start with the
center bow. Line up
the inner cloth listings, using your measurement for the rear frame bar. Compare
this measurement
to the corresponding inner seams of the top. Pop rivet the front bar in place.
Slide the side wires into the new top but leave them loose for now. The front
wire fastener
will be positioned right at the front hole with all of it hidden except the part
where the screw
goes through. Be sure to center the top from side to side.
Apply glue to both surfaces with your small brush, working from the center
outward. Pull the front
beading forward and down so it is just at the lower edge of the front frame.
Pull snuggly to
the sides until the bead rounds the corner of the front. Don't be afraid to pull
the top loose
and re-glue if necessary until you have it right.
Use an awl to punch a hole for the first chrome screw which will go through the
fastener for
the side wire and into the frame. Repeat the other side. The glue holds the
fabric in position
until the metal retainers are installed. When you're happy with the front fit,
install the metal
retainer along the front.
Use an awl or ice pick to locate the screw holes in the frame. Don't install
any rubber
moldings until the very end of the job. Fasten the front frame down to the car.
Do the rear
bow next, using the same procedure as the front. Start in the center and work
your way outward.
Pull the bead down so the top will lay nicely against the car. Allow for some
slight stretching
back later.
Install the metal retainer. Fasten the rear bow to the car. If the top is too
tight, loosen the
front fasteners, attach the rear first and then fasten the front. Have an
assistant help pull
the frame forward so it can be fastened.
Next, do the sides. Roll the windows up and down from time to time to check
alignment. Glue
(with weatherstrip or contact adhesive) the side rubber top to top frame seals
to the top now. These rubber seals
are installed with the large end fitting into a pocket in the front bow.
The thin flat edge of the seals lays against the top of the frame acting as a
"weather strip."
The flat side of the strip is glued to the top along the inside edge of the
canvas. Pull
the side wires snug and fasten the nut to hold the sides down tight. Disengage
the rear bow from
the car. Apply glue and pull the sides down tight and forward.
Install the metal retainers. Fasten front and back frame bows to the car. Check
window alignment.
Next, glue the inner fabric listings to the frame. Protect the inside of the car
with plastic
sheets. Start with the front bar. Glue the flap furthest to the front of the car
first, gluing
it towards you, then glue the flap closer to you overlapping the other flap.
This will hide
the glue edge and look nice.
Do the opposite for those flaps behind you so that you don’t see the glue edge.
Glue the flap
furthest from you first, and then overlap with the flap closer to you, and,
therefore, the
visible flap. Trim excess canvas material and install the rubber moldings. I
didn’t use any
glue on the rubber moldings except the front.
The fabric may stretch during the first few weeks of usage. Do not be
afraid to disassemble and re-glue. Lacquer thinner will remove minor glue
accidents from
the fabric.
By Czap ski and credited to Alex ander.
Elapsed time approximately 4 hours.
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World Upholstery & Trim also supplies additional
upholstery items for most Mercedes Benz models as well as Ferrari, BMW,
Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Saab and Jaguar models. Call us @ 805-921-0100
or 800-222-9577.
* Seat Upholstery in cloth, vinyl or leather * Protective
Floor Mats * Carpeting * Headliners
* Tonneau Covers * Boot Covers * Convertible Tops
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or model click here
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07/15/2010
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