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[post_content] => [EDITOR NOTE: Two of our long-time members, Hijacker and mbartel, have compiled an incredibly detailed and easy-to-follow guide (with pictures) to replacement of the convertible top on the 240sx convertible. We're proud to share it with the 240sx community!]
We'll start with Hijacker's guide. Please do yourself a favor and read the ENTIRE series, beginning to end, before tackling this job. It's not hard if you follow the procedures closely and refer back to the article (and pictures) frequently.
First, you're going to need to buy a new top. Here's the one I used, and these guys are great to work with: Nissan 240sx Replacement Convertible Top.
Special Tools for the Job:
-240sx convertible supplement manual (we've got you covered here!)
-Pneumatic staple gun (those spring-loaded handhelds don't have the strength to do the job)
-Staples for said staple gun
-PB Blaster or some kind of lubricant to loosen rusty bolts and nuts
-Straight pick to remove the old staples
-Marking pencil (I prefer wax pencils, but I used a cloth marking pencil in this walk-through)
-Riveting tool and rivets (for the guide cables)
-Contact cement, stirring sticks, and disposable brushes
Removing the old top
My top didn't look too bad from a distance.
On both sides, the binding had developed dry rot, as well as a worn spot from 15 years of rubbing.
Both sides of the window had these wrinkle marks, and lots of mildew and mold. Too many years of being rained on.
And one shot I couldn't get was how stretched the top was. The sun had tightened it back up during the day, but after a highway trip, it was evident how torn up the top was.
One thing I can't stress enough is to be careful when you're removing the glued-in parts. The rear seal that the rear 1/4 window rolls up is next to impossible to find, so please please be careful when you start pulling and tugging these parts.
The first step is to remove the seat back and rear interior panels. Then you're going to want to take your pencil and make marks where the top well cover is glued to the chassis. Then carefully pull it back (or in my case, estimate where the cover used to be glued to the chassis). It's vinyl and can take some punishment, but don't push it.
After that, remove the two screws holding the headliner rear sails to the tack strip.
Then start removing the rear seal carrier. There are three nuts on the backside of the carrier. You'll have to reach up behind the headliner sail with an 8mm socket and extension to get to them. There's also this little screw at the top. He can be easy to miss, and you'll have to position the top at a half raised position to get to him.
The three nuts on the backside.
Gently pull the rear seal carrier out. It's not exactly glued in, but years and years of being in that tight confine has adhered him in there.
Then you can find a good spot on the headliner and gently pull it out.
The glue that holds the parts down is old and brittle and it should break away pretty easy.
These little screws are one of the hardest parts of this job. I found it easiest to use a gearwrench with phillips head attachment. Whatever you do, try not to strip these screws out, or else you're life will be full of pain and torture. To help make sure you don't, try to use a phillips head that has a blunt tip, and not a pointy tip. The screws are pretty shallow and the pointy tip will force you up into stripping them.
The front will have 7 screws holding a plate down. Remove these and break the glue holding it down.
Once you're done with the number 1 and number 4 bows, the headliner should be hanging from some snapped on plastic bits from the second and third bows.
Grab something and start prying the snaps off the bows. Start at one end and work your way to the other side.
Now you should have the headliner totally out of the car. At this point, I'd like to note that some of our headliners will be bleached out in spots that the sun hits it when the top is down. I'm going to dye mine back to a rich black and then let it bake in the sun to set the dye. You can do something similar if you don't plan on replacing the headliner.
This is a good spot to take a break before we move on to the next part of removing the convertible top.
When you're ready to dig in again, here's Part 2 of Replacing your Nissan 240sx Convertible Top!
[post_title] => The Definitive Guide to Replacing your 240sx Convertible Top
[post_excerpt] => Here's an incredibly detailed and easy-to-follow guide (with pictures) to replacement of the convertible top on the 240sx convertible.
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[post_content] => Next up you need to get your marking pencil back out. Mark a line all across the leading edge of the number 1 bow.
Remove the screws holding the cloth retainer to the bottom of the number 1 bow.
Once you get the screws undone, take a prying tool and gently pry the retainer off. It has a gummy substance holding it down, so be prepared for a bit of resistance. One thing to avoid is to bend the piece out of shape. It bends easily, and you want to avoid turning it into a nice L shape.
Break the cement from the underside of the number 1 bow. I had a bit of a time getting mine to totally come loose. I eventually got some pliers out to get a better grip and peel it off. Since you're replacing the top, a few tears here and there won't be bad. Just don't completely destroy it.
You'll also want to remove the weatherstripping from the front rails. There are two nuts on the top, and one screw underneath the weatherstripping. You can peel the stripping back a bit and get to the screw.
Finish breaking the front of the top loose of the 1 bow, and you'll see the guide cables. The FSM says they're screwed in. Both tops I have replaced have had them riveted in place.
Drill it out. You'll have to get a riveter and replace it.
Go ahead and pull the top off the frame where the rear seal is.
Go back inside the car and remove the top well cover. There will be 17 speed nuts holding it down. They may be fast to put on, but take forever to take off. Supposedly you can get under them with a pair of wire dikes and pop them off, but I have never gotten that to work. So I just spin them off. Yummy! The speed nuts are underneath the vinyl, so you'll have fun fumbling away in the dark.
Once you get that out of the way, you'll have the tack strip out in the open.
Get your penetrating oil and soak each of the nuts. The last top I did, one of the nuts snapped its stud off. It's a bear to replace, so you'll be doing yourself a favor using the oil. Since ASC did the conversion, you'll have the fun opportunity of getting to use a standard deepwell socket to remove these.
Once you have the nuts off, you can start to free the tack strip off the studs. There are long slits on the strip that points forward, and small holes in the back. what you have to do is gently pry the ends of the strip inwards while pulling the whole assembly forward. With any luck you'll get it all to pop out without bending the strip up too bad. It's thin metal that likes to bend easily.
Take your marking pencil again and start marking the top edge of the tack strip on the cloth. Your new top will already be marked, but just in case you'll want to make these marks. Also mark the relation of the top to the rear window drape and make a centerline mark on the rear window. The hole in the tack strip in the middle is dead center.
Now take your pick and start pulling the staples out. You'll want to focus on removing just the staples that hold the top to the tack strip, and leave the staples that hold the backlight pad and the rear window drape.
After you free the top, you'll have to remove a spacer that is wedged into the number 4 bow. This wedge holds the top to the number 4 bow. The backlight pads that hold each bow together have a tack strip on the bow that block you from pulling the wedge out. Simply slide it down, but not all the way out, and you can get to the wedge easier.
Take a drift of some kind and hammer the wedge out. Once you get it started, you can take some pliers and pull it the rest of the way out. I found that if the top's plastic snap slides too far out, it'll get wedged in tight and prevent you from pulling the wedge all the way out.
Pull the velcro apart from the top and rear drape, and pull the top off the number 4 bow. Most times, the plastic snap will just come off the top as the adhesive has just had it.
Also, the number 2 and 3 bows would normally be screwed into the top. It has little pouches that a bar slides into. The bar is then screwed to the bows from underneath the bows. Years of deterioration typically dry rots the pouches. That's why old verts tend to look like a blimp once they start moving. The top isn't anchored to the frame there and blows up.
Once you have the top freed of the bows and the tack strip, you can pull it off and toss it to the side.
Take your marking pencil and make marks where the backlight pads line up the drape, and finish making more marks for the drape to tack strip relationship. Remove the staples for the backlight pads.
There's one set screw in the middle of the number 4 bow that holds the rear drape in place. Remove it, and start sliding the drape out. Once it's free, place the assembly off to the side and start checking for anything that needs replacing. The frame could use a cleaning and oiling, and the backlight pads need checking for frays and tears. Thankfully mine were in good shape, so I won't need to replace them. If you do, be prepared to drill more rivets and have measurements to cut your new strip to length.
OK, here's another good spot to take a break... When you're ready to tackle the rest, here's Part 3 of Replacing your Nissan 240sx Convertible Top!
[post_title] => Replacing your Nissan 240sx Convertible Top - Part 2
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[post_content] => Now that you have your top off, you get to do the fun job of prepping the new top and window to go on.
First thing is to finish pulling the staples out of the rear window after you make your guide lines for the top edge of the tack strip. This is the most annoying part of this job. Both tops I have done had over zealous staple installers. I removed probably 200 staples from the window alone.
Mark which way is up on the tack strip. You don't want to get halfway done and realize it's upside down. That happened to me and I had to undo about 40 odd staples.
Next is kind of optional. The manual says to cut the old window along your edge marking and then use that as a guide to draw your new line in on your new window. The tops I have seen typically have this line already marked in for you. I cut my old window just to make sure that they're reference line was correct. Then I took the cut off piece and used it to mark general locations of where to cut the new material to allow the studs to pass through for the tack strip.
One thing I definitely differ on the manual is right here. It says to go ahead and cut your new top and window for the stud holes. I waited and did that on the tack strip as I stapled in. I found the old material to be off in relation to the new material as far as the holes lining up is concerned. Probably from being stretched for 15 years. I'll go more in depth on how I staple and cut in the next section.
I also did the same for the leading edge of the top where it folds over the number one bow. The first top I did had this line marked correctly, but the top I received didn't have that line. So I layed the old top over the new one and drew in the line.
It's painful to lay the dirty, deteriorating top over your brand new, clean one.
You really need that line for when you glue the front bow down. You glue it down without tension on it by putting the top in a half down position. This way the cement can adhere better and when you lay the top back down, it'll pull the top tight.
Now you need to prepare the surfaces on the top frame for cement. Take some cleaning products and start cleaning down the surfaces. Carb cleaner seems to work real well for dissolving the old adhesive without doing damage to the paint and metal. Follow with an alcohol wipe to get any oily residue off.
After you have your new top and window prepped and ready, it's time to get them stapled on to the tack strip. The tops I've dealt with have reference lines for the top edge of the tack strip, but you should double check those lines anyways with your old top to be certain they're right.
The FSM says to go ahead and use your old top to mark out the areas to cut out for the studs to pass through for when you bolt the tack strip back in place. I find it easier to not do it do it during prep. What I do is cut out the center cutout and put two staples in on each side to hold the drape to the tack strip. Then work my way out. I hold the cloth down taught against the tack strip and mark my next cutout and make my cuts. Then I staple the cloth down between the cutouts. Then I jump to the other side and do the same thing. Mark->cut->staple. And I keep working towards the outside alternating sides as I go. This will help you keep the rear window stretched against the tack strip and should hopefully keep wrinkles out of it.
You can see where I stapled my initial holding staples down and then worked my way out on one side (1). Then in the second picture, I have worked out towards 2. Then I cut out and work out towards 3, then 4 so on and so forth.
Once you reach past the window and into the curve of the tack strip, alternating back and forth becomes a chore and isn't necessary anymore. Just finish off the one side and then go back and do the other side.
This is a great spot for a break - You're almost in the home stretch, but if you've done as recommended and read the whole article before starting, you already knew this.
Here's Part 4 of Replacing your Nissan 240sx Convertible Top!
[post_title] => Replacing your Nissan 240sx Convertible Top - Part 3
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[post_content] => Now you can hang the drape. There's a slot on each side and you slide the plastic rail into it.
Get this V notch lined up with your set screw and go ahead and screw it in. I had to use my pick to start a hole in the plastic rail to get the screw to start.
Line your backlight stay pad up to your reference lines you transfered from your old drap and staple it down.
Take your top and lay it on the frame and snap the #4 bow clip in and insert the big grey spacer. On this top, the spacer slid back in with a little silicon lube and a hammer. The last top I did needed to have the spacer ground down because it was too thick for the plastic snap of the top.
Now repeat what you did for the drape in making the cutouts and stapling the top down to the tack strip. At the end of both sides, I liked to mimic the factory installer and put a bunch of staples to hold the ends down real well. I put probably 4 staples at the very end.
Insert the long metal retainers into the fabric loops over the second and third bows. Then, using a pick, line up the holes. You'll also poke a hole through the fabric, making it easier to get your screws started.
Take something, like this coat hanger, and use it to fish the guide cables through their pouches in the side of the top. Here I have duct tape holding the cable to the coat hanger.
Pulled through!
After drilling the old rivets all the way out, take a rivet tool and rivet the cables back down.
My top had extra material for the areas to be glued to the frame. I layed the material in and then ran a pencil down the corner next to the bolt holes and cut it.
Now you can bolt the seal back in!
OK, time for the LAST segment. Your reward? Glue fumes and a completed top. Click here for Part 5 of Replacing your Nissan 240sx Convertible Top!
[post_title] => Replacing your Nissan 240sx Convertible Top - Part 4
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[post_content] => This is the contact cement I used. It's good, and tacks up fast.
What you want to do is apply cement to both surfaces you're gluing down and wait for the cement to tack up a bit. This usually takes a few minutes. Then just press the surfaces down firmly and hold for a minute or so and they should set together easily. If you rush it, the glue won't hold together easily. You can salvage it at least.
It's hard to see, but I glopped the cement on. It'll get a nice glaze on it once it starts to tack up, kinda like a glazed donut.
My top had areas glued in to be used as gluing surfaces. Here you can see it under the flap I'm holding back. Just glop the cement on the insides of the flap and top and also on the same spots on the frame.
For extra security, and out of sheer laziness, I clamped the cloth down using quick clamps and some blocks of wood.
Here's the edge of the front bow. Again, too much material. I made cuts on the red lines. I also layed the top down over the bow, using my reference line, and trimmed off any excess material.
I set glue on the front and back side of the small flaps and glued them down, making sure my reference mark was lined up to the front bow edge. I set the top at a half down position when doing this to get slack in the material to make sure it lines up properly.
Next, I glued up the underside of the front bow and the top and layed it down.
You can tell that I rushed the driver side of the bow. I had to resort to clamps and wood to get the top to stay stuck down. All in all, that process took longer than it should. You can see that the glue on the passenger side was allowed to set properly before I applied it, hence the lack of clamps on that side.
Once you get the front bow glued, go ahead and start adding all the trim pieces back on. I start with the front bow top retainer. It helps clamp the top down for when you do a final stretch test.
Bolt the tack strip in place. The book says to not torque it down yet, but it doesn't seem to matter in my opinion. Just remember to start bolting down in the center and to work your way out. And if you squeeze just a bit on the ends of the tack strip, it'll slide onto the studs easier.
Once you have those in place, you can adjust your top header rail clamps all the way out, and clamp the top down. It should be tough to get the clamps far enough forward to clamp in. The cloth is taught and I really had to put some muscle into getting the clamps to latch it down. As it stretches front-to-rear, you can tighten up the adjustments on the header rail clamps.
What you're looking for are major wrinkles, because you may have to pull the tack strip back out to fix majorly bad wrinkles. If you stretched the drape and top out properly when stapling, you should be ok. Now go ahead and check the top for funky rubbing and clearance issues going down into the top well (it helps to have a friend open / close the top slowly while you watch the mechanism from all angles).
Once you're satisfied with everything, go ahead and put the seals back into the front rails and the rear frame carrier.
Then put the top well cover back in, using a pick to line the holes up in the tack strip. I find using a socket to pop the speed nuts back in is easiest.
Replace your headliner, gluing it down to the fourth and first bows. If you're reusing your old headliner (like I did), just line up your old bolt holes in the cloth.
Now you're done!
Here you can see a wrinkle on the top between the third and fourth bows. Small wrinkles like this will work themselves out if you leave the car in the sun. The heat shrinks and stretches the top out.
The 4th bow makes a big wrinkle here, but not much you can do about it. The smaller wrinkles will work their way out with heat exposure.
The rear window came out perfect on my car. But if you get any wrinkles in it, you can use a heat gun on a low setting, or even a blow dryer, to work them out. Make large sweeping circles over the wrinkled areas with the gun, and they should work out mostly. Again, sun exposure will clear up some of the smaller ones.
Pat yourself on the back for a job well-done. You probably saved $1200-$1500 doing this job yourself, and you have the benefit of knowing it was done RIGHT by someone who knows the 240sx convertible.
Join us in the 240sx Convertible forums and let us know how your top replacement went!
[post_title] => Replacing your Nissan 240sx Convertible Top - Part 5
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[post_content] => [EDITOR NOTE: Two of our long-time members, Hijacker and mbartel, have compiled an incredibly detailed and easy-to-follow guide (with pictures) to replacement of the convertible top on the 240sx convertible. We're proud to share it with the 240sx community!]
We'll start with Hijacker's guide. Please do yourself a favor and read the ENTIRE series, beginning to end, before tackling this job. It's not hard if you follow the procedures closely and refer back to the article (and pictures) frequently.
First, you're going to need to buy a new top. Here's the one I used, and these guys are great to work with: Nissan 240sx Replacement Convertible Top.
Special Tools for the Job:
-240sx convertible supplement manual (we've got you covered here!)
-Pneumatic staple gun (those spring-loaded handhelds don't have the strength to do the job)
-Staples for said staple gun
-PB Blaster or some kind of lubricant to loosen rusty bolts and nuts
-Straight pick to remove the old staples
-Marking pencil (I prefer wax pencils, but I used a cloth marking pencil in this walk-through)
-Riveting tool and rivets (for the guide cables)
-Contact cement, stirring sticks, and disposable brushes
Removing the old top
My top didn't look too bad from a distance.
On both sides, the binding had developed dry rot, as well as a worn spot from 15 years of rubbing.
Both sides of the window had these wrinkle marks, and lots of mildew and mold. Too many years of being rained on.
And one shot I couldn't get was how stretched the top was. The sun had tightened it back up during the day, but after a highway trip, it was evident how torn up the top was.
One thing I can't stress enough is to be careful when you're removing the glued-in parts. The rear seal that the rear 1/4 window rolls up is next to impossible to find, so please please be careful when you start pulling and tugging these parts.
The first step is to remove the seat back and rear interior panels. Then you're going to want to take your pencil and make marks where the top well cover is glued to the chassis. Then carefully pull it back (or in my case, estimate where the cover used to be glued to the chassis). It's vinyl and can take some punishment, but don't push it.
After that, remove the two screws holding the headliner rear sails to the tack strip.
Then start removing the rear seal carrier. There are three nuts on the backside of the carrier. You'll have to reach up behind the headliner sail with an 8mm socket and extension to get to them. There's also this little screw at the top. He can be easy to miss, and you'll have to position the top at a half raised position to get to him.
The three nuts on the backside.
Gently pull the rear seal carrier out. It's not exactly glued in, but years and years of being in that tight confine has adhered him in there.
Then you can find a good spot on the headliner and gently pull it out.
The glue that holds the parts down is old and brittle and it should break away pretty easy.
These little screws are one of the hardest parts of this job. I found it easiest to use a gearwrench with phillips head attachment. Whatever you do, try not to strip these screws out, or else you're life will be full of pain and torture. To help make sure you don't, try to use a phillips head that has a blunt tip, and not a pointy tip. The screws are pretty shallow and the pointy tip will force you up into stripping them.
The front will have 7 screws holding a plate down. Remove these and break the glue holding it down.
Once you're done with the number 1 and number 4 bows, the headliner should be hanging from some snapped on plastic bits from the second and third bows.
Grab something and start prying the snaps off the bows. Start at one end and work your way to the other side.
Now you should have the headliner totally out of the car. At this point, I'd like to note that some of our headliners will be bleached out in spots that the sun hits it when the top is down. I'm going to dye mine back to a rich black and then let it bake in the sun to set the dye. You can do something similar if you don't plan on replacing the headliner.
This is a good spot to take a break before we move on to the next part of removing the convertible top.
When you're ready to dig in again, here's Part 2 of Replacing your Nissan 240sx Convertible Top!
[post_title] => The Definitive Guide to Replacing your 240sx Convertible Top
[post_excerpt] => Here's an incredibly detailed and easy-to-follow guide (with pictures) to replacement of the convertible top on the 240sx convertible.
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"Article Series
This is the contact cement I used. It’s good, and tacks up fast.
What you want to do is apply cement to both surfaces you’re gluing down and wait for the cement to tack up a bit. This usually takes a few minutes. Then just press the surfaces down firmly and hold for a minute or so and they should set together easily. If you rush it, the glue won’t hold together easily. You can salvage it at least.
It’s hard to see, but I glopped the cement on. It’ll get a nice glaze on it once it starts to tack up, kinda like a glazed donut.
My top had areas glued in to be used as gluing surfaces. Here you can see it under the flap I’m holding back. Just glop the cement on the insides of the flap and top and also on the same spots on the frame.
For extra security, and out of sheer laziness, I clamped the cloth down using quick clamps and some blocks of wood.
Here’s the edge of the front bow. Again, too much material. I made cuts on the red lines. I also layed the top down over the bow, using my reference line, and trimmed off any excess material.
I set glue on the front and back side of the small flaps and glued them down, making sure my reference mark was lined up to the front bow edge. I set the top at a half down position when doing this to get slack in the material to make sure it lines up properly.
Next, I glued up the underside of the front bow and the top and layed it down.
You can tell that I rushed the driver side of the bow. I had to resort to clamps and wood to get the top to stay stuck down. All in all, that process took longer than it should. You can see that the glue on the passenger side was allowed to set properly before I applied it, hence the lack of clamps on that side.
Once you get the front bow glued, go ahead and start adding all the trim pieces back on. I start with the front bow top retainer. It helps clamp the top down for when you do a final stretch test.
Bolt the tack strip in place. The book says to not torque it down yet, but it doesn’t seem to matter in my opinion. Just remember to start bolting down in the center and to work your way out. And if you squeeze just a bit on the ends of the tack strip, it’ll slide onto the studs easier.
Once you have those in place, you can adjust your top header rail clamps all the way out, and clamp the top down. It should be tough to get the clamps far enough forward to clamp in. The cloth is taught and I really had to put some muscle into getting the clamps to latch it down. As it stretches front-to-rear, you can tighten up the adjustments on the header rail clamps.
What you’re looking for are major wrinkles, because you may have to pull the tack strip back out to fix majorly bad wrinkles. If you stretched the drape and top out properly when stapling, you should be ok. Now go ahead and check the top for funky rubbing and clearance issues going down into the top well (it helps to have a friend open / close the top slowly while you watch the mechanism from all angles).
Once you’re satisfied with everything, go ahead and put the seals back into the front rails and the rear frame carrier.
Then put the top well cover back in, using a pick to line the holes up in the tack strip. I find using a socket to pop the speed nuts back in is easiest.
Replace your headliner, gluing it down to the fourth and first bows. If you’re reusing your old headliner (like I did), just line up your old bolt holes in the cloth.
Now you’re done!
Here you can see a wrinkle on the top between the third and fourth bows. Small wrinkles like this will work themselves out if you leave the car in the sun. The heat shrinks and stretches the top out.
The 4th bow makes a big wrinkle here, but not much you can do about it. The smaller wrinkles will work their way out with heat exposure.
The rear window came out perfect on my car. But if you get any wrinkles in it, you can use a heat gun on a low setting, or even a blow dryer, to work them out. Make large sweeping circles over the wrinkled areas with the gun, and they should work out mostly. Again, sun exposure will clear up some of the smaller ones.
Pat yourself on the back for a job well-done. You probably saved $1200-$1500 doing this job yourself, and you have the benefit of knowing it was done RIGHT by someone who knows the 240sx convertible.
Join us in the 240sx Convertible forums and let us know how your top replacement went!