Convertible repair work

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The top on my ‘68 300 decided to not go up the other day. I pulled the seat and saw a bunch of air in the lines. Shined a flash light behind the quarter panel and realized where all the oil had gone (probably over the course of the last 30 years). Removed the quarter panels and got to work.

 

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Ordered new lift cylinders from Hydro-electric and after a couple of weeks (long story) they finally arrived. Out with the old, in with the new.

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Assembled this contraption to fill the reservoir.

 

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And decided to finally install a third seat belt since I had the seat out.

 

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Reassembly complete!

 

[polara71]

Ordered new lift cylinders from Hydro-electric and after a couple of weeks (long story) they final arrived. Out with the old, in with the new.
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Best place to get convertible replacement parts.

 

[C Body Bob]

Best place to get convertible replacement parts.

I have some convertible cylinders & pump. Do they offer R&R services.

 

[polara71]

I have some convertible cylinders & pump. Do they offer R&R services.

Maybe.
You have some convertible parts, do you have all convertible parts?

 

[3175375]

And decided to finally install a third seat belt since I had the seat out. View attachment 420732

Where did you get the seatbelt?

 

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Where did you get the seatbelt?

picked it up from www.seatbeltsplus.com. It’s not a perfect replica for this era, but they are the ‘lift buckle’ type. My car has enough modifications to it that I am not overly focused on having OEM parts. I actually purchased 3 and swapped out the two original ones in the back seat since they’ll all be side by side. I am going to take the better of the two originals and add it as a middle seat belt in the front seat in the rare occasion a third person would ride up there (buckets with the hinged arm rest in the middle). Both of my kids love riding in the car and that is starting to rub off on their friends. The extra seat belts means I can haul more kids.... trying to retain the ‘cool dad’ status for as long as I can.

 

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Do they offer R&R services.

they didn’t charge a core fee or expect to have the old cylinders back so I would venture to guess they are more in the business of sales over repairs. But you could always poke around on their web page and take a deeper look:

Hydro-E-Lectric

 

[1970cat]

it seems like you could find a local ( farm machinery/construction) equipment place that could rebuild them. they are just hydraulic cylinders on a smaller scale.

 

[bluefury361]

Services like that are getting tougher to find any more. Likely would cost as much to rebuild as it will to replace.

 

[C Body Bob]

Maybe.
You have some convertible parts, do you have all convertible parts?

I have both cylinders , lines & pump. Sold the switch & top latches. However I have access to some B body top latches. I also have one set of convertible sun visors left.

 

[MrMoparCHP]

Is it easier to swap out the cylinders with the top up or down?
My top is up and I have multiple leaks cylinder seals and fittings.


Alan

 

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Is it easier to swap out the cylinders with the top up or down?
My top is up and I have multiple leaks cylinder seals and fittings.


Alan

Cant say what is easier, but all the instructions and videos I found say to do it down.... so that’s what I did. It was pretty easy. The one difficulty I had was getting the pin back in place that connects the piston the the top frame. Smaller hands would have had an easier time.