George Bitcon

Still struggling with where everything goes, any chance of some photos from anyone? How does this all hang together?

This is my 55 Special Convertible in Australia just rolled out of the restoration shed.

Awesome, thanks Fireball!

G'day Everyone Greetings from Australia. I'm coming to the end of the restoration of my 55 Special and it's time to fit the soft top. I have the rubber kit and a new canvas top, but I'm not sure how the rubbers go, and in what orientation they should be fitted with the top parts. I don't have any tak strips, but will get some rubber to suit once I know what I need. Does anyone have some photos of the top attachment to the frame, especially the front bow? There are several places to attach tak strips, so if anyone has some photos to show how it all goes together, I'd really appreciate it and any other advice about fitting the top that you can give me. Thank you! Cheers, George.

Thanks mate, much appreciated.

Hello Everyone I'm restoring a 55 Special convertible in Australia and recently received a top boot that I ordered online, but it seems too big - it extends forward too far and partly covers where the rear side window opens. The press-studs don't line up either. Is there a difference in size for these with the Special/Century vs the Super/Roadmaster? I think I've been sent one for the latter. Also, should it also have a strip along the underside that slots into the channel on the rear of the back seat? That is missing as well. These cars are practically non-existent here, so I don't have the chance to compare mine with another. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, George.

G'day Ken It's not perfect in the corners as the lid is a little proud (about 3mm), but the lines down the side and in the middle under the lock are really good. I did think about using a full length shim, but I'm happy with the fix as is. George

Photos of the final fix. Don't know why the blue in the two photos looks different.

G'day Mark. I'm happy with the shim solution on mine, but being a convertible, it has different hinges to your hardtop. I'll post a couple of pics this weekend once I get a permanent packer under the mounting bolt for you to see what I've done. George.

Ok, I think I've worked a solution - shimming the innner-most attachment bolt by about 3mm makes the hinge close further and therefore lower into the trunk space evening up the line between the lid and body. I'll post some photos once I've finalised the process in case anyone else has this problem.

I will try to avoid doing that!

Wow, that sounds pretty drastic. I don't think I want to do that just yet, plus it will ruin my paint job. Seems strange that there is no vertical adjustment to these hinges. I'd be OK if the lid was lower than the body, but this way around it's going to need some creativity. Thanks for your help!

It was dismantled when I got the car, so do not know how it fitted. The seal is installed to the lid, but it's not touching the body - there's a gap and you can see into the trunk.

I can only assume so. The paint on the underside matched the original colour.

Hello All I'm in the process of reassembling my 55 Special Convertible and have an issue with the trunk lid alignment with the body. The lid sits about a 8mm higher than the body at the top and I can't see how this can be adjusted. Non-convertible models have bolted on hinge brackets with torsion bar, but the convertibles have a coiled spring mechanism that appears to be spot welded to the body. As can be seen on the photo below, the height difference is quite pronounced. Does anybody have some information on how to adjust this? Thank you in advance. Cheers, George PS. If anybody has a windscreen that they can sell me for this car, I'd be very interested in purchasing.