1964 Chevy convertible top fluid??

[dalef62]

I will be working on a customers 1964 Chevrolet convertible and he has looked everywhere and can't find the type of fluid to use in the top cylinders. 

Does anyone know what was in them from the factory??  What should he use?

[m-mman]

1962 and earlier Ford used brake fluid(!)  <yikes> 

Starting in 1963 they switched to standard Automatic transmission fluid.  (no more risk of paint disasters) 

All systems I repair, I drain (clean everything up - the brake fluid always sticks the pumps) and refill the system with ATF. 

 

The biggest headache is bleeding the system. Fill the pump, cycle and fill again, repeat until full. DO NOT fill & cycle by lifting the top. Disconnect the rams and run them up and down as the fluid fills the system and the bubbles and air are expelled. Only when the air is gone and the system is filled do you reconnect the rams to the top. 

 

As an FYI - if you try to fill and bleed with the top connected, you will double the time it takes to fill & bleed as the fluid will foam up very quickly as it tries to do the work.

On my last top repair (1959 Lincoln -HEAVY top!) I pulled out the pump, hoses and rams and cycled it out of the car, on the floor, then put it all back in. The job went very quickly.