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Sick of the Leak - top repair help needed

fear_nothing

fear_nothing

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Heres my Rig, 1969 Blazer - 4x4. Had it about two months! Not afraid to admit I bought somelses rig:whistle: Searched the internet for a while before I settled on this one. Now its time to start fixing some of the little things. So the top leaks at the point where it meets the top of the windshield. The drivers side top the nut is stripped off inside the top. Besides running topless what the best method for fixing this issue? For the most part the top is sound, save for the wear and tear one would expect from an older truck.

Thanks!
 
nice 1st gen :) crazy exhaust exit

that is all


Oh, and it's mandatory we get more pictures of a new member's ride. I don't make all the rules, just the imaginary ones. :)
 
Yep, I agree with K85 and his imaginary rule of more pics. :D

I do love that grill on your rig. IMHO it's the best front end of them all, but I might be a little biased. :tongue1:

As far as the top, are you talking about the bolt that goes into the windshield frame on either side of the rear view mirror?
 
sounds to me like he's talking about the bolt that goes vertically through the visor support.

you could try to retap the threads to get it to hold, but that might be easier said than done. as I recall on mine the "nut" (if its like the side rail "nuts" its more like a small metal plate with a threaded hole in it.) that is up inside the top moved around quite a bit, so it would be tough to get it to hold still long enough to get a good bite.
you may also need to replace the seal that goes across the top.

of course I've had a soft top on mine for 10 years now, so my knowledge isn't exactly "current". :P

and I'm with the others, more pics = better.
 
double wall.
hard to tell for sure from the pic, but that looks like a double wall top to me.

on double wall tops there is a vertical bolt that goes up through each sun visor, along with the 2 near the middle that go horizontally into the windshield frame.
 
Yep, thanks. Now I remember. It's been a little while since I've cranked the top down or even had visors on for that matter. :)
 
Welcome to the site!

The problem you'll find with the hardtop is that there are a lot of individual seals that probably need replacing..... And once you spend a small fortune on all new seals it will probably still leak a little bit in the upper windshield corners. They simply weren't that well designed originally...... Remember these were "farm trucks" not street trucks when they were designed by GM so a lot of the little details were ignored in the name of cost savings.

One last clue, the original top came with small rubber deflector "wings" on both sides... Most people rip them off either accidentally or on purpose if they remove the top frequently. You might not even have them on yours... But they are available as reproductions.

-G
 
ashman said:
sounds to me like he's talking about the bolt that goes vertically through the visor support.

you could try to retap the threads to get it to hold, but that might be easier said than done. as I recall on mine the "nut" (if its like the side rail "nuts" its more like a small metal plate with a threaded hole in it.) that is up inside the top moved around quite a bit, so it would be tough to get it to hold still long enough to get a good bite.
you may also need to replace the seal that goes across the top.

of course I've had a soft top on mine for 10 years now, so my knowledge isn't exactly "current". :P

and I'm with the others, more pics = better.
Click to expand...

Yup thats the one.... mine has two holes? One is stripped and the other does not line up. Seal seams decent, I'm guessing my leak will go away once I'm able to snug down the top at the corner.

As far as the exhust, sweet flowmasters but they need to dump out the back. Try talking on a cell phone with the windows down... not happening :doah:
 
The wings are still there. Your prob tired of all the praise Greg72 but I've read all 100+ of your build & your fab skills blow me away. I've got a roll cage in the works, actually had it all measured up today. The compound bends and angles are beyond me at the moment, not to mention my trusty stick welder makes some bugly welds :)
 
Nice truck mang!!! What are the fender flares off of? They look pretty good on there:waytogo:
 
those are aftermarket bushwacker flares. they don't make them for our trucks anymore, so they are super hard to find. I had a set a few years back, but I didn't want to put big enough tires on to fill them out, so I sold them.

I think they look great if you have enough tire for em.
 
I've been meaning to ask someone with a superduty to measure their wheel opening to see if it's close to mine after the trimming. I'm in need as it were...

hijack off.
 
There's also a rubber seal on top of the windshield frame that is frequently missing or rotted. That could be the cause of some leaks.


-Brian
 
So Pics always help

Top pic, it where the bolt should be. The stripped item is right behind the visor mount. The black stuff is me filling the crack w/ JB weld :whistle:

The second pic was not me.... PO went a little nutty with the silicon.

Plv71.jpg

z62xG.jpg
 
well back to the issue at hand..... is retapping the nut & using a bigger bolt the answer?
 
fear_nothing said:
well back to the issue at hand..... is retapping the nut & using a bigger bolt the answer?
Click to expand...

Sure, that would be cheap and will probably work.

The real question is why? Are you in a cold area where you need the hardtop full-time? :dunno:

I think every new 1st Gen owner goes through the same progression..... you get a truck with a fiberglass top (probably double-wall), then dream about replacing it with a nice single-wall version so that the bolts are easier to deal with on the bedrail, and you can have cool interior dome lights.

Then there's the reality that there's about $500 worth of seals that need replacing to make it seal worth a damn (and usually not even then.....there's a good reason why the front cab corners are always rotten in these trucks!).

Maybe you get that far and get the top working right (and don't have to locate a blown-out hatch replacment (rarer than hen's teeth)....so now you've got a great convertible truck that's......actually completely closed-in. :doah:...... and noisy to drive.....and hot and stuffy in the summer since the back glass doesn't roll down like it does on the later trucks.

So, then the decision is to store the top in the summer to really maximize the enjoyment of the open-top truck. Maybe build a "Greg72 Pulleys From Hell" setup in your garage and store that 350Lb monster as high as you can and hope it doesn't fall and kill somebody in the meantime.

Eventually, the thought of driving with that stupid hardtop installed becomes so offensive that you decide to buy a soft top instead so that you can easily swap between weather protection and sunshine..... the hardtop sits in the rafters (or out behind the garage) collecting spiders and other critters, because you're convinced that keeping the truck "original" will add value someday. Eventually, after about 5 years on CK5 and other internet sites you realize that it's pretty darned easy to find a hardtop if you want one because everyone else is getting sick of storing theirs also.....

You try to sell your top (hopefully it's a single-wall) and find that nobody is interested even if it's almost free... one day, in a fit of frustration you finally take out the Sawzall with a demolition blade and cut the top into small chunks that will fit in the garbage pail and throw it away a little bit each week until you are finally free of the albatross once and for all..... :thumb:


Disclaimer: This is all speculation, and not based on any direct personal experience.

:haha:


-G
 
Greg72 said:
. the hardtop sits in the rafters (or out behind the garage) collecting spiders and other critters,
Click to expand...
this is the step in the process I am on. :doah:
rather than trying to keep it original though, I'm trying to convince myself that eventually I'll want to put the hard top back on. I keep thinking that someday, I'll find a way to make it easy to swap on and off. I mean, it's only been 10 years! :rolleyes:

/sigh my latest thought though is that I might try cutting it up the way zimmer did on the maiden. during the really hot months it's damn near impossible to drive without some sun protection and the damn soft top makes a lot of noise vibrating in the wind. if I can cut down the hard top like he did, so it's just sun protection, couple hundred pounds lighter, and a TON fewer bolts, it might just be usable again. /dreams
 
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