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My buddy had a 64 Dart convertible, and he somehow disconnected the rams to enable manual operation after the main hydraulic cylinder blew out. But I don't know exactly what he did. He drove it that way for awhile.

I agree, those are a real pain. I have done my best to forget the entire painful process, so I can't really offer any help. All I recall is that it was made more complicated by the whole mechanism on the driver side being bent out of shape — I couldn't figure it out at all until I took the panel...

Yeah, I didn't worry about it with my Barracuda convertible. With the MG, I kind of wanted to be belted in tighter for those twisty roads.

There really is no good way to install shoulder belts in a convertible that has low-back seats with no headrests, and no roll hoop. The high back Sebring seats had a built-in shoulder belt, meaning the seat was reinforced for that purpose, so that is a bolt-in solution. There are probably other...

I'd say you would be way better off with even the sketchiest convertible project than trying to hack a hardtop. Just trying to figure out and precisely locate all the attachment points that need captive nuts and reinforcement, not to mention all the special hardware. At the very least you would...

Yes, same convertible specialty parts.

Oh, well, you are going to need that track. It seems to be a generic extrusion, but it is curved to match the seat back. One reason the top may not go down flat is if an aftermarket top used a heavier material than stock. My old car (light blue 'cuda above) used a pinpoint grain material...

More pix.

Photos. Yes, my lockstrip has shrunk.

Convertible gaskets and trim were the same for 67, 68 & 69 Barracudas and Darts. I will take a picture of my convertible to help you see how it goes. Back soon.

Yeah, you may have visors from a sedan, or from some random donor. Because the 67-69 cars which I am more familiar with have the mirror clips even on the hardtops.

I know a guy who is parting out a convertible. Ryan Barsness, in Minnesota. Don't know if he's on this site.

Photo of left end through rear window.

I just looked at mine. it is 42-1/2 inches measured on a straight line, but it isn't straight at all — the entire length is curved, and the curve is tighter near the ends. The E-body piece in my photo looks very straight, at least in the center. I am going to say that it is definitely not the...

Here's a photo of an E-body. Looks essentially similar. It would just be a question of the length of the piece.

I would suspect the E-body part is wider, but it might be the same extrusion pattern. But you know, I can't recall ever looking closely at the one on an E-body. I should look at my collection of show photos.

That's good advice, in general. But I think from the arrangement of these wrinkles that slackening up in the heat will just make them more prominent. It's not that the sides are too tight, it's that they have slack horizontally and are in tension vertically. Ah, here is the photo I was looking...

This is what it can look like. This top was professionally installed over 20 years ago.

Looks to me that you need to pull the front edge of the sail panels forward (toward the door) to get the wrinkles out. Just pulling it down tight will make them worse, and the wrinkles in the corners of the back panel show that you can’t adjust it that way.

On a 67-69, it on the lower dash frame to the left of the steering wheel.

Here is a pic of the anvil tool and the hole punch. The anvil tool works fine and is available at Ace Hardware.

Another nice tool for this job is a leatherworker's hole punch. A nice clean round hole the correct diameter for the snap post helps avoid tears and puckers, that you might get from using an awl.

The K frame is wide enough to put a jack in the center and still put two jack stands under it. Or if that's in your way, the front subframe rails are a good spot for jack stands.

And you do not want leaks... the side panels and rear seat upholstery are expensive.

They are tight, though, if you haven't pulled them before. I thought I was going to break something. But once they have been out once, they're a cinch.

Hmm... now I'm thinking, since the rear interior side panels are interchangeable between 67-69 Dart and Barracuda convertibles, the Dart can't have the extra three inches of rear foot room that one would expect in a Dart. So either it's on a 108" wheelbase, or the rear seat is positioned forward...

Jim, I believe you, but that makes me wonder how they managed it, since a 67-69 Dart is 3 inches longer than the Barracuda. Is the Dart convertible on a 108" wheelbase?

Well, the extra length is in the rear floor pan, so that would seem to indicate that the top would have to be longer. Unless they did something weird like build all the convertibles on the short wheelbase, which doesn't seem likely.

Yes, I did figure that out. I used a putty knife to get them started. Once they had been out once it was easier the next time.

That's what I was hoping to hear. I just didn't want to break something.