<VV> Here come ol' flat top

[Anil Mittal]

Hello Steven,

  I had a similar problem in my 66 which not only did what you
described but would also kill my engine if it were just idle. I found
two things that fixed the problem for good. The first thing I did was
to change the power tap off the battery. I noticed that where the
power top motor got power from looked a bit crusty and would heat up
whenever I opperated the top. I removed all of the old parts and
installed an insulated terminal block I got from Mad Electrical:
http://www.madelectrical.com/catalog/cn-1.shtml

  While I was in there I also decided to replace the circuit braker
for the top motor. I happed to have on hand one used for Car Audio
stuff which had two studs on it and handled the same amount of
current.

  These two changes seemed to fix the problem I was having with my
top. Later in time while I was doing some other work I replaced the
power top harness. When I replaced the harness I took out the switch
under the dash and cleaned it with contact cleaner.

  I hope this helps, it may not be your problem but it is probably a
good place to start looking. If your motor does stop working I heard
that you can disconnect the drive cables then opperate your top
manually. Good luck!

Anil

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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2006 15:49:56 -0500
From: "Steven J. Serenska" <corvair at serenska.com>
Subject: <VV> Here come ol' flat top
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Message-ID: <441094F4.1040301 at serenska.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

VVers:

The power top on my '65 convertible has gotten progressively more 
"tired" in the 6-7 years I've owned it. 

It will work fine for, say, 20-25 full up/down cycles, and then it
will 
go up very slowly for 4 or 5 cycles. Sometimes, it won't even go up 
unless I reach back and give it a strong assist by hand. At the end
of 
last season, it got to the point that I was afraid it was going to
stop 
in the halfway up position, which would have stranded me.

I'm thinking that the electric motor is just tired. Is this possible? 
Are there specific places I should lubricate? Are there things in the 
cabling I should be looking at?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Steven "groovin' up slowly" Serenska
'65 Monza Convertible, 110/4sp
'66 Corsa Coupe, 140/4sp


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