Mounting Studs for Soft Top

["Paul Novak" <spammit@domain.elided>]

David R. asked:
>Oh, and a question:
>some of my mounting studs were just barely alive last time, I'm sure
they're
>dead by now.  (I'm referring to
>the ones where the back/bottom of the top is mounted.)  Can anyone remind
me
>of the best fix for this?
>Do I drill them out and replace them with bolts?

I had the same problem when I installed my (Caribou--it came within days of
ordering and I am very happy with the quality) top.  I ground down the
broken studs, drilled them out and installed "rivet nuts" which are a
threaded insert that installs with a special tool similar to a pop-rivet
tool.  Then I cut pieces of threaded rod to fit into the threaded inserts.
Eastwood sells rivet nuts and the tool, I got mine from Harbor Freight for a
lot less.  I found it hard to get the new holes exactly centered on the
location of the old studs, so I had to enlarge the holes a little in the
metal strip that the studs go through in some cases.  The problem is that is
that the studs are quite hard and the sheet metal they are mounted in is
relatively soft and thin.  As far as I could tell, the original studs were
welded in place.

When I removed the old top, there were several sheet metal screws holding it
in place where the studs had broken off.  Apparently this is a widely-used
method, I just liked the idea of putting in new studs since it was closer to
the original method.  If you are looking to save time, the
sheet-metal-screws method would be a lot less work.

As for replacing the studs with bolts, I think most of them would be
inaccessible.  Perhaps you could reach a few of them from the trunk, but
Murphy's law says it will be the other ones that you need to get.

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