Never been off roof

[rmk57]

Have a 66 that the roof has never been off. It has brackets in front, above the windshield that tie the bolts together. If you start pulling to hard to remove the bolts it starts to bend the brackets and I want to save them from getting mangled. Heating them with a torch is not an option as paint is nice and original.

 

[DirtDonk]

Not familiar with them myself. Are they bending as the bolts twist? Or as the bolts start to come up/down as they loosen?

Got pics?

Paul

 

[hyghlndr]

Post some pictures, never seen brackets on the front.

 

[gnpenning]

Somebody recently posted a picture of them. Sorry I can't find it. Hopefully by bumping it the right person will see and post.

 

[okie4570]

No pics handy but they're just metal strips about 10" long with a nut welded at each end. Remove bolts from the bottom and those should just come loose. Those are also on the underneath side of the hard top along the under side of the bed rail. Pretty handy, it's nice not having to put a wrench or socket under there. I wouldn't imagine that they would rust, try loosing all of the bolts first before completely removing them.

 

[rmk57]

Not familiar with them myself. Are they bending as the bolts twist? Or as the bolts start to come up/down as they loosen?

Got pics?

Paul

Yes, bending as the bolts twist. They are awkward to get a good bite on with a ratchet / box end wrench. Most of them were probably tossed when new.

I'll post some pics tomorrow.

 

[okie4570]

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It's a square nut welded to the top of each strap.

 

[thegreatjustino]

I have those intact on the '67 I bought from the original owner. Even here in CA where things don't rust out, a couple of mine have twisted up due to torque. They are fairly flimsy.

 

[Scoop]

Soak them good with penetrating oil. I’ve had them on a couple of mine. Saves you from having to use 2 wrenches.

 

[triracer67]

Treat them like any other nut and put a wrench on them, after a good soaking(as mentioned above). They will also wrinkle up when reinstalling if you don’t use a wrench. They are neat original items that don’t get seen much.

 

[sprdv1]

Have a 66 that the roof has never been off. It has brackets in front, above the windshield that tie the bolts together. If you start pulling to hard to remove the bolts it starts to bend the brackets and I want to save them from getting mangled. Heating them with a torch is not an option as paint is nice and original.

Yeah don't mess up the paint if you can help it