manual lowering of top?

sabalo7 · Post by **sabalo7** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 7:37 pm

greetings,
new member.very glad to find this site. thanks in advance for any help offered. after 3 years of trouble free ownership, my 88 vert has lost power to pull down. am i missing something with regard to manually lowering top? the tonneau releases but the pull down screw on the bow remains attached. help, my 11yr. old is wanting her cool ride to swim practice.

Post by **negusm** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 7:46 pm

Welcome...try the following links for some info...hopefully it may help.

http://www.ascmclarencoupe.com/phpBB/vi ... pull+motor

http://www.ascmclarencoupe.com/phpBB/vi ... pull+motor

Crystalstyx · Post by **Crystalstyx** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 8:19 pm

Hi Sabalo,

Boy did you come in at the right time. Can pretty much answer all your questions since I just went through this.

If you want to manually release the pulldown screw. Inside the car, dead middle on the bottom you will see a plate with two nuts, (bolts) undo them and the screw will release.

mustang marty · Post by **mustang marty** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 8:33 pm

It's that time a year; Everyone want's their top down. Mine's stuck in the garage with bad rearend.

I need to find time to fix...

sabalo7 · Post by **sabalo7** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 12:59 pm

wow! the how-to on a temp. fix and the info for a proper repair. thanks to all!!

jeremymccurdy · Post by **jeremymccurdy** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 1:12 pm

negusm,
do those liks only apply to 85's? I know the second one does not apply to 88's.
Crystalstyx,
I thought about that but the interiot plastic tonneau cover is right in the way of ther removal, no? Did you take that out, or just gouge it up in the removal process?
I'm even thinking of resorting to using a cut-off wheel to cut the screw and then if I ever get the motor rebuilt (the "release" direction is nearlt dead. The pull"down" direction spins like a top!), I'll weld it back on.
But it's unacceptable to own a collectible convertible that doesn't "convert".

Post by **negusm** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 1:24 pm

no idea...I do not own a vert...

mustang marty · Post by **mustang marty** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:10 am

jeremymccurdy,

It sounds like you have a broken gear in the pull down motor if it just spins and spins.

The tonneau cover won't release if the trunk is open or the interlock 'thinks' the trunk is open. The 88 is a bit different than my 85, but the schematics at ascmaclaren.com should show you how the interlock is wired. They are for an 87 and they matched my 85 wiring by 95%

Both are just educated guesses on what could be causing the problem. Once I get some more room, I'll need to pick up a 87-90 version.... LOL!

jeremymccurdy · Post by **jeremymccurdy** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:17 am

marty,
I'm sorry, when I said "spin", I meant that it actually does turn, enabling the screw to be pulled down or released. SO it works, just not all the time.
Today, i had enough, so I just unbolted the screw from the top, while the screw was still stuck inside the motor w/ the top closed. Even after I did that and can now open and close the top, the motor STILL won't turn and release the screw. I think it's just fried. For the time being I can "hook" the edge of the top under the bolts that are still stuck in the screw plate, which is stuck in the motor...
Oh well...
The joys of owning a "special interest" car that has one-off (or at-least unavailable) parts...

And also, the tonneau will still pop, but will not if the trunk is open, so the wiring in that regard is still functional!