After removing the old top, I inspected the tacking strips and all the moving parts.
Except for some surface rust and a little build up of grease and dirt, things looked pretty good.
I disassembled the bows only after taking several photos. You want to make sure all the pieces go back exactly where they came from, in the same orientation to each other. Otherwise, it will not operate correctly.
After carefuly removing and marking the tacking strips, I media blasted all the parts and applied several coats of sandable primer. I bought a few cans of Rustoleum that closely matched the original color then painted all the pieces. Once dry, I lightly sanded and applied several coats of clear.
Once everything dried, I re-installed the top bows on the car. The string on the rear bow holds the correct measurement from the rear deck. Very important for the rear window & top installation.
All the roof rail weather strips were re-covered with new bowdrill cloth.
