Hey guys, I'm in the process of restoring my 88 vert. It has the first design of the top release from the tonneau cover. I ordered a new cable for later 88's -92 hoping it would work but it didn't. Before returning it, I need pictures of the uderside of an 87 or early 88 tonneau cover so I can see how the cable is routed and what pieces it goes through. I also need a close-up pic of the release lever it self since the one I bought is much too small for the hole on the driver side of the tonneau cover where it's suppossed to go. I have included a pict of an 89GTA vert. Areas 1 and 3 I need close-ups. Area 2...I'm just wondering what the heck it is. I figure something to do with the shoulder belt. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

area 2 and the matching one on the other side are the shoulder belts.

if you pull out the lower seatbelts, you'll see how the belt coming from the "#2" area" clicks into it... then you buckle the seatbelt.



but the shoulder belts also interfear with the top going up and down, hence why they disconnect.

A picture of the underside of the tonneau cover on my 1988 convertable is below. It was assembled in February of 1988 so hopefully it is what you are looking for.

As you can see it doesn't use cables but rather rods. If you need a close up of any of the pieces just let me know and I will see what I can do.

Chuck

I've owned a total of three 1987 Z28 convertibles (all concurrently) and still own one. None use a cable, only linkage like Chuck's. The odd thing is all three were slightly different.

I did speak to an ASC employee from the late 80s and he told me that most of the convertible parts were changed "on the fly" through production -- that many variants exist.

NO WONDER!! Thanks a bunch guys. Now I only need to see what the actual handle looks like and I'm all set.

Below is a picture of the latch handle from both inside the car and from the back side. The latch was in the locked position when these pictures were taken. All of the linkage would be positioned as shown in the previous picture of the tonneu cover underside.

As you can see the handle is basically just a slider. It rides on a track that is part of the bezel it mounts into. This is the plastic piece that you can see on the view from inside the car held by the two screws.

Chuck

FANTASTIC Chuck!! That's exactly what I needed! Now to fab something up.

Here's the release lever with part number on the original packaging. I bought it years ago, just in case. It's probably a discontinued part but I don't know for sure.

Willie

My cover won't open due to a rear end hit to the deck lid... I'm hoping to correct of course, but mine is a 1989 ASC lid with a pull cable and handle... Looks like the GTA from memory hehe
BTW, the top of rear should straps are location 2 as pointed out. I never use 'em so almost not sure off hand

-B

wow... a linkage.

thats totally diffrent then my 91, my friends 89 and my other friends 92... come to think of it... i have another friend with a 91 bird and a 89 camaro also,... all of ours are cable operated.

I've got two '88 convertibles one an IROC with the linkage and the other a Sport with the cable.....

Makes for issues when trying to get parts....


EDIT:
Interestingly enough, I just checked and the IROC has a build date of Dec 1987 (linkage) both factory and ASC sticker. The Sport has a build of July 1988 (cable).

Kinda goes along with what Willie said about his 3 87's all having the linkage.


New top goes on tomorrow....:lala: :rockon:

My 87 Sport Coupe has a cable system, According to my factory invoice it was shipped to ASC 10/09/86 for the conversion...........

Thanks

anyone know where i can purchase all of that setup?? My car has absolutely none of that stuff and would it be possible to use any of the other year's setups on my 88 convertible?

Dual, through my research I've found that the style changed from linkage to cable somewhere in the '88 model year. There's even a specific VIN number that indicates the change. From what I can gather, if your convertible is an 87 or 88 with VIN up to 181698, you have linkage. After VIN 181698, it's cable.
Nikh23, it depends on your setup. The bad news is that if yours is linkage, all the rods and the handle are discontinued. But, as you can see from chuck88iroc's post above, it shouldn't be too hard to design and fabricate something if your car has the pivot point and big spring where the two rods meet. If yours is cable, then you can get those from perrypam.com (not listed in web site but if you call or email, they have them) and thirdgenresource.com also has them I believe. In any case, I am working on fabricating something up. Mine is linkage but has no rods or handle. I bought a cable from the late 88-92 models and will try to get it to work. The biggest challenge is the bracket that would go in area 1 of my picture posted above. I have the lever but since mine had no cable, the bracket that holds the cable is not there. If I can get one or fabricate one, I think the rest is gravy. This plan also includes moving my tonneau release switch next to the lever since the lever housing for the cable desing is much shorter that the linkage lever. That gives me room to move it up there and make it like a 92 that had the switch up there (much more convenient IMHO). I'd then put a trunk release switch where the original tonneau release switch was.
If the cable does not work, then I'd fabricate the rods according to the pictures and come up with some sort of lever mechanism for the handle. I'll keep you posted on my progress but I probably won't get to it for another 2-3 weeks.

As per my post this morning, I moded the cable release system to work on the linkage system. There's nothing to it really... I drilled a hole lower on the release lever (the travel of the cable handle is much shorter than the linkage handle):

Then I mocked up the whole thing using tape. The tape pieces along the top will be replaced by clips and the one near the lever will be replaces by the bracket if I can get it, or something I fabricate.

so did you use that pivot point at all (the one with teh spring) or did you completely bypass it? Also does anyone know if the piece that galletti drilled into to modify to use with the cable is still being produced?? And also the piece that's on the bottom of the top itself, the pin that goes through the tonneau cover, is that available also?

galletti that looks awesome, finally i have a way of returning my car to a somewhat decent form rather than the ghetto setup the previous owner had rigged up.

Sorry it took me so long to reply. I totally bypassed the pivot point. The cable goes all the way from the handle to the lever. The parts you mentioned are no longer available according to gmpartsdirect. I'm trying to find the bracket to hook up the cable next to that lever and have emailed several people for it with no results. If anyone has an extra lying around I'd be glad to see you part with it =)

well at least we're making progress with this. My buddy also has an 88 iroc convertible but he has the cable release system on his car. As soon as i get home from school for the summer I plan on borrowing his piece and having it fabricated at a local shop. If you like I can see if they'd fabricate another one and have it shipped out to you if you're interested.

Wouldn't an alternative be to get a tonneau cover from a cable system and just replacing the entire tonnea cover? They seem to be going pretty cheap on Ebay - the last one went for $50.

Just have the entire thing repainted and it should work - especially for the 88's as they were a mixed set-up year (cable and linkage).

Or would a tonneau cover from a cable setup not work to replace a linkage setup?

I know you still need to take care of the tonneau switch (on the cable setup it's on the tonnea cover, with the linkage it's on the console between the window switches).

Quick question though - on a cable system setup, if I am correct that the tonneau release button is on the tonneau cover, what is on the console between the window buttons? Nothing or is it the trunk release? Or am I wrong and the tonneau release button is on the console on both cases?

both of my 88's (one cable one linkage) have the tonneau release button ON the console not on the tonneau cover itself.

I believe Lon Salgren has mentioned that the release button got moved with the 89's and up....

Dual_88s,

Can you post a pic of the release handle area? Is the release handle the same as the one for 89+?

I have an 88 that has the linkage system, but the release sliding handle had broken. The previous owner made a pretty nice set up - I was actually cleaning up under the seat and the trunk and think I found pieces of the original set-up.

I tried to find a replacement sliding handle with no luck what so ever. So I figured I would just get a tonneau cover with the cable release setup to swap out (I want to keep all my original parts as original as possible so I figured I would just muck with an 89+).

At least with the tonneau release button still on the console, it should be 1 less than for me to deal with.

Thanks,

George

Interesting stuff!

Just to add to the mix, my 86 doesn't have either one... It only has the lever so I have to fold down the rear seat and manually unlash it. Would be awesome to have either one of the mechanisms you all are talking about.


Ken

Here is a shot of the cable system on my 87 Sport Coupe with the hatch release button on console between the power window switches, Hope this is of some help!

Thanks



P.S. Does your Tonneau hatch stay up on it's own, I have to hold mine open and it is kind of awkward to hold it up and try wrestling the top down at the same time???

Thanks nikh23. If I haven't found one or made one I'd really like that. Please let me know when you're ready to do that.
gchu, problem for me is I live in Puerto Rico. My vert is what I've been told is only one of less than 10 on the whole island. What I'm trying to say is I don't have donor verts and shipping for the piece would be a lot. Anyhow, the cable is only about $60 and the clips are a few cents. The only hard part is finding or making the bracket for the release lever attachment to the cable. Also, if you have the linkage system like pictures earlier on this thread, and you have the rods to and from the pivot point, fabricating a handle should not be too difficult.
dual88's, I'm pretty sure (though not 100% so) that the switch only got moved to the tonneau cover on 91 models and later.
RicksRedNomad, try checking your support rods, they work like the ones on most trunks, except in our case they support the tonneau. I don't know if your particular model has them and if you do and they don't work, I don't really know how to fix it, but check just in case.
Thanks for contributing to the thread everyone.

gchu...i'll take pics soon as i can...you want them of the cable or linkage setup?


can get the cable system tomorrow
linkage will have to wait a day

as far as the cover staying up by itself...yes...there should be a couple of torsion type springs in the trunk at the pass thru from trunk to top receiver...i'll try to shoot those tomorrow also

Dual_88s - I would be interested in seeing how the release handle on the cable system looks.

Galletti - the prior owner actually fabriacted a sliding bar - it really doesn't work that well as I still have to reach under the top to help the cotter pin slide enough to pop rear top pin.

I would imagine the entire linkage system would be simple to fabricate, all you need is the lengths and diameters of the rods. Since you originally had a linkage system, the pivots should all be there. The tough part is the fabrication of the sliding bar - mine doesn't look bad, but you can definitely tell it's not original.

I can appreciate your shipping problem as I just had my tonneau cover shipped for $65 - effectively doubling the cost of my tonneau cover.

Good luck,

George

dual_88s
Were you ever able to snap a shot of the springs that you mentioned that help hold up the tonneau cover, I checked mine out and could not see where any shock's were ever mounted to help support it???????????

Thanks

Here you go RicksRedNomad

.

.

They are a torsion type spring...they get their resilience from twisting the metal bars and letting their natural tendency to straighten out be the 'spring' effect.

Thanks for the pic's dual_88s, I do have that setup on my car.
is that adjustabe in any way to get more resistance??

Thanks

Don't know about adjusting it...would have to look , but I'd check to make sure they are all intact...none broken....or loose, etc.

I'd take a look at mine, but my son just drove off with the car.....he's goona 'keep' it for me while I'm gone to Hawaii for a week plus trip to Oklahoma...:rockon:

Wants to 'keep it safe' for me... RIGHT!!!!

I also have an 87 Sport Coupe, but the switch between the two power window switches does not appear to be connected to anything, I have to manually release the tourneu cover by lowering the rear seats, and pulling the two manual release cables. Now I did buy two solenoids on Ebay, but I don't know how to hook them up. From your picture, they appear to mount on the underside of the cover, but where do the cables to the latch go ? On my car, the tourneu cover has these hooks that latch into what look like door latches mounted near the main pivot point of the convertible top.

Do you have any pictures of where the solenoid cables are routed and the latches that are used ?

OK, here's what happens.....

Power is connected to a relay under the console. The center switch trips that relay that applies power to a black wire that runs from the console UNDER the drivers seat to the wire channel beneath the drivers side door moulding that goes to the trunk to a switch that is depressed when the trunk lid is down and becomes a red wire that attaches to the solenoiid on the passenger side with a wire junction in the body behind the sail panel on the passenger side that takes a red wire under the back seat carpet and cushions to the drivers side solenoid

Pull the plastic cover off of the rear trunk over the pull down and lock mechanism.

There will be a little white switch with a red and a black wwire coming into it..

use a volt meter and look for 12 volts on the black wire while someone pulls the center switch.


If you don't get 12 volts, you problem is most likely in the console.

The hift lever must be in either park or nuetrl for it to work. and the trunk lid down in normal operation.

The solenoids actually goes behind the sail panel mounted to the body next to the hold down latch.....
HTH

I just had my eyes dilated so I'm not real sure of spelling..... can't see real well.....

myfirstchevy....check out this thread...had a good explanation of the tonneau release mechanism


Convertible top release

expand your search to 100 days and search for 'Convertible top release'

That is the title of the thread you want

Losts of other threads will show up...some of them with pretty good info

Thanks, that really helped with the electrical side of it all.

But my real quandry is how the solenoid cable hooks up.

There is a picture of a red 87 Sport coupe (like mine, but I have no solenoid) in this thread that shows the solenoid mounted on the underside of the tonneau top and the cables running towards the forward part of the top, but not the latch or the J hook at the forward ends of the tonneau top.

There is another picture of a white tonneau top on this thread that has the same type of j-hooks as mine on the forward part of the top. But I don't understand how the solenoid cable would attach to the j-hooks.

Do I need to get different latches to use the solenoids I bought on Ebay ?

By the way, the guy I bought them from also had some latches for sale and they looked completely different from what I have.

My latches look like this : a J-hook mounted to the underside of the tonneau top, that whne the top is closed goes into what looks like a door latch mounted to the body of the car (or the convertible top frame)

being an 88 the solenoid attaches to the body behind the sail panel below the door latch you mentioned.

IIRC one screw holds it to the body and the little wire running out of it attaches to the 'door latch'.

Don't have my car handy to pull the sail panel or I'd give you a pic to look at.

The tonneau cover at the start of this thread is from 88 or later Pontiac GTA. The solenoids are NOT on the tonneau cover 88 and before Camaro...ALSO note that the Pontiacs are different from the Camaros

Interesting, my 'vert was made 3months after yours, and it has a different slider. Mine has a square finger hole, instead of that type you grab and squeeze!

both of my 88's (one cable and one linkage) have the tonneau release button ON the console not on the tonneau cover itself.


From one of my posts from earlier in the thread....



one built in Dec 87 (linkage) and the other in July 88 (cable assembly - "square hole")

Think a lot of it had to do with what ASC had in stock at any given time and/or who was their lowest biddert......kinda like building the space shuttle 285 million parts all made by the lowest bidder

myfirstchevy

Here is a shot of my 87 Sport Coupe........................



Hope this is of some help to you, Thanks Rick

myfirstchevy

And this is a pic of the actual solenoid and how it is mounted, The cable coming out of it run's up the side of the tonneau and connect's to the part shown in above photo. When i press my switch on the console i hear a loud click and the solenoid pulls the cable loose from the first pic i posted..........................




I read about these emergency release cables all the time and my car has no such thing, When i have no power to solenoid i just push in on it at the white plastic part on both side's of top and that's how i release mine??

The prop stick is because i cant' figure out what to do to make my tonneau stay up on it's own, Real hassle when working with the top.......

Thanks Rick,

That is exactly what I needed. I think my latch is mounted to the body instead of on the toneau cover. So I either need new latches to go with my new solenoids, or maybe I can mount my existing latches on to the toneau cover like it is on yours.

And I have some torsion springs that keep my cover up.

[quote=Willie;1744304]Here's the release lever with part number on the original packaging. I bought it years ago, just in case. It's probably a discontinued part but I don't know for sure

do you have the part number for the roof release lever thank terry

do you have a part number for this roof release lever thank terry