Loose lid to tonneau cover

birdiestobehad · Post by **birdiestobehad** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:52 am

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum and a proud owner of a 1986 5.0SC that I purchased this past June from my dad who was the original owner. The plastic(?) lid/cover that is on top of the tonneau is coming loose. It appears that it was adhered with some kind of mastic or epoxy. Does anyone know what was used so that I can reattach and not damage any of the parts.

Thanks!

85asc239 · Post by **85asc239** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 3:02 am

Carefully remove the tonnu cover. I used industeral adhesive. I bought it from Lowes, it came in a caulk tube. make sure not to get to close to the edges- you dont want it to ooze out.

Jeremy

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 2:57 pm

Very good advice. Allow me to add a little more.....

After the job is done, and allowed to completely dry, remember this for next year's top-down driving:

When you lift (tilt) the tonneu cover to lower the top into the cavity, grasp the tonneau with your hand fully underneath, so that you are grabing the inner piece that you will be gluing to the frame of the thing. That way you will not be putting pressure on the top piece (same color as the car) and thereby loosening where you are about to fix.

CocoLoco · Post by **CocoLoco** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 2:07 pm

Thanks for all this info, guys. I have the same problem. Only worse. When I picked up the car and drove it back to Pittsburgh, the wind got under the cover, lifted up one side and slightly cracked it. The vinyl is OK but I have to now to pull the whole thing off, strip off the vinyl, fix it, re-attach the vinyl and glue the whole thing back on.

A couple of questions:
1) What is it made of? Plastic? Fiberglass? Any repair tips?
2) What is the best glue to re-attach the vinyl? I was thinking spray-on contact adhesive.

dahberg · Post by **dahberg** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 3:46 pm

My 85' had a hard black plastic under the vinyl cover. It was cracked from extreme heat and cold changes over time. It was impossible to remove without further damage to the pastic and the vinyl had a few nicks and cuts due to mishaps in raising/lowering the top over the years. I purchased a replacement from ascMcLaren.com and the vinyl was already adhered to fiberglass. The fiberglass fits better, is lighter weight and appeared to be slightly thinner than the pastic.

I think Mike N. recommended a 3M adheasive to glue the fiberglass back down on the deck. Old age, I just can not remember the product name, sorry. I was glad I removed the old cover in the end so as to be able to clean off the old glue and get a good fit with the replacement. The old plastic was too difficult to try and shape and glue back down.

Good luck!

CocoLoco · Post by **CocoLoco** » Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:44 pm

OK - It just got worse. I pulled off the tonneau cover and to my suprise, it had been broken into several pieces. And repaired before. Poorly. Glue, duct tape, double-sided alumimum tape, masking tape, bubble gum, etc... So now I am faced with wether to try to put Humpty Dumpty back together again or just get a new one. The vinyl covering is still in fair shape (7 out of 10) so it's tough call. I hate wasting time and money on a lost cause. But as always, you don't know it's a lost cause until you're done.

Kentennis · Post by **Kentennis** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:22 am

There was one for sale on Ebay for a long time! Don't know if it's still there or not.

85asc239 · Post by **85asc239** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 2:20 am

Spent $60 on vinyl trying to fix mine. Got ****** off after messing it up second time. Ordered new from Henry.

new one is fiber glass and wont warp like old one.

One on ebay is for a mustang not a capri they are differant

Jeremy

CocoLoco · Post by **CocoLoco** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:07 pm

Hi all - well I got my new tonneau cover from Hank. He suggested using panel adhesive. Does anybody have a particular type or brand I should get? From what I've seen and read, it looks like the wind can get under these (top down driving of course) and lift them up if they are not well attached. I experienced this first hand on my initial trip in the car. Any other comments or suggestions appreciated.

Dwight

Post by **negusm** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:43 am

I know GM makes some crazy stuff for the Corvette.

I would go into NAPA and ask. 3M has always got something or else.

-Mike

birdiestobehad · Post by **birdiestobehad** » Sat May 12, 2012 3:44 pm

I finally got it taken care of. I tried an "industrial" adhesive from Lowes, but for some reason it didn't set up well and was still loose after almost two days. I scrapped it clean and my mechanic/body shop glued it down with a bumper adhesive. Still holding strong a couple of months later.

CocoLoco · Post by **CocoLoco** » Mon May 14, 2012 1:03 am

I took my car in for some work (a whole different thread on that one!) and he attached my cover with industrial grade heavy duty velcro. Yes - velcro. He said it's on there really tight. I guess we'll have to see how it holds up with the summer heat and road trips.