Removed a few of the brass screws that go through the roof to the fabric clamping channels. Wire
brushed all of them & applied penetrating oil, and they were more cooperative.
January 10
Peeled clear plastic off of a vent opening. It's now clear that the vent cover was simply discarded, and
clear plastic glued on. The hinges for the cover are still mounted to the top, and the bases, but not
the rest, of the vent raising mechanisms are still mounted. Vent opening is "sealed" by the same
stripping as the roof edge - unfortunately with about a 1" gap between the ends. Mr. Stauffer had
replaced the roof edge - don't know if he put this seal on at the same time. He did not glue on the
clear plastic.
Loosened all fasteners.
Started picking at the black rubbery sealant that was slopped onto the roof windows. Reached the
actual rubber glass seal, and it's very clever. It has an interlocking part which can be
disengaged and retracted, to allow the glass out (or in).
January 11
Completed stripping of the top.
Removed all of the fabric-clamping screws. Probably was only able to save half. Lost ones seemed
to be siezed in a combination of fiberglass & the aluminum of the clamping channels.
Peeled off clear plastic from second vent opening. Removed "seals" from openings. Noticed that one
is cracked.
Picked and peeled and picked and peeled to remove enough black sealant from windows to reveal the
interlocking part of the rubber seals. A cold day, so I had to use the heat gun to soften them enough
to push back & release the glass. Even at that, it took a lot of careful pushing. Both windows out
without breaking.
Removed roof bar, all vent hinges and openers, latching strap and raising spring mounts.
Ripped out fabric clamping channels. There was some kind of resin that was applied to the inside of
the roof after the fabric & channels were installed, because it was slopped up to the sides of the
channels.