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I am installing a vinyl top from TopsOnline and I'm almost finished. I am having trouble understanding the attachment of the front corners of the top to the frame. The manual shows that the side flap gets riveted and bolted to the frame. The way I see it, the rivet goes from inside the front of the pocket behind the flap to the frame, and the t-bolt goes from inside the pocket, through the end of the rubber seal, and then through a hole in the tab on the frame.

Here is a link to the Installation Manual: Top Installation Page 30 has a picture of a rivet gun coming in from the front of the flap. I don't see how that is supposed to work. How do I get the rivet gun head inside of that pocket?

In this thread: Page 2 in post #19, Roadtrip's top has a screw through the flap from the outside.

I trust Roadtrip's ideas, but I thought that I would ask the question anyway: How is this supposed to work?

 

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The problem with most of the frames out there is that the holes have been buggered up so that a rivet won't hold, especially the cable which gets pulled taught. It's likely that a previous installation sub'd a sheet metal screw in place of the rivet.

 

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I have the hole in the frame for the rivet to go into, I just can't see how I can get the rivet gun into the pocket (behind the front flap where the t-bolt is also supposed to go) to install the pop-rivet through the pocket fabric and into the frame - if that is indeed the way this is supposed to go together.

The screw-through-the-flap I saw was on your top!

 

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Here is a picture of what I'm talking about.