[61SS]

Is there a good installation manual for a Duetto top and drape (the rear seat area cover) or does anyone have some detailed photos of their installation?

I have found the manual for the S2 and S3 cars on here but comments there indicate the Roundtails are significantly different. I also found Willie R's write up but his pictures are very low resolution and the text is not very clear to me. Also, if I compare his writeup to the drape and top that came off my car the do not look alike.

Key questions are:

How to properly position the top and drape on the hoop that it anchors to? From Willie's drawing the drape goes on first. It looks as if the process might be bolt the hoop in place, snap the drape at the bottom, get it to lie in place properly, then glue it to the top side of the hoop, then after it's dry take the hoop out to wrap the fabric around the bottom and glue on bottom side of the hoop.

The below is sketch is from Willie's page. It looks as if quite a bit of the cloth (vs vinyl) hangs well down inside and would be visible from the passenger compartment. Is that right? I would not have expected that. I have what came off my car and it looks like the vinyl/cloth seam was positioned at the highest point of the hoop. That would seem to make more sense but playing with this yesterday it looked as if doing that might leave the drape too short.

Then the question becomes how to secure the convertible top to the same hoop. My top and all of the parts are at the tuner. (He is an hour away and near the top installer) so it's not easy for me to look. We did not look at this yesterday when I was there. I may have to go back just to look at this in detail. I have no idea what is on the top to wrap and glue to the hoop, but no matter what it just doesn't seem too robust. If I read Willie correctly the part he has labelled "latch" is something he added, maybe to keep the top from pulling through between the hoop and car body.

I bought a top from Classic Alfa but I completely forgot about the straps that stretch between the bows of the top frame. I do not see these anywhere. Is there a source for these? What are they and how do they fasten? In reading posts these may actually be elastic but I'm not sure if the straps in the posts I have seen are in fact these, or perhaps a strap to hold the top in the down position. Mine were almost dust and I can't tell if they were elastic or not. All that I had left is part of each strap that clamps under a small plate into the top of the bow. How does it attach to the other bow? I hope that makes sense.

One more little thing... how does the tensioner cable gets anchored to the front bow? Mine had a sheet metal screw through a cable. That doesn't seem proper at all!

Thanks for any thoughts, photos, etc.

Joe

 

[tom shewchuk]

I just installed new drape in my Duetto. I had the top off the hoop, and could never get them straight enough to make me happy. Others obviously have. I bought industrial strength, self stick Velcro, and stuck it to the hoop and stuck and had my granddaughter stitch the fuzzy side to the drapes. The passenger's side is 1 1/2 inches narrower than the driver's side. It makes getting the side drapes even more difficult.

 

[ossodiseppia]

Wille thinks it's elastic. He's owned his car since the dawn of time. He looped the elastic around the B pillar and back to the floating bow. There is a cross member that is held on with two screws on each of the B pillar parts of the top frame. The strapping goes there. Then, it is run to the floating bow. There, you should see a small plate secured with two sheet metal screws. The plate secures the other end of the strapping.

When I put the top frame together on my car, I had some thin strapping I picked up somewhere (I don't remember where). I thought it was supposed to be a single strap, not elastic. I had it all set the way I wanted it. The folks who did my top and drape must have found Wille's write up because when I picked up my car, it had elastic strapping.

 

[61SS]

I just installed new drape in my Duetto. I had the top off the hoop, and could never get them straight enough to make me happy. Others obviously have. I bought industrial strength, self stick Velcro, and stuck it to the hoop and stuck and had my granddaughter stitch the fuzzy side to the drapes. The passenger's side is 1 1/2 inches narrower than the driver's side. It makes getting the side drapes even more difficult.

Great, thanks. It looks as if there is quite a bit of the fabric showing at the top of the drape. That jibes with what Willie has posted. I wonder if the reproduction drapes are a bit shorter than the OEMs.

 

[61SS]

Wille thinks it's elastic. He's owned his car since the dawn of time. He looped the elastic around the B pillar and back to the floating bow. There is a cross member that is held on with two screws on each of the B pillar parts of the top frame. The strapping goes there. Then, it is run to the floating bow. There, you should see a small plate secured with two sheet metal screws. The plate secures the other end of the strapping.

When I put the top frame together on my car, I had some thin strapping I picked up somewhere (I don't remember where). I thought it was supposed to be a single strap, not elastic. I had it all set the way I wanted it. The folks who did my top and drape must have found Wille's write up because when I picked up my car, it had elastic strapping.

Thanks Brian,

I have just an inch or two something under the small plate on the forward, floating bow. It looks like it may have been elastic but now it's now pretty much cheese cloth. I just went back through my top disassembly photos and found this. It looks as if it is also sandwiched between the B Pillar and bow on that end as well. I would say you were right, it's just a single strap. It's definitely just a single on the front bow, at least on my car.