Convertible top zipper

I don't know much about other convertibles, but the convertible top on the TR6 has a pretty handy feature: the rear window zips out, which makes for a nice breezy option for staying out of the sun with plenty of fresh air.

The top on mine is an aftermarket part from AMCO, a common replacement version. It must be at least 30 years old, the straps have disintegrated, and i've had to sew up both tears and rotted seams. I'll replace it eventually, but it's pretty far down the work list and it'll holding together for a while yet.

The last real usability problem has been that rear window zipper, at some point in the past the handle broke off the pull and took out the mount for the hole as well. I fixed it by soldering on a new mount.

Window zipper

You can see one of the patches next to the zipper here. It's a real old and shaggy top.

That's a piece of copper plated steel plumbing strap that i cut down to be a little loop with feet, and soldered to the top of the brass zipper pull. It took a couple of tries to get a good bond, but it seems to be holding well. I added a piece of string for a grip.

The brass is just tarnished enough to make the zipper slow and sticky, so I added some furniture paste wax in the zipper teeth to loosen it up, and that seemed to work well.