These acorn nuts for the seat side brackets are not the best quality and they don’t work like the originals. It’s hit and miss for grabbing the hinge pins. In the end I put a dab of silicone into the loose ones and pushed them back on the pins. Hopefully they will hold.
Next step was to clean the t top mounting strip and give it a nice coat of black automotive sealant – butyl I believe.
Before putting the mounting strip back I cleaned away all the old sealant glue using a small sharpened pry bar as a narrow scraper and a utility knife. Not fun but important to get all the old adhesive off. I wanted to get the best stick possible.
Test fitting the new seals. These are the economy units and so fitting isn’t the best. The thick outside strip fits fairly well and the holes line up OK. However the white pins don’t match up with the holes on the t top frame. On one side I had to remove the first pin. I was afraid to stretch the rubber enough to make it fit. So I removed the pin and even so it was quite a stretch to get the second pin in place. On the opposite side the reverse was happening. The rubber had to be pushed back on itself for the pins to fit.
Starting to glue down the seal. I use a small 1/4″ paint brush and 3M automotive trim adhesive. I do it a little at a time. I pull on the seal until the pin starts in the frame hole and then I use a slim awl to pierce the rubber and push the pin all the way in. I can’t seem to get enough pressure on the pin by hand to get it fully in place.
Tools and glue to install the t top seal. I clean the sealant brush with paint reducer.