T top cowl to windshield Piller supports

[foot2floor]

In order to build my 83 Capri into a t-top car I first got a roof from a 1982 Mustang while on a Christmas trip to SD... It was a redneck ride home with a ttop cut strapped down to my wife's Buick Lacrosse. that car was in a pick in pull because it was rusted in half practically... The roof proved to have some valuable pieces but some pretty rusty aspecs of the t roof as well.

I then found another 1985 t-top car which I was able to get a much better roof from here in Ohio.

The 1985 t-top roof is what's on my 83 Capri right now. Now that the car is painted and I'm working on putting final touches on I paint I ran across these brackets and wondered if I should use them. They are from the 1982 car and we're not on the 1985. I'm not sure why that would be or if they were incorrect in either case. Does anyone have any recommendations on if I should use them on my car? What would be the pros and cons?

The only other notable thing I can think of is that my t-top rubber gasket set is for a 1985. Not sure if these brackets will inhibit my ability to utilize the 1985 seals without an issue

[wraithracing]

I can't guarantee it right now, since I don't have an 85 or 86 T-top car, but every T-top car I have and have ever owned has those braces. They help add strength to the A pillar since the roof rails are cut for the T-tops. I personally would use them.

[mudgepondexpress]

That's funny. I pulled every part off a 1984 factory T-Top car at the the local Pull & Save. It did not have those brackets. It had 4 lower brackets that were at the corner of the roof cutouts, but nothing on the back sail panels. Interesting....would be nice to have a set for strength.

Kenny

Looking again... are those from the rear sail panels? I can't quite figure out the picture. I see Trey said A pillar but mine look way different (smaller, more formed).

i see now, the roof is upside down on the floor. Again, my brackets work the same but look nothing like those.

[foot2floor]

unfortunately the picture I took on my phone was facing the right direction but somehow it rotated weird when I posted it. This goes on the a pillar in the same relative area as the bottom corner of the windshield and the top hinge of the door. There is one for the passenger side and one for the driver's side.

[foot2floor]

Duplicate

[foot2floor]

Any 85 TTop car owners who can confirm or deny the existence of this bracket on their car?

I think I want to run them but it looks like it could mess with my gaskets.

[MERCURY MOTORSPORT]

Well I just spent about an hour uncovering my wrecked 1985 Capri T-Top and trying to take a look at this for you and it did have me curious as well.

But after getting most of the A-Pillar screws loose (rusty!) I saw that I also would need to get the dash pad and hull out to remove those hidden lower Pillar trim screws. It's 95-degrees and super-humid today and I doubt I'll be disassembling it any further anytime soon. I hoped to even peek behind those trim pieces but they're still screwed down too much.

BUT . . . I did look up the body section in my 1985 Ford catalogs and took 4x photos of the body diagrams for T-Roof and Convertibles. Please look over the following photos and see if you can match those reinforcement brackets!





Could be of interest
I'd also like to note - for any T-Roof owners who might come across this thread - that the 1985 Catalog book does specify "T-Roof Campaign II". Interesting (to me) and never heard of this.

Of course this leads me to believe (naturally) that there were at least 2x versions of T-Roof cars. And this also indicates something about the two T-Roof diagnosis/repair books Ford produced.

If I recall correctly - those books covered 1979-1982 T-Roof Mustang Capri vehicles - likely "Campaign I". I'm not sure what year "Campaign II" began but an educated guess would be 1983 since the books only cover up to 1982. I'm not sure why Ford didn't produce a second book set from 1983 onwards?

I have both T-Roof books tucked away somewhere and I'll have to get them out at some point. I remember that when I bought them, I wondered if they were applicable for my '85 and why they only covered up until 1982? What I am supposing is that there were some changes made to the designs and seals, hence Campaign II.

And perhaps once again to the "Aero" 1987-1993 Fox Mustangs, a "Campaign III" ??

I've got to go to some outside work but I did remember and do see that FourEyedPride does have both of the T-Roof catalogs in the archive that members were kind enough to upload.


T-Roof Waterleak Repair Manual
1981 & 1982 Mustang/Capri T-Roof Diagnosis and Service Manual
http://foureyedpride.com/fep_bild/v/img_arch/tech/

MODERATORS . . . For some reason the catalog pages don't display for me with the 1981 & 1982 Mustang/Capri T-Roof Diagnosis and Service Manual and I'm not sure why. Is this a website error? Perhaps someone else can take a look at the archive and see whether the pages display or not.

[foot2floor]

Thank you for doing the research and posting these pictures! The part I am talking about doesn’t appear to be in any of the above diagrams. When I get near the car again I’ll post another picture.

i have since installed the brackets and I actually had to trim them down to make them work as otherwise it interfered with the molded window seal track that attaches to the A pillar.

[foot2floor]

Hopefully this doesn't rotate wonky but this is a picture of the drivers side before modifications and before paint. It sits on the top door hinge and is riveted into the A Piller and side of the cowl (door hinge area)

[foot2floor]

[KWH]

81 T-Top Cobra. 82 Gt T-Top also has these. EDIT: Was looking for some 87 T-top pictures I had but looks like I deleted them.

[foot2floor]

81 T-Top Cobra. 82 Gt T-Top also has these. EDIT: Was looking for some 87 T-top pictures I had but looks like I deleted them.

Interesting that there was no inner door bracing in these early years. The 85 donor had a top plate reinforcing and two channels running top to bottom. I didn’t get them from the 82 because they weren’t there.

[KWH]

Interesting that there was no inner door bracing in these early years. The 85 donor had a top plate reinforcing and two channels running top to bottom. I didn’t get them from the 82 because they weren’t there.

No, my 82 doesn't have them either.

[Bryan Knebworth]

Nice day today, last 'nice' one of the season for those in the Northeast,65* plus.
Lets get crackin' on them Foxbodies!