Roof Structure

Before I put the panels back on, I need to make sure the doors are sorted. They seem a bit off on mine... a little investigation shows that #3281 has the common roof structure ailment: the metal roof structure was glued to the fiberglass and at some point in the past 29 years, has come unglued. Mine isn't too bad on the inside, so I ripped off the panel, vacuumed a bit (and nothing came out, which means no big chunks of rust in there) and sprayed a bunch of Waxoyl on the inside.

Now for securing the structure. I'm going to bolt it back down onto the fiberglass, but first the torsion bars must come out...

A 3/8" hex driver is needed to tension the torsion bar. Don't skimp on a crappy socket for this task - you don't want to strip the bar or have your socket break!

Before removing the torsion bar, it's worth a moment to check to see if any adjustments will be needed when it goes back in. Without the strut installed, the door should hang open by 1-2 inches. This looks good to me.

Since we want the bar going back in pre-loaded to the same degree, a mark will make that easier.

My door support of choice: a microphone stand: it's sturdy and adjustable.

Door extended a bit further.

Now it's time to clean up that crap, then drill out the rivets to remove the mostly-disintegrated door seal now that the torsion bar is out of the way. Note: if you're doing this job, don't tear up that metal retainer taking it out - at the time of writing, you'll only get the actual rubber with the seal kit.