Oh my

One of the final parts of the body of the car to be restored is the convertible soft top frame. The soft top must be installed onto the frame after the frame is on the body, but the frame itself can be redone now.

Obviously, it's in horrible shape. The weatherstripping and soft top will be discarded of course, but the frame suffers from disuse. It's so stiff from being folded for so many years in a damp car that it was nearly impossible to unfold.

Worse is the rust damage in the steel header rail. This is a common problem on Corvettes of this era apparently, but the header can be replaced.

Luckily, there is one company in California which reproduces this part. After years of tweaking the design, it's supposed to be a very good duplicate of the original.

Courtesy Sully's Tops, Fresno, Calif.