Parade boot hdwe.

[scottrod]

I finally got my parade boot back from the body shop and it looks great. It came with the rear u-shaped clips and the rubber mounting pads but no fastening pins for the front corners. For the rest of you with these boots, I was pleasantly surprised to find you can order individual pieces from Hydo-E-Lectric. I was told you had to order the entire kit so this is good news if you are missing a few parts. www.hydroe.com. They don't have them in their catalogue but e-mailed me a photo of the hardware so I could pick what I wanted.
On a related subject, is this boot supposed to sit up on top of the stainless moulding of the top well? Never having seen one of these in person, it looks like it fits better past the moulding. Also, the front pieces where the fastening pins attach don't seem to lay flat against the plastic interior trim. I will get some pictures posted later. Maybe this isn't the boot it was presented to be or, more likely, I'm just not getting it on right. :confused4:
Any thoughts from those of you that have put these on??? Thanks....

Scott

[centurion 455 ragtop]

For argument sake we'll call the end that is attached to your boot the male end and the attachment that goes on the interior panel the female end. They mount just like a dzus fastner.

In my case, my boot came with the male ends already attached they were quite rusty and not worth keeping and there is a small chrome sleeve that keeps the male end from coming out. So I carefully cut the male end off and drilled out the sleeve as it seamed to be fitted on like a rivet (I hope I'm making sense here), I would NOT try to pry it out. Anyway once the male ends were off I fitted the boot onto the car. THen using a marker I marked the interior panel thru the hole that the male end would go. I removed the boot and carefully drilled :eek: a hole into the interior panel and mounted the female dzus fastener. After I was done with both sides I installed the male end dzus fastners to the boot. The ones from Hydo-E-Lectric don't come with a sleeve, they are kept in place with a small "c" clip.

That was it. It was pretty simple. You just have to be VERY carefull if you have to remove the old male ends from the boot. Also be VERY carefull drilling out the holes for the female ends on the interior panels. This is how I did mine, it was pretty straight foward.

I also installed a very thin soft and plyable rubber molding to the edge of the boot that makes contact with the car body. It is really not noticed, it is not glued on it is just squeezed on (it does no harm to the painted finish). I found this may prevent any scratching of the car when installing or removing the boot and prevents the boot from getting chipped too. Also if you dare to have some one sit on the parade boot, during a parade...duh...the added weight may rub the boot on the car scratching it.

[The German]

Rick and Scott would you please post a picture of the bottom side also ? So one could see all the details that you described. -- Thanks before !
___________
Rolf

[scottrod]

No problem, Rolf. I'll flip my boot over to show the clips, rubber pads, and how the fiberglass stucture looks in the off chance I bought the wrong type boot. Rick, thanks for the advice............

Scott

[dewbers]

Scott - did you ever get this complete? I am about to take this on as one of my winter projects and would love some more input. Did you get your pictures done? If possible, would you post? Rick, perhaps you could post some pics? I know your's is shrink wrapped for the winter, so if you don't have pics right now, don't sweat it...

Thanks guys!

Just went to this site... here's what they are proposing:
Boot Hardware Kit - For Parade Boot - 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 & 1975 Buick Centurion, Electra & Lesabre Convertible
All the hardware you need to attach you hard boot/parade boot - clips, bumpers, velcro, handles, escutcheons & instructions.
Product Price Qty.
$150.00

Is this necessary? Spending another $150 on this portion of the project is starting to make me choke! There is a guy in eBay that sells individual parts for these. I don't need the clips that go around the boot, just the female ends. However, I wouldn't mind finding the female and male fasteners in black, as opposed to chrome.

Rick tell me/us more what you used for this portion: "I also installed a very thin soft and plyable rubber molding to the edge of the boot that makes contact with the car body. It is really not noticed, it is not glued on it is just squeezed on (it does no harm to the painted finish). "
What type of thin soft plyable rubber molding did you use?

[centurion 455 ragtop]

Steve,

Way sorry for the long delay getting back to you. Unfortunately my Centurion is bagged up. I already unzipped it when I snatched off the passenger side mirror a few months back. Once you open it up it gets mositure inside the car bag, and you have to throw inside a few more mositure packs. I have to order more so the car won't get unzipped until the end of March or early April. Anyway going from memory.

When I got my parade boot it only had the male zeus fastner that has the ring on it. When I ordered the hardware it came with both male and female ends along with the oval chrome plate that attaches to the interior panel.

First step seeing the male ends on the boot were rusty. I tried to remove them so that I can re-use them. I was unable and was afraid on doing some damage to the boot. So I decided to use the replacement ones. I carefully hacksawed them off without doing any damage to the boot. Then I installed the boot onto the car (both sides). I carefully applied slight downward pressure to the corner of the boot (doing one side at a time) I did this so that once it is attached it will fit tight on the car. Once doing this with a marker I colored in the zeus fastener hole on the boot coloring the interior panel. Once both sides were done I removed the entire boot.

Then using the metal oval plate as a template over the hole I then used the oval plate as a template and marked off the two smaller mounting holes onto the interior panel. I then drilled out the center hole where I marked with a marker. Then using the oval plate as a template I re-checked the two tiny mounting holes on the plate making sure they are marked correctly on the interior panel. I then carefully took a drill slightly smaller in diameter and drilled out the holes in the interior panels where I had just marked for the oval mounting plates.

I then installed the female end of the zeus fastner and the oval plate to the interior panel. Doing one side at a time.

Then I installed the male ends to the boot.

That was it. Now I know some of you may have otherways on doing it, this is the way I did mine and it worked for me. You just have to be carefully and take your time.

Steve I would give Hydro E Lectronic a call and see if they will sell you just those zeus fastners with the plate. Their tech line is 941-639-0376. I bought the entire kit from them because I needed some of the retainers that go on the boot. They seemed to be a good company.

Now with the rubber trim. The factory correct boots have no such item. Like I mentioned my body guy suggested it so that the boot will not scratch the car. Steve with your car being black the soft black rubber trim will be almost invisible. I am pretty sure this rubber trim is generic, that is used as a door edge guard trim. It is "U" shaped so that it fits snug on both sides and no adhesive is needed. I would figure any good auto body supply shop should be able to find this.

[scottrod]

Steve,
I'm sorry I didn't get back to you on this sooner. I sold my convertible last summer and only check in here occasionally. Rick's info is correct in that I was able to buy the pieces separately from Hydro-E-Lectric. If you call them, they'll fax you a picture so you can call them with the exact pieces you need.
Hope this helps..........

Scott

[dewbers]

No sweat Scott- Not a biggy at all. Rick took good care of me!
I didn't remember that you sold your ride.... how bad do you miss it?
Time to jump back in? I seem to remember you had kids that loved that car, or am I mixing you up with someone else?? :confused:
If I tried to get rid of mine (which ain't gonna happen), my kids would string me up by the... well you get the picture!
Hope you miss it bad enough to buy another....
See ya,
Steve