re-seating top studs?

[AlfaNeely@domain.elided]

Scott,
       Thanks for a topic not related to Chevy vs Alfa....
       I am not sure how you can replace the top studs.  I felt around on my 
wife's 91 spider and it seems the back side is a blind panel.  You could 
drill out the old studs, but there is no way to put bolts back in there from 
the back side.  And I do not think you could successfully weld all thread to 
the side you can get to and have it hold.  Plus any welding will mess up the 
paint.  
       Sheet metal screws are about the only way I have figured out to attach 
the top to the back of the body when the studs are gone.

       By the way, the top is totally removed on my 84 Spider race car and 
will never be attached again.  However all the studs are still there and 
still perfect.  They are a bit of a hazard when cleaning and they are 
superfluous, but I did not grind them off because they are ALL there!  It is 
one of the few spiders I have seen without at least one broken stud.

Ciao,
Russ Neely
Oklahoma City

In a message dated 02/15/2003 12:49:30 PM Central Standard Time, 
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:



> Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 11:32:24 -0500
> From: Scott Johnson <scott@domain.elided>
> Subject: re-seating top studs?
> 
> I'm changing the top on my 71 spider for the first time and have 
> discovered (not surprisingly) a large number of the studs (say about 
> half) that hold the back portion of the top on have been snapped off and 
> replaced with sheetmetal screws. I was wondering:
> 
> a) if it's possible to replace the studs, and if so how hard
> 
> b) is there any real disadvantage to sheetmetal screws
> 
> This is one of my winter projects, so I'm not in any hurry. I was just 
> curious.
> 
> Scott Johnson
> 71 1750 Spider
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