Mike, I think I mentioned that you might want to put something on the edges of the louvers where they touch the glass. I always meant to split some vacuum line and do just that but never got around to it. You have to remember that I have several musclecars and it was hard finding the time to take care of all of their needs. That and I would forget about the rattle as soon as I got out of the car. Old age?
I used stainless nutserts and stainless screws for the hinges as well . They never have come loose.
In addition to the vinyl top being required with louvers, you also had the black window trim that had a vinyl pattern. I personally hate vinyl tops and none of my cars including my Superbird will ever have one for as long as I own them.
I always liked the looks of the car with the louvers and no vinyl top. The louvers are cool but it was kind of a pain cleaning the back glass.
I probably won't buy a set for other 71 since the good ones are kind of pricey. If I had already a set though I would certainly install it. Honestly, I had planned to take all of the good stuff off of the car that you bought and put it on the other car and rebuild the car that you bought as a plain jane car. Never got around to it. The current plan for my 71 Cuda is to build it with my shaker hood setup, 5.7 hemi, the 4-speed that I removed from your car and I'm keeping the bench seat. I'll have to modify the center of the seat to clear the shifter. The car's going back to tor-red as original. I already have everything to build the car except the time. Maybe this summer.