<VV> Does This Really Work?

[Russell Heim]

The other night I took my recently purchased 1964 Monza convertible to a local cruise night.  This car is an unrestored 48,000 mile gem.  I wanted to put the top boot on but it wouldn't fit because it has shrunk over 40 years.  In discussing this with the many people who came to look at the only Corvair at the cruise night, someone presented an interesting procedure to me.  They said to soak the boot cover with water to make it easy to stretch.  When it's really wet, put it on the car and leave it there for a while and it will retain its correct size.  Has anyone tried this?  Does it really work?  I'd like to keep as many original items from this car as possible but I don't know if this procedure is worth the effort when the top boots are available from Clark's.

PS. If there are any Long Island guys reading this, this is a Tuesday cruise night held in Levittown.  Admission is free.  It's held in the K-Mart/Office Max parking lot, on the Office Max side.  The cruise night will resume on September 21.  A lot of Chevrolet products attended, especially Chevelles, Camaros, and Corvettes.  Only one 1957 Chevy was there, a 210 2-door sedan.  I only saw one Impala and there were no Chevy II/Novas (I left mine in the garage, I can't drive two cars at once.)  I had the only Corvair there that night and it generated a lot of attention and discussion.  Non-Chevrolet products included some GTO's and a few nice Mopars.