Tonneau Cover - Top Release Mechanism

On several occasions I have been asked for pictures showing the top release mechanism on the underside of the tonneau cover. I decided just to put them all on this page for anyone who is interested.

This car was built in February of 1988 and uses a rod type top release mechanism. It appears that sometime during 1988 one using a cable replaced this system.

This picture shows the overall release mechanism.

Here the backside of the release handle is shown. The handle is on the drivers side of the cover. It is a very simple plastic slider.

This is another view of the release handle. You can see the rod connecting it to the corner pivot mechanism.

The corner pivot mechanism is shown in this picture. The rod coming down from the top is from the release handle. You can see the other rod connecting to the top release.

Here is a photo of the corner pivot mechanism from a different angle.

This is a close-up of the corner pivot mechanism. The rod coming down from the top is from the release handle. The other rod is connecting to the top release.

Shown here is the rod from the corner pivot to the top release. (Geez, looks like I need to do some dusting in here!)

Close-up of the top release.

One last photo of the top release. This was taken from the passenger's side looking back toward the corner pivot point.

Hope these are helpful for anyone trying to put one of these systems back together again. If there is a piece that you need a better picture of or dimensions, please just drop me a note.