I am a new owner of a very old and worn 59 retractable. Seems the top hasn't worked in some time and the car has sat for more than 15 yrs as well.

I am right in the middle of checking things, but wanted to get this thread created to seek out the advice of you experienced guys before I went too far in wasting my time looking at the wrong stuff.

My trunk lid unscrews/unlocks just fine and raise up, and the close-out panel raises up just fine. I then hear what sounds like 4 locks unlock in sequence at the 4 corners of the top - ALONG with motors churning but the top never moves an inch.
The Locks keep popping/ratcheting, it sounds like the motors are churning, but nothing else happens.

From reading other threads here, it seems that I might have either:

1. bound/tight front screws.
2. broken wire or inoperative 'A' switch.
3. bad solenoid for Top Retract. (I hadn't tested yet, as I thought that by hearing the motors churning - that the solenoid was probably working)


Thoughts?