honda two thousand

I replaced the OEM vinyl top on the S2K back in 2014 with a Robbins canvas top.

A few weeks ago, while cleaning the car, I noticed the top was sagging in the rear. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the bond between the canvas top and glass peeled apart.


This is a common occurrence with convertibles if parked outside in the heat. Robbins claims to have offer a Lifetime Warranty against bonding failures with their PermaLok bonding system. Had I'd know this, I would have attempted to contact Robbins to see what they would have done. Either way, the fix is simple.

Required items:

1. Razor blade
2. Acid brushes
3. Painters tape
4. 3M 08609 Windo-Weld Super Fast Urethane Black Cartridge - 10.5 fl oz.
   3M 08609 Windo-Weld Super Fast Urethane Black Cartridge - 10.5 fl oz.
5. 3M 08682 Single Step Primer - 30 ml
   3M 08682 Single Step Primer - 30 ml
6. Caulk gun

DO NOT SKIP the Single Step Primer. The Windo-Weld will peel off if the primer isn't applied.

Start by cleaning off any of the residual RTV on the glass. Use a razor blade. Remember to clean the exterior and interior.




Next remove as much of the RTV from the canvas top. I found that picking at it piece by piece with your hands to be the most effective method. I tried scraping it was an epoxy spreader but that didn't work too well.



Apply painters tape to the edge of the original bonding line. Do this to the interior and exterior of the glass. You may also want to lay down a drop cloth catch any spills that may occur.

I didn't grab a picture of it but the top is partially open. The glass is also propped up with two Harbor Freight rubber wheel chocks.




Follow the instructions on the bottle for the 3M Single Step Primer. Use the acid brushes to apply the primer. Allow ~15 minutes to set.





View from the inside. Yes...the passenger seat is pushed all the way forward and I'm sitting sideways on the center console.





After the primer dried I pulled the tape off. If I were to do it again, I would of left the tape on. This would give you a cleaner line when the Windo-Weld squeezes out.



Load the Windo-Weld into the caulk gun. I cut the tip at an angle.



The pictures get scarce here because I wasn't sure how much time I really had. A bead of Windo-Weld was applied to the glass. I would press down lightly on the canvas to make sure the bead flattened out underneath. Repeat the same on the interior glass seam.



In the next pic, you will see that I had some extra fabric that wouldn't stick. I don't remember if this was there prior. I left it as you see in the picture. The bond on the outside is the more important one anyways.



Now allow for the RTV fully cure. I let it sit over the weekend.

So far the bond appears to be holding up.

That's it. The repair is pretty easy to do. Just take your time to try not get the primer and RTV everywhere.

A4gsr

I'm in the process of trying to decide between a Robbins canvas and the OEM vinyl - I was pretty sure I was going with the Robbins because of appearance and cost, but this post is making me rethink that decision. Anyone else have this bonding problem?

honda two thousand

Go with the Robbins canvas top. It looks way better than the vinyl top.

I park my car on the street. It sees the rain, snow, and sun all year long. I don't think it would be an issue if you are not parked outside year round.

mojo_jojo77777

oh wow. im lucky to have found this. same thing happened to my top last week. im process of ordering the stuff i need to repair it myself. before this couldnt find any info if anyone else ever had this issue. But apparently is kinda common with Audi's and BMW's

Short

Thank you so much for posting this with pictures! This just happened to me and I found a similar DIY on another car forum. I ordered the same stuff and will be doing this tomorrow

honda two thousand

Great!
Let us know how it goes.

Short

Did you raise the top a smidge during the adhesive application? I'm noticing that I can't get the canvas to fit on the glass as it should with the top locked into place.

Short

I just re-read your post and you did mention it was partially open. Opps! haha

vortamock

Thanks for posting up this and the links to the stuff to do it with! Mine had been coming undone for a little while now. I found your post and was plotting for when would be an ideal time to do it. I don't have anything to park the car under and it has been raining every afternoon, so I was hoping for some days without rain.

Well last Wednesday I heard water sloshing out into the interior. The pocket below the glass had filled with proly a gallon of water. I squeezed it out into a towel and immediately followed your links and ordered the primer and window weld. Yesterday morning I did the repair and it took just over 2 hours from start to finish.

With the afternoon rains expected again I wasn't sure if it would dry in time or if I'd have to cover it with painters tape and put a cover on the car. I looked up the tech sheet online that has a chart showing dry times based on the temperature and relative humidity. Based on the chart I figured at the 83 degrees and 70% relative humidity of yesterday, 4 hours of dry time would be enough to get it to 250 psi tensile strength. That, I figured, would plenty enough to not need to cover it back up.

About 6 1/2 hours after finishing, a heavy rainstorm came through. It rained for a good hour and NO water came in or filled into the pocket. It feels solid and I'm happy with the way it looks. I'd recommend giving this a shot before replacing the top if your back window is coming unbonded.

Take your time and do good prep work and you should be happy with the results. I still need to clean the window and cut out the rest of the painters tape, but here's how mine turned out:

rockstar143

Thanks for sharing...
I'm reaching out to Robbins as I write this in hopes they rectify it. The whole point to getting a quality top was not having to deal with
bullshit like this. I had a clogged rain channel in conjunction with this defect and my interior needed to be dried out.
I hope they suggest going back to my installer and covering whatever minor costs are involved to have him seal it up properly.
Otherwise I'll just do it myself but really if they give a lifetime warranty on it and claim it to be some special bond...they need to
back it up and make it right.