All,

Hello! First post here so it is very possible i'll mess up some photo tags or something along those lines-bear with me. I've got a '05 and I have removed my soft top in favor of running only the Forbidden USA Mugen replica hardtop. I also ordered their OEM-style hardtop brackets. Upon first placement of the top on the car, the brackets appear to not line up whatsoever. Please see pics for reference. I am assuming that i have the brackets on the correct way (would love it if the fix was as simple as turning them around) and that I need to add spacers between the brackets that attach to the door area and the car-an idea i am not thrilled about. However, before doing so i wanted to run this by the community to ask if i've missed anything and if others have found themselves in the same boat.






Thanks!

 

The fitment with those nice latches is pretty trash I think the issue is one these tops are cheap and never fit well they make a ton of noise. I have been working on mine it's better but you get what you pay for

I have a set of these https://www.forbidden-usa.com/product_p/frbn-bkets.htm you can get them for 40 bucks they are much thinner and would the be smaller and allow the top the few inches you can tell it off and allow it where they needs to go. I think you have more of a OEM style hardtop I have heard that you run this with this top but you can tell the fitment is off; this could be the top and not a latch issue

I would just pick up a set of these and see if the fitment is still off if you are local to the Bay area you can barrow mine.

 

The exterior picture on the passenger side, the hardtop looks faulty as in its narrow versus the body. Its supposed to extend just past the molding like the driver side.

 

Thanks for the input. I am leery of purchasing a different bracket by the same manufacturer with my thought being that it should be set up to fit the same jig/dimensions and therefore yield the same result. I am also surprised because from what i could see online, the forbidden product is not a bottom of the barrel one.

 

Thanks Orjinal. Good to have some additional feedback; however, now there is expressed concern over both the top and the brackets. That being said, it is probably about to time message the manufacturer for their input as well. I'll keep this thread updated with the response/action.

 

This. I have this top myself and how it's on your pictures on the driver side it's also supposed to be at the passenger side. Looks like the top is way narrower than it should be for some reason.

 

Thanks. I hope that's not the case but we'll see. I've shipped a message off to Forbidden and invited them to comment within this thread. TBD.

 

I'm interested in one of these tops , Did you come to any conclusion as to what the issue is?

 

After talking with Forbidden, all bolts need to be loose when attempting the install. Once the pins are inserted into the catchers on the car, bolts can be tightened down. This effectively stretches the sides of the top out so you don't see such bad fitment as shown by my original photos.

The windshield latches were extremely difficult to close, to the point where one worries about the FRP breaking. After finagling with the top for hours, and all latches tightened down, quite a bit of daylight can still be seen underneath the top on the driver's side. The windows do not close without hitting the hardtop but I believe this is the case even with the OEM top and the window stop heights must be adjusted.

Top squeaks like crazy and I will try some shin-etsu grease along the seals as soon as I can.

I am still not certain that all of this messing around is particular to Forbidden and their product but I will say this-from my experience with this top, absolutely do not fool yourself into thinking that installation will simple. If I had known the amount of effort I would have to put into getting this top adjusted, I would not have purchased it. That's about all I can say for now.

 

Horse shit. That amount of stretching the fiberglass will lead to cracks. The mounting points will probably rip through. They messed up on the manufacturing it, plain and simple.