suzuka san

I've owned an FRP forbidden m-style hardtop for about three years now. I went through the learning process of getting the rear seal right to avoid rubbing on the OEM rubber piece that runs along the rear deck lid, getting the side window seals right, etc. Shot out to all the contributors to the many great hardtop fix-it threads on S2ki...i know them all well.

I had a good run of about a 8 months where the set up was pretty dialed in. But eventually the rear seal needed to be replaced, and it was back to the drawing board. I decided to move to OEM rear catchers, which generally seemed to improve the seal in the rear and is much more convenient than the fixed mounts that came with the top. But ever since I moved to the OEM hardware in the back, I've been struggling with noise up front. My first move was hard top strikers, which worked like a charm...for three days. I added a strip of camper seal along the front of the hardtop where it meets the windshield frame, which also worked great...for about a month. Im going to order striker shims and see if that helps, but i have a feeling that once I install those shims im going to need to go through the hassle of adjusting the windows.

Noise from the front has been escalating steadily for the past few weeks (not wind noise, which is not a real issue). My front strikers seem to be OK, but maybe ill replace those. I think the front/rear camper seals im using are beat. If i keep the top i want to get OEM seals for the windows and the rear. But i'm also toying with the idea of just going back to my softop to avoid the hassle and expesense. The problem is a friggin LOVE the way my car looks with the hard top...


Im considering the following options:

1) going all in on my current top and praying that things get better after shims/oem rear seal
2) going back to my softop (doh!)
3) buying an OEM hardtop, which will do serious violence to my NSX fund and sense of personal dignity (at 4k, its absurd)

Help!

manystyles

Ballade Sports carbon OEM style HT.

lg24

You get what you pay for. The oem top will always be the best fitting and quality part if you want a hard top. Everything esle is just a replica which from what ive seen rarely do they ever come out with flawless fitment. In terms of price the soft top is the only choice to me that combines quality and reasonable price. Bt damn 4k for an OEM top its a big dent on the wallet. Just my .02 cents

Chris_Lum

that's just another rep top. look up karbon kaus oem tops on FB.. identical.



OP,
the fronts will always make noise on oem latches, no matter what top you use. That's why so many of us use hardtop locks or static mounts for the fronts.

fernando.

If you put a piece of rubber hose on the hook of the latch, it pulls the top in more and the latches become silent!

Chris_Lum

I've done that before but the rattle always comes back--if it's not the contact point rattling, then the actual innards of the latch itself will start to squeel and rattle eventually. It's the reason why I eventually switched to hardtop locks.

iamxpl

mine doesnt make noise =) it has to be a huge bump for me to hear anything. i cut a piece of hose and slipped it over the spike piece from the hardtop that meets the strikers on the body. quiet as a church mouse. of course i also re adjusted everything.

streetlights

$4k OEM hardtop is ridiculous!

I really want a hardtop but I will not pay $4k, I was planning on buying a hardtop really soon from Forbidden (OEM/M-style). I got to see the FRP hardtop on a car in person and I think I prefer the carbon hardtop because it seems more sturdy...

do you guys have the same rattling issues on carbon hardtops that you do with FRP hardtops?

1MR

Interested in this as well. Are FRP Forbidden hardtops are prone to more rattling than CF?

Peti

You can probably find a used OEM hardtop on ebay for less than 4K. I just bought a used silver OEM hardtop for 800 Euros, had it painted NFR.