hi s2k lovers! i always dream of having one for myself and after 4 years of trying to find the perfect s2k, i finally found one and bought it today. but there seem to be a problem... the OEM hardtop is making clinking noises when the car goes on to none smooth road. meaning if the road is some what bumpy, the roof will rattle (kinda loud). does anyone have similar problems? is it something i can fix on my own? please don't be too harsh on me since this is my first post

 

check to make sure that the screws holding the front latches to the roof are tight.

 

I don't have a CR so I don't know if they use the same latches that normal s2ks use. The normal s2k latches that hook onto the strikers at the top-front of the car are known to rattle annoyingly over bumps. Could that be your problem?

 

I highly recommend getting Izzy engineering hardtop brackets to replace the front latches.
They completely eliminated any rattling and squeaking I was previously having.

http://www.izzyscustomcages.com/S200...pBrackets.html

 

Izzy brackets are what we sell with our hardtops. You can buy with us if you like. Just about out of stock.

 

thank you for the advise. i will hop on that asap!

 

yes they do use the same latches since i had an 06 ap2 before(but it didn't have any noise problem). you jumped right on to my problem. the hook and the striker part rattles like crazy over bumps!! previous response asked me to check the screws, and yes i will, but is there any other stuff that i need to check?

 

There are a few adjustments you can make. First check the screws on the latches, use a nice large sized phillips screwdriver so you don't strip them and you can get some decent leverage on them - 2 per latch. Secondly, if it has been out of adjustment for a while the strker plates themselves can be worn, the striker plates can also be loose, there are two similar screws holding them to the windshield frame, you have to remove the top and side trim pieces to access the striker plates, not too hard to do.

There is an entire adjustment procedure that can be done on the hardtop front and back, with measurements that you can use to tell if the hardtop is within spec. Chances are that yours is still within spec if it came from the factory with that hardtop, Sometimes if hardtops are transplanted between different cars you should do the adjustment procedure and check. On you car I would do this last if the other recommendations don't work/help.

Under the front latches you have 3 shims per side, the shims can be removed to tighten up the front of the hardtop. If the front latches are tight and the striker plates aren't worn then you can adjust the tightness by removing shims. I removed some from my hardtop to tighten it up as I was getting movement of the hardtop over bumpy roads. I also lube the front points of the latches and the hooks that go into the striker plates to reduce wear and noise.

Lastly, some guys have found that the front latches themselves rattle internally between the metal and plastic parts, there are some threads where people have jammed small pieces of felt materials in the gaps of the latches to keep them from rattling internally. Mine have never done that but lots of people have reported that happening, it seems to be more prevalent amoung soft top latches but I guess it could happen to both.

As a last resort you can also install washers under the front striker plates to induce further leverage on the latches, that will tighten things up too, if nothing else works you can also try this but I would do everything else first before having to resort to this.

 

Buy 4 shims to place underneath the striker plates (2 on each side) This fixed all of my creaking & rattling problems:

http://gladfab.myshopify.com/collect...d-top-shim-kit

 

What's the difference between the GladFab shims and the OEM shims (85101-S2A-901)? Depending on where you buy the OEM shims, they're slightly cheaper than the GF ones. But I'm all for paying for a better product.