Hey all, looking for some help and to see if anyone has experienced this problem. As you can see from the pic, the top caved in about 3/4" on the drivers side and just a very tiny amount on the passengers side. This happened the first time the car sat outside of the shop in about 70ish degree weather in ND. The paint was finished about a month ago and was just stunning. Since then its been sitting in the shop as it got an SOS supercharger kit installed along with a host of other goodies. It was done for crying out loud and ready to get on a truck to Florida. Now what? The thoughts are a manufacturer replacement followed by the whole paint thing again, which could end up doing the same thing. Possibly we could let it heat up in the sun and push it back, then fiberglass in some braces on the underside (its going to get a headliner when it gets to FL anyway) and repaint.

I am not going to say who's product it is at this point as they seem willing to help and I'm not ready to throw anyone under the bus, but it was not a cheap ebay unit.

Any Thoughts?

 

What is the retailer willing to do? What's the proposal?

The braces you're thinking of will almost for sure not work.

 

Not sure what the vendor will do as they are still looking it over. I do not have to much knowledge in this area, but we are thinking that the fiberglass is just too thin. With that said, there is no flex in the top and neither side really flexes when you push either up or down on it. Just baffles me. The top appears to be really well done and fit was great. Maybe internal stresses? No idea.

 

That's a flawed top, send it back and get a new one.

 

I'm guessing that the issue is that its been painted.

I don't know what the retailer is proposing (which is why I asked). But I doubt they'll be paying for a repaint. If they ARE paying for shipping and a new top and a repaint...the solution is easy.

The top probably buckled due to being stretched/pushed during install.

Have you tried unbolting it from the car to see if it pops back?

I think my Mugen replica top has a similar flaw. So maybe its common. Its a replica fiberglass part...so...I kinda just looked at it and shrugged

 

It shouldn't be an issue though. The parts are made to be painted, he didn't buy it anticipating it would sag in the sunlight. Sucks for the vendor for sure, but the OP painting the top should not be an issue.

My Mugen (authentic) top has zero issues sitting in the sun all day. Definitely a flaw in the OP's for sure.

 

That is one defective hardtop. there is not enough structural support incorporated into the design. Looks like a cheap low quality part. It needs to be replaced by the manufacturer.

 

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Yea, I am in agreement that it needs to be replaced but the paint shouldn't be the issue as it was done by a very high end body shop. After all, it came in white and the sales literature shows them being painted. Maybe I will upgrade to a full carbon fiber unit. I dunno, very disheartening.

 

He was saying that the issue in returning it, is that you've already spent the time and money to have it painted. Not that painting it caused the problem.

 

...and also that the vendor probably doesn't want to pay for the second paint job. Which means he'd have to pay for that all over again, then what if second top ends up with same issue.

He could have shop leave it parked in sun for a few days first before they try painting tbe second one, to see if it fails again before investing in the work. But the car was already supposed to be on a truck shipped to him in a far away State. So that just adds even more delay days.

Hence his dilemma.

An option, work both angles at the same time. A new replacement from vendor (and hopefully at least some compensation for paint job), and the repair painted top option.

This option is predicated on premise that vendor won't want old top shipped back. The shipping expense, plus they can't sell it to someone else, what is the point in asking for it back, unless they want to autopsy it.

Have shop unbolt the top and try to press back into shape. That should have very little cost associated with it. If that works, and if they think bracing will work, have them proceed. Then you can sell unpainted top to offset cost of bracing.

If the repair painted isn't going to work, you can try selling painted top cheap, to someone that doesn't care about the asthetic issues or loss of headroom, to offset some of the cost of painting reduex. Tops are such a commodity finding such a buyer seems plausible.

The only way you lose is if shop tries to fix it, it seems fixed, but then issues pop up down the road. They aren't local, so getting something addressed would be problematic. So this option relies on your confidence in this shop.