has anyone removed the philips screws which hold the front strikers on? the front offset of my top is out of spec, and i CANNOT get those screws off. i've rounded one of them pretty badly. the torque spec on them from the helms is 8.7 lb-ft. yeah, right. it seems ridiculous to me that four screws which need to be removed for adjustment should be so very very difficult to remove. the amount of downward force required to keep the #3 phillips in without slipping out and rounding the screw seems to be enough to permanently damage the aluminum top. i took apart the whole goddamn motor on my previous honda, and with the exception of the crank pulley i have never seen such a *$)(#$)# fastener.

thanks in advance for any suggestions, or at least someone who has done this before to say it's possible!

 

I removed the stock strikers on my MY2000 for the hardtop install. Those screws came out fairly easily. Looks to me like you'll need to get the Craftsman "Screw Out".

 

I am assuming your trying to loosen the latch that is on the hardtop itself not the striker plates on the windshield frame since these are non adjustable. Once you remove the latch cover to get to these screws any slip or misalignment with the phillips and you have to go to a screw extractor as xviper stated. The screws are soft by design hence the 8.7 lb-ft. I had this happen before so I can feel your pain.

 

try PMing "hardtopguy".....installs these all the time. Should be able to make the diognosis and give suggestions. I'd help, but I'm an automotive retard.

 

I also had to remove the front latches from my hardtop about 2 weeks ago when I put it back on for the winter. Had some wind noise in the front, so I took out a few shims. Mine had Loktite on the long screw on each side. Took a while of pushing hard and very slowly turning to get them out without rounding off the head of the screws. On the last one I had a screwdriver with a hole in the handle, stuck another screwdriver threw it and apply more torque to it. Came out pretty easily then. Maybe you could try this on the ones that are not rounded off. Good luck.