these are the biggest tears in my top
i dunno why, but my driver side tears aren't near as bad.

so if the patch fails i'm going to get this


it will be my temporary replacement for a soft top lol. and i will use the soft top as lil as i can with this

 

Wow jaor, those are bad. Id def suggest sewing those first and patching them from the inside and maybe even a vinyl patch over the outside as well. Might not look great but it will look better then the tears and should help it to not leak and you might get a lil more time out of the top. But at this point its basically a bandage on a gunshot wound. =/

 

Update: After 7 months of daily driving, with top going up and down a couple times each day, the patches are still holding strong. Edges of patches have lifted very slightly due to no silicone on edges (as seen in pics) but the centers are still stuck solid. Tears have not spread at all. Would totally recommend this fix to anyone looking for a cheap, easy fix. />

Oh and no discoloration or staining of the top so far from the RTV. I will take current pics if anyone is interested.

 

nicely done. only thing I would do now would be to sand down the softop frame where the rubbing is so that you're able to open and retract the softop without irritating the patches.

 

Hey Random,

Now that the "wound" has healed....have you thought about removing the stitches? Maybe cut the thread flush with the surface? The RTV may be strong enough to hold now that its cured. Thinking out loud.

 

I have the dreaded hole on the passenger side. Any specific type of thread and needle to use? I would rather do that than buy a new soft top right now. I have a thin vinyl patch which seems to be holding up, but something tells me the hole will just start getting bigger.

 

Upholstery thread is a lot stronger than standard sewing thread, so that would probably be a good bet if the tear is large enough to require stitching. I have a tear about 1.5" in length that I patched using convertible top material underneath, glued using adhesive from a neoprene wader repair kit (I didn't sew any stitches). I then filled the tear with the adhesive as a "glue." It's been a year and a half, with 100+ degree summer temps and below freezing in winter. No expansion of the tear or leaks. I highly recommend the stuff.

 

I was thinking of doing something similar myself. Here is the adhesive product I am thinking about using:

http://www.rei.com/product/797508/th...sal-repair-kit


This is used for camping/hiking air mattresses, so it's already designed for water exposure and flexibility. I have used the product to repair my Therm-a-Rest, and it is super durable even after the abuse it gets. For those who don't know, a Therm-a-Rest is an inflatable air mattress that you roll up for travel, and this adhesive will stand the test of time through countless roll/unrolls, plus resist high air pressure over the repaired hole, and resist the general hiking/camping abuse.

My warning: it is a hot adhesive and dries really really fast (as soon as it cools) and if you make a mess with it then it's a permanent mess! Also, as I have not tried this, I do not know how well it will adhere to the automotive soft top as it was designed for synthetic poly fibres used with air mattresses.

EXPERIMENT AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!! BEST OF LUCK!

 

Before doing all this work, be sure to look for a rough spot on the hoop. It may be rubbing and causing the tear. If you don't sand it down, you'll end up just having to redo this all over and over again.

 

I paid $20 bucks to get my hole professionally repaired. Looks great and holds good too. Basically he just patched it and put black silicon inside.