This may be a really stupid question, but...

The owners manual specifically says not to put the top down if it's wet/damp/frosted. Is there a good reason not to, if it's going to go back up when parked after a short time? I was thinking this was probably to prevent mildew, but is there a mechanical/material reason other than that? I'd like to put it down for my commute in the morning, but dew and frost in a few months will insure a damp top... Thanks, Eric

 

I think your assumption on the top is 1/2 correct. The mildew issue might arise if you leave the top down for a long period of time while wet, not sure if any of the motors would be impacted. The other issue I ran into early on when I had to wash the car and leave right away (I have never driven this car with the top up) was shrinkage. It was very early in my ownership period, but it seemed like I really had to pull the top closed to get the latches closed. I associated that with the fact that I had put the top down right after I washed it, but that is just an assumption.

 

I don't think you should have a problem since you will be putting the top back up in a short while. However, with frost, that means freezing teps and you might crack the rear plastic window (if you have a MY 2000 or 01).
I don't know if you did this or not, but make sure you have some sort of protectant (3M's 303 Protectant) on the top for best waterproof protection.

 

I have an '02 so the window isn't a problem. Another issue I thought might come up would be the additional weight of the water/ice and how that would affect the mechanism. Anyone else come accross the shrinkage issue (with respect to their soft tops, of course...)?

 

shrinkage should not be an issue with a wet vinyl top. you would not want to keep it down wet for very long due to mildew and rust as you indicated (because the moisture has no way of draining top down). short periods of time shouldnt be a big deal.

 

I also ran into the problem of possible shrinkage. I keep the car in a garage, so I rarely put the top up. The few times I do, it definitely takes a little more effort to snap the latches shut. If the top has only been down for a few hours, though, its much easier to close. I think the problem is just that leaving the top down for extended periods tightens everything up, making it harder to close.

 

I had a TR6 with a canvas top. If you put it down anytime but the summer you had to wait for the thaw before you had a top again. But so far, (I've had it for 4 months) no shinkage problems with the S.

 

A lot of women don't know about shrinkage.

 

JPit,

You beat me to the punch! All this talk about shrinkage reminded me of the Seinfeld episode.

 

I dropped mine once before it was 100% dry. I thought it was dry, but when I put it back up, it had MASSIVE wrinkles, looked terrible. But everything was fine the next morning.