Hey guys-

Just recently bought an 08 soft-top from a member on here, and it wasn't quite as described. There are a few problems with it and I just wanted to make sure it's nothing that I need to be worried about.

1) The wire-channel on the interior of the soft-top is 100% undone. There is no glue whatsoever to hold this together like it should be. Even my original MY2000 top was in better shape than this. Im aware you cannot see this from the inside, but Im a bit worried about whether or not the wire on the inside will stay in its correct placement.
a) What is a foolproof way to fix this problem? Fabric glue? Epoxy? double sided tape? other?

2) The top is EXTREMELY tight. It has been off a car for at least 2 months I believe. When the top is going to close, the motors are seemingly straining a bit and there is about a 1" gap between the top and the windshield frame. My original top was not like this.
a) Is there a way to adjust the tightness of the top in certain places?
b) Has it just shrunk and will return into place? Ill be away from the car for ~8 days and will leave the top up for the duration of that time.
c) The horizontal portion of the top (flat surface of roof area) is hands down the tightest area. If I hit it lightly, it sounds like a drum. Im assuming this is not normal.
d) I can in fact get the top latched, but I have to pull down on the top itself in order for it to reach correctly. Will this stretch out at all?


Thanks a lot and sorry for the long winded post.

-Matt

 

Top will stretch out.

When I got an 07 top new, the top was so tight when I tried to pit it up. It left an inch gap from the top itself to the windshield because I had it under the hardtop for a long time..

 

Good deal. We figured as much and are going to let it sit for ~8 days. Im sure itll be stretched out by then.

-Matt

 

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I can't tell you about the wire...but I can confirm that when my car was new and after I replaced the top with a new one, it was tight and I sometimes had to pull the top down by hand to get it close enough to the strikers to latch.

 

Please take pictures of the exposed wire area you mentioned. Normally the wire that attaches the first bow to the 3rd(i think) is routed through a sleeve built into the top, if somehow that is undone it cant be a good thing.

 

Yea, thats exactly what Im talking about.

-Matt

 

please take some pics and i'll see if i can help you out a bit. I've replaced a couple of tops so i know what you're talking about.