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Soft top retracted position with hardtop installed
Folks,
I'm getting an OEM hardtop for my S. Very few S2000's out here in Malta have hardtops and therefore I cannot visually check about this query of mine locally so you'll have to excuse this question of mine if it seems silly: Once the softop is retracted, does one have to fit the soft top cover before fitting the hard top ? I mean, if you don't, won't the retracted top look awful, folded and with the lock handles and their hooks sticking out in full view from the hardtop's rear view window ? [the one in my brother's Toyota MRS folds so neatly that it looks like a parcel-shelf when one looks through its hardtop window]
I'd apprciate your advice (and maybe of a photo of what it looks like through the hardtop's rear window with the soft top stowed away if it's not too much bother for you. )
Great ! I got a reply ! Thanks Stratocaster for your advice !
What about my gripe about the retracted top looking awful, folded and with the lock handles and their hooks sticking out in full view from the hardtop's rear view window or am I over-reacting ?
yeah it is surely visible, the worst part is the little hook that sticks up, wish it could be retracted somehow. Mine is tinted so it doesn't look as bad.
The hardtop actually sits on the softop front frame with two rubber cushions on it, so the tonneau cover is not used in this setup.
now thats the best idea I have seen ever, as a solution here. 10/10
Can you give more detailed explanation of where you can get these? Also is the u shaped fastening bracket OEM or made up?
After I installed my hardtop, I found that when going over harsh roads the soft top would bounce up and make noise. To cure that, I removed the wimpy OEM bumper pads and installed a more robust dampening system.
Using a hydraulic floor slide used on bar-stools, it is covered with a rubber pad and installed in place of the wimpy OEM stuff.
Being hydraulic, the dampening effect increases as pressure is applied and they are able to tilt through all 360° around the vertical axis.
That is sweet, I've got so much hardtop rattle on mine right now I wouldn't notice any other noise , lol.
It looks like you have your softop latches tied down, could you explain that too if you have a minute, looks interesting.
The photo was taken while testing the feasibility of using the glides. Having quieted the soft top, there was another, metalic rattle that I isolated to the latch hooks floating inside its assembly.
Tying it down with a rubber band did not work 100%. When the rubber band is wraped around the lower base to prevent the hook from sliding laterally, it worked. Later I replaced the beige rubber bands with thicker black rubber bands.
I understand that some folks on this forum have cured this rattle by making a ring out of some type of nylon or plastic hose and sliding that over the base. That's probably far more aesthetic than my 'blacksmith' solution.
ah cool, thanks for the reply, that is likely going to be helpful for me, once I get the front rattles resolved I'll be moving to the rear, lol.
Soft top retracted position with hardtop installed
[the one in my brother's Toyota MRS folds so neatly that it looks like a parcel-shelf when one looks through its hardtop window]
