My '06 AP2 had a tear in the soft top, at the passenger side outboard corner. I never could feel a burr on the hoop. I had it patched by a local car upholstery shop. The guy cut a piece of heavy black soft top material, and bonded it to the inside of the soft top, overlapping the tear by a generous amount in all directions. It has held up fine. He gave me an extra piece of the material, which I have saved.

Now I'm seeing a small hole develop in the corresponding area of the driver's side. Again I cannot feel a burr. I'm trying to decide whether to patch it myself using the leftover piece from the other side's patch job, or to go back to the shop and have them do it.

If I do it myself, I figure I'll cut a rectangular piece of appropriate size, slip it into place without any adhesive, then close the top completely & make sure the patch is positioned correctly, then apply some contact adhesive to each end, one at a time, fore & aft of the hoop, and press it into place. Then I'll partially open the top to get clearance in the middle section of the patch where it spans the hoop, and try to work in adhesive. Might need a small piece of wood like a popsicle stick to get the adhesive in there. I figure to use Goop contact adhesive or something similar.

What do you all think? Will this work, or would I be better off to take it back to the upholstery shop and let the pro patch it?

Grateful for any advice.

Bob

 

buy some tear aid, thats the only thing that helped, I also sanded the bar down and added some tear stop polyester between the bar and top. hasn't leaked in a year and i've put the top down at least 100 times.


Tear AID here

 

As with any question of better on any topic it's a subjective matter. How confident do you feel you can patch it? We're not psychic and we don't know what your abilities are in this area.

 

If it's a small tear or worn spot,tearaid for fabric will work well.I used it on my 03.

Anything larger,I would use a top shop to repair it.

After 10 yrs,it's time for a new top.I put a robbins on mine and like it.

\rlr
Carolina

 

I'm not worried about my own abilities - I'm a long-time DIY mechanic, although I haven't had much experience with upholstery. At this point the spot on the driver's side is just a pinhole.

I guess my main concern is whether the adhesive I plan to use will hold well and retain flexibility. I have a tube of Goop contact adhesive that I'm planning to use. Guess I'll go ahead & give it a try. Was just hoping to get feedback before I jumped in.

Robbins Auto Tops started with one office in Santa Monica, near me. Looks like they are pretty big now.