My '05 S2K is a week old now, and I want to properly maintain it. Lots of great information about exterior and interior products/procedures. I haven't found information regarding cleaning and protecting the convertible top and would appreciate guidance on this subject. Also, are the 303 cleaner and protector products for all interior parts (dash, seats, etc.) satisfactory, or are the products from The Leather Institute the better way to go? Thank you.[COLOR=blue]

 

Wash the top like you do the rest of the car. A couple times a year (more if it's out in the sun a lot), sparingly apply the 303 to it (put on cloth & wipe it on - don't spray directly on top), let dry with the top up overnight.

 

XViper, thank you for the prompt reply. Which one of the 303 products do you use on the top?

 

I believe it's called 303 Aerospace protectant. It's for vinyl and plastic materials. You can use it for the top (which is vinyl) and for anything inside the cabin that's not the actual leather.

 

I would reccommend using a more durable product than the standard 303 aerospace protectant. I have a lot of experience with that product and it washes off of surfaces like the top pretty easily.

try these products esp raggtopp

 

just to round out the product recommendations:
vinylex

the best products for the top are 303, raggtopp, and vinylex-

xviper has the procedure down... the only thing i do different is that i really soak the rag and put a lot of product on. i rub it in good, then do the rest of the car. come back to the top and do a removal twice (with 2 separate clean rags). his method works fine too-

 

I would not use 303 Aerospace protectant on leather seats and leather inserts on the doors. I would use leather cleaner and condition for leather seats and door's inserts. Lexol is a good brand and not too expensive either. ACE hardware stores may carry 303, I could not find it at autopart stores.

 

I wash my car weekly, should i also be washing hte top weekly also (kind of afraid of the water causing color fade)? So far I have been doing that and applying 303 on every other wash.

 

I think you might be getting a bit paranoid about this. I wash my top whenever I wash the car (in the warm months) and I wash it ONLY if it gets dirty and needs it. Sometimes, I'll go weeks and weeks without a wash. I treat it with protectant maybe twice a year, some years, only once. Mind you, I use a hardtop 1/2 the year. My car is 5 years old. Another S2000 owner commented a couple of weeks ago how nice and black my top looked.

 

good point xviper-
my top is usually not washed...
in 5 years i would guess it might have been washed 5 times. like yours, it looks like it is new...
but it usually lives under the boot.
and when it is washed it gets a full treatment of vinylex, 303 or raggtopp.

my cloth top (bmw) gets only raggtopp