SlowTeg

Well, I was driving the car today, and happened to look up, and what did I notice, some wear marks/rips in the inner lining of the top.. I have paid close attention to the common passenger side rear tear that occurs (that's noted in the TSB), but this one I didn't see mentioned and is new to me.

From the looks of it, the top bar has what looks like the top material wrapped inside of it and attached somehow on the inside (so presumably it holds the top taught). The thing is, it looks like the metal bar has "unraveled" slightly (for the lack of a better word) or got pulled out, which looks like it's probably poking the top when the top is down. This only looks to be occuring on the driver's side, not the passenger side, which is strange. What could be causing the metal to be pulled out/bent?

Is this a "common" problem for anyone? It looks like the solution is just to hammer the metal back in place so it's not protruding out, but will it come back "undone" and cause possible damage to the top down the road? I'm fortunate to have caught it before it put a serious hole in the top, or man I'd be super pissed. I'll apply a sunbrella patch on the inside where the top is damaged and that should fix the top, but I'm concerned what the "fix" is for the bar, short of just hammering it back.

Here are some pictures:
Notice in this picture the metal part protruding out, the lower part in the picture that's protruding out is just the strap, and that's normal, but the upper part of the picture w/ the visible metal is the problem..


Here's a wider angle view of the driver's side..


Here's a more direct shot and you can see the bent metal:


Here's a shot of the passenger side bar, and notice no bulge, and the metal isn't bent out:


Finally, here's a shot of my rear patch to the passenger side rear wear area just as extra measure after sanding the sharp bar down. You can also see the "Gorilla chain" protectors on the problem bar, that was recommended here on s2ki. Note, this picture makes the patch look like s**t, but it's not nearly as bad looking in person:


I apologize for the crappy pictures, but I think they'll do the job to show the clear problem at least.

SlowTeg

No one else seen this problem? Hmm..

Well, last night I examined it closer and fixed it by bending the metal piece back. Upon further inspection, I'm not sure why/how the bar got pulled out.. maybe the top was replaced sometime before and they didn't perfectly install it/bend it back? The other thing I was thinking is perhaps the straps that pull the support bar back isn't providing enough "pull" on the bar and thus some of the force pulling the bar back is from the top directly? That would be my only guess, so I'll have to pay close attention when raising/lowering the top from now on.

It looks like this could conceivably happen to anyone, so perhaps wouldn't be a bad idea to take a peek at this area periodically to make sure everything looks good. Fortunately I caught it before putting a hole in the top (I tend to put the top down a lot now during the summer). I'll apply a "wear patch" like I did for the other known problem area and that should prevent any holes in the worn spot.

Reckon

I have similar markings on both sides of my car. I got new straps (modify version) and patched the areas to keep them from becoming holes. So far, so good. I think you found the issue for your particular rub.

Mine was a bit different as it looked like wear marks from the bar due to the straps not being elastic and pulling correctly anymore.

Seems you got it under control. It doesn't cost much to fix the straps (the modifry fix was like $20 and takes 5 minutes to do) so it might be worth doing.

SlowTeg

Reckon, thanks for the info. I changed the straps w/ the modifry ones in March or April when I got the car, so they're fairly elastic. I'm wondering if perhaps the damage was done before I changed the straps, and I never noticed it, and since it was already bent, it just got worse (even w/ the new straps). Now that the metal is bent back, we'll see how it goes.

I lowered the top half way so there was slack on the spot, and snapped a picture. For those that aren't familiar w/ the top and the problem area, there's a piece of fabric sewn to the top, that basically wraps around the support bar and gets "tucked in" under the metal which holds the top taught against it. Probably just the action of raising and lowering the top puts stress on this piece of fabric that's wrapped around the bar, and probably which led to the metal bending more (raising the top back up I think is probably what did it). Not sure if my car is a one off problem, or it's a possible problem for everyone.

Here's a better picture where I partially unraveled the "tucked in" piece of fabric and bent out the metal piece before bending it back and "fixing" it:


Looking at the area more closely, I can see how the "wrapped" fabric doesn't fully cover the metal on the corners sometimes, and I'm willing to bet that that's what could lead to rubbing and wear into the top when the top is in the lowered position. Certainly another area to keep an eye out for. I might wrap the area w/ some light fabric to prevent this.. If folks are seeing wear marks in the same spot, I'm willing to bet that the metal is exposed or protruding out, and your best bet is to take a close look at this area.

Reckon

Great photo and thanks for posting. Good information to have. When I did my Modifry straps I didn't notice metal bent out or anything like that. I just presumed mine was from the wear of lowering and raising the top as it was nearly identical on both sides. A neat patch or two and new straps seems to have fixed it.

Glad you caught it before it became worse.

CorneringMachine

Dayamm... those freaking ripps on the top are sooooo !@#$ annoying...
COME ON HONDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

toniotran

since the tears doesn't seem to be so severe you can use patches as mentioned by Reckon and you can also try sanding down the sharp/pointed areas on the bar, that's what I did and it worked for me.

SlowTeg

Ah ok, so I guess the tears/rips at this point are somewhat common? I finally got a chance to pickup the fabric and glue from my mom's house, so I'll patch the top tonight like I did the side.

It seems with these tops on the s2k you really just need to periodically go over it to make sure there are no other new wear points popping up. Certainly a bit of a pita, but nothing that I can't handle.

s2kayyyy

Just noticed a small hole in mine today. Exact same place and bend in the bar. Going to have to patch it up asap and bend the metal part back in place asap.

SlowTeg

Well, good to hear this helped someone else. I just applied the patch tonight, so don't have to worry too much about a hole being worn in the top, at least for a while.

Definitely a good idea to check this area for owners, as it seems like perhaps this bar tends to bend over time, due to the stress/pulling of the top perhaps when you're just driving on the highway.