Top Alignment on Windscreen

[crafty]

Hi again,

I was out admiring my spider (as we do) when I noticed that the top does not fit snugly down on the windscreen chrome. The rubber seal seems to be doing it's job by not letting water in directly above the screen. However water does creep in above the corner of the vent frame where a gap exists due to the problem. Is there an adjustment for this somewhere?

I'd like to thank everyone for their responses to my other posts, especially 'adrians' who has helped me solve numerous issues.








These photos were taken with the top clamped down.

Cheers.

[mbouse]

your trouble is that there is a finger in the way between the seal and the windscreen !! remove finger before clamping the top.


nearly zero adjustments can be made once that vinyl is glued to the front bow. the only adjustment i know of is tensioning the cable in the rear, or being able to slightly move the clasps on the #1 bow.

you might be able to bend the clasps, but i would not recommend that. are both the hinged points on both clasps still intact, or is it possible that a clasp has broken?

[adrians]

Crafty - I can't help you with this one, yet ! !

As I have the same problem, maybe it's a common problem ?

[manoa matt]

Both photos appear that the top was not in the place when glued to the header bow. One thing you might try is: There are two screws on each side of the header bow (4 total) they hold the header bow to the rest of the frame. When loosened the header bow can slide more forward or more rearward. You might also be able to tilt it up or down a bit.

If that doesn't work then you might take off the rubber seal and lay down a self-adhesive weatherstrip avilable at the hardware store. Then re-attach the rubber seal on top to get a better compressive seal.

[rlux4]

Mike is right guys, it is a matter of getting the bow in line with the front welt on the top as it's glued in place. I installed my
new top and have pretty much the same wave on it. The problem is when the bow is placed into the pocket it's pretty hard to get it perfect because the glue doesn't allow adjusting the vinyl after it's put in place. A good professional installer would probably have the technique down pat, but it wasn't worth the $$$ to me to have it done.
Ron

[mdrburchette]

I think mine looks the same way but I fixed it by keeping the top down.

[crafty]

I can see where the bow used to originally sit as there is a mark on the chrome strip. As you can see, mine sits up a good 12 mm (half inch) above. Thinking today that maybe the PO replaced the rubber seal that was a lot thicker than the original and this is why it won't sit down??

Clasps aren't broken or bent, and new cables have been installed recently.

Thanks.

[mbouse]

keep a terry cloth towel at the ready for those really rainy days.

these weren't meant to be all weather cars, all the time. foul weather ain't fun to drive in with any vehicle, much less a Spider.

[So Cal Mark]

Mike, I thought you carried the towel to mope up your drool!