Newbie

[RandallNeighbour]

Gorgeous red color! Am I mistaken or is that a fairly rare color?

You need to check your car for the old top transmission cables. The new ones have a diamond pattern on them, showing reinforcement underneath the plastic. If you have records from the dealer, this should have been done under warranty in 99. If not, you should have them replaced asap to avoid the clamshell twisting up and causing damage that a dollar amount with a comma in it will require.

Don't freak out over this... it's probably been done.

Where are these cables, you ask?

Drop your top half way down where the clamshell is up. Look about two inches below the back of where the clamshell meets the bodywork and look for a cable that comes from a motor in the middle of the car, near the third brake light. This is your top motor and it has two cables that go around the edge toward the transmissions, which are both located above your exterior vents, but inside the top mechanism's area (hope that makes sense, it's the best I can do).

The cables may be dusty or dirty and you can wipe one off a little and look for the diamond pattern.

Gorgeous car. Enjoy it every day you can and by all means, drive it hard. The car actually smiles inside when you push it near the redline and corner hard in it.

PS - 18's are not recommended on 97's, but you can probably do it anyway if you don't plan to track your car or really be brutal with it on the streets. There are lots and lots of 97's out there with 18's on them and they've experienced no body or suspension problems whatsoever.