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Old 04-29-2018, 09:34 AM   #1
oldskool73
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Join Date: May 2015
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 335
Fix sagging soft-top coming unstuck at rear

My car's a '97 but I fitted an '03 glass roof a year or two ago.

Recently I started to notice slight wrinkles at the rear corners of the top, and over time this has evolved to the point that the whole rear and glass has started to droop inwards, and the rear seams are showing higher than they should ...



With the top in the service position you can see the problem, the rear canvas has pulled out of it's original folded position, allowing slack in the back part of the roof.



I think this was caused, at least in part, by me over-tightening the hold down cables

Fixing this is pretty simple... we need to remove the rubber strip that holds the top in place, tighten and re-affix the top, then re-insert the rubber strip. The only new part we need is something to re-stick the top. I used the #03684 3M tape that's been mentioned on here a few times...



https://www.digikey.com/products/en/tapes-adhesives-materials/tape/908?k=06384%20TAPE

Start with the top in service position by pulling up the rubber strip from one side. Note the inserted part goes further than the visible part. I used a bent pick to get in under the corner and just carefully levered it out.



... once it's started it just pulls out easily by hand. Continue pulling along the length of the rear...



Once it's off, give it a good wash to remove 2 decades of grime, then a nice rubber protector to make it look sexy again...



Here you can see the profile of the rubber, and how the inserted strip runs further than the bit you can see against the top. I coated all of the inserted piece with dish soap to make it easier to insert again later.


Last edited by oldskool73; 04-29-2018 at 09:40 AM.
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